While the Wellington West location may be surrounded by more concrete and sidewalks than trees and seashells, Cube Gallery’s new Resonations exhibit is an homage to the environmental and natural world.
The exhibition features the work of a trio of local artists: John Tenasco, Susan Ukkola, and Cynthia O’Brien. To make use of the area and create space between the different styles of art, the paintings of Tenasco and Ukkola are both given dedicated walls in the exhibition, with O’Brien’s ceramic work on plinths in the middle of the room.
All of the work in Resonations has an organic and natural feel, with animal imagery, natural colour schemes, and fluid shapes. The subject matter is also largely focused on the physical world.
Playing with the natural theme, the Cube Gallery included some interesting curatorial choices, choosing to hang a painting using a wooden branch from outside the museum. Similarly, some of O’Brien’s sculptures are hung from the ceiling with industrial chains, creating contrast with the organic shape of the ceramics.
According to curator Don Monet, all three artists are veterans of the gallery, having shown their work multiple times throughout its 13 years of operation. However, this is the first time they’ve been presented together.
Though all three artists work with different mediums, the exhibition works because the pieces all use a European concept of abstraction, Monet added.
“I just liked the mix of two painters and a sculptor,” Monet said. “They ‘resonate’ together.”
The artists presented at the gallery’s vernissage on March 11, citing the natural world and environmental issues as major sources of inspiration for their work.
Ukkola, though she doesn’t plan any of her hot wax pieces before creating them, said that working on this exhibition made her realize that, “maybe I am thinking about what’s going on with the world.”
The use of a new technique also played a big part in the creation of several of Ukkola’s pieces. Using inks on the surface of the panel created a water-based feel, she said, which influenced the looseness and geometry of her work.
Similarly, though he is inspired by pop art and modern contemporary styles, Tenasco attributes his paintings’ natural themes to the fact that he lives away from civilization. He rarely uses social media to look at the work of other artists, he added.
“[They] say to draw what you know. I’m in the bush a lot, so a lot of it comes from nature,” Tenasco said.
As a member of the Algonquin nation, Tenasco also takes inspiration from his cultural experience. One of his paintings, titled “Arrival,” features a horned figure in traditional dress on a stormy plain, a scene that Tenasco said appeared to him in a dream. Because of its unique origin, Tenasco said that it’s his favourite piece in the exhibition.
Resonations runs at the Cube Gallery until April 1.
Photo by Meagan Casalino
