Surfacing Opening Reception: A Huge Success!

Our opening reception was a huge success on Thursday, June 2nd! We curated a space that encapsulates the spirit of PROJECT ART TORONTO and it turned out looking amazing. The Surfacing Exhibit displays passion, hard work, collaboration, and creativity. Ewa Stryjnik is the director of PROJECT ART TORONTO, an art studio where artists can rent the space, attend art classes, or workshops. 

The turn out was amazing and we just wanted to thank everyone for coming! This event brought together many people around the Queen West community to acknowledge the result of expression and skill. We were pleased to host such a meaningful experience for our amazing guests and artists.

The Surfacing Exhibit is showing 21 studio artists’ supportive and passionate work, most of which were created during the times of Covid-19. Their pieces represent a time when the group encouraged each other to create, explore, and grow.

While the art was observed, our community was achieving something much more meaningful, a night of face to face communication and personal connection. Something many have lost within the past few years.

Our own Twist Gallery communications team showed up to the event in support of Twist Gallery because we love seeing the gallery filled with art and art lovers!

We are so pleased to be a part of PROJECT ART TORONTO’s exhibit and allow them to use our space to display their Surfacing pieces. It was an absolute pleasure working with a larger team this month. While we are not often approached by groups, this community allowed for an easy transition and cohesive selection of pieces to work with. PROJECT ART TORONTO utilized our space and gave us something to really admire: their passion and hard work. Ewa and PROJECT ART TORONTO’s studio artists truly love being artists and they inspire our audience to start a passion of their own, whether that be art or anything you are passionate about. 

The artists also came together during the Opening Reception to surprise Ewa with flowers and a card to show their appreciation!

Ewa Stryjnik not only inspires artists to continue their passion for art. But guides each artist to maximize their creative potential. This was perfectly displayed during our installation day and throughout our Opening Reception. Styjnik’s energy churned our blank canvas gallery into a perfectly curated template for students to display their art and a cohesive journey for patrons to participate in. While she envisioned where each piece thrived, she communicated that to her students and worked with them to find a balance between visual satisfaction and the space as a whole.

We would just like to say thank you again for coming to the Surfacing Opening Reception! We had a great time, and we hope you had a great time as well! The Surfacing Exhibit is open until June 25th, so if you missed the Opening Reception don’t worry, come experience Surfacing at Twist Gallery all month long at 1100 Queen Street West. We are open every Tuesday-Friday from 11:00am-6:00pm and Saturday from 11:00am-4:00pm. 

Looking forward to seeing you again and hearing your thoughts on the Surfacing Exhibit!

Meet the Gestures Artists

With work so breathtaking, words are necessary to describe the beauty of Gestures. Twist Gallery’s two-month-long exhibition displays 8 local Toronto artists’ brush strokes, showing just how intentional and deliberate each stroke is. Experience the feelings illustrated in this exhibition, it is sure to leave a mark

→ Join us at 1100 Queen Street West, Tuesday to Saturday from 11 AM to 6 PM ←

Gestures Opening Reception

Join us for light appetizers, refreshments, music, and a chance to meet the artists.

Thursday, April 7th, 2022 | 6 pm to 9 pm

1100 Queen Street W

Along with the incredible works done by our various artists it is important to us that we get to know each artist more personally. We asked each artist to send in a short paragraph explaining a bit about who they are in order for us, and you to feel more connected to them outside of their work! All of the artists from this exhibit have such incredible stories and explanations for why they love their craft, and we invite you to learn more about how they came to be who they are, and why they decided to create. Keep reading to get the full story!

MEET THE GESTURES ARTISTS

Alice Kelso

Alice Kelso is a Canadian artist, teacher, and social advocate. Though based mainly out of Hamilton and Toronto, she has also shown her work at pop-up exhibitions in the UK. As a graduate of OCAD University's painting program (BFA) and Sheridan College's social services program (SSW), she teaches (and learns) through an anti-oppressive and holistic framework. Alice's work is abstract but representational and her process is expressive and cathartic. It showcases the patterns created by natural growth through texture, mark-making and colour harmonies; conceptual interconnectivity between art and science, people and the world around them.

Andrea Higgins

Andrea is a contemporary self-taught artist with a background in music, film and dance. 

Her work is physical and improvisational, driven by emotion captured through an abstract lens. She describes her works as a dance with one's self, spontaneous and free, releasing energy and emotions in a limitless direction. 

Similar to the way music creates a soundtrack to our lives, colours play a role in the background of our everyday moments yet carry meanings that vary from person to person. 

Andrea lives and works in Toronto, Canada.

Andrea Rosara

Andrea Rosara is an interdisciplinary artist from Venice, Italy. He works primarily in the media of painting and drawing and has an interest in printmaking. He holds a Bachelor’s of Fine Art and a Master’s of Fine Art/Visual Studies in Painting, Drawing and Printmaking from the Accademia di Belle Arti di Venezia. Andrea has exhibited his work in a wide variety of solo and group exhibitions in Venetian galleries and art festivals including Atelier 3+10, the Festival of Contemporary Art Giudecca, La Fenice Gallery, Techwood Venezia, and Accademia di Belle Arti di Venezia. He is now based in Toronto, Canada.

Caroline Chorazy

Caroline Chorazy is a self-taught, Toronto-based abstract artist specializing in acrylics and gold leaf. She draws her inspiration from natural elements in an attempt to capture organic movement and flow in all of her artwork. Her use of gold leaf and pigment gives each piece a unique gesture and ability to change appearance or shape in cohesion with the room and light.

Moses Salihou

Moses is a contemporary artist whose artwork reads like visual poetry; subjective & limitless in its interpretation.  His inspiration and creativity are sourced from his surroundings, the environment and his imagination.  Moses’ creative process is guided by a desire to establish a dialogue through his work without setting any limits.

As a versatile artist, Moses uses various supports (canvas, paper, reclaimed materials) and mediums (oil, acrylic, watercolour, pigment and charcoal).  Originally from Cameroon, Moses now calls Toronto home and his artwork is proudly featured in private collections in Canada and abroad.

Seokhoon Jun

Seokhoon Jun loves family, friends, and nature. Currently studying art therapy at Toronto Art Therapy Institute with an interest in how art and spirituality come together in life. Glad and grateful for the opportunity to connect through art.

Valentina Youkhanna

Valentina Youkhanna is a self-taught artist who has always had a creative side since childhood. She spent a lot of her time as a kid drawing, colouring, and painting. In her early 20s, she began painting with acrylics and it’s been love ever since. She is not only passionate about the arts and creativity but also had a career as a mental health worker and facilitated art groups for those facing mental health and addiction challenges. In her late 20s, Valentina decided creativity would take the main seat in her life and pursued an education in hairstyling which ultimately led her to work in both professions. By 2019 she would dedicate and commit more time to her creative outlets and left the mental health sector to solely focus on her hairstylist career and art. 

Valentina is passionate about healing through art and believes everyone is creative. She believes everyone has gifts and talents in the arts but as time goes on and people “grow up” they forget what it means to play, to have fun, and let your mind be creative. She hopes to see more people tune into their intuition and create from the heart and soul to express or heal. She values community, supporting one another and believes there is abundance for all in the art world and no need to compete because as she states, “no two people can draw the same line.”

Vian Ewart

Vian’s early career was in the graphic side of journalism. About 15 years ago Vian had the opportunity to go to the Gallery School at the AGO, and then the Toronto School of Art, and then the three-year adult art course at Central Tech Art School. For several years since, Vian has been part of the ProjectArt studio group in Toronto. He has also been involved with a number of group exhibitions from the Praxis Gallery to Lennox Contemporary to Don Valley/Forest Hill and most recently Gallery 1313. Last year he completed a couple of commissions in Canada and the U.S.

We hope to see you there!

This exhibit is one of the longer ones, and we felt that this was necessary due to the complexity and emotional depth inherent in a lot of the artists pieces. We hope that this blog post gave you some insight into why each artist decided to express themselves through this medium, and how their art has helped shaped their life. We are excited to see you at the new exhibit Gestures and hope this work will inspire you in the way it was meant too.

Get to Know the Artists From Chromatics! March 2nd-26th

This month Twist Gallery has chosen 7 local Toronto artists to be a part of our Chromatics Exhibit. Each of these artists has their very own unique inspirations, creative processes and messages they display in their art. Their artwork communicates the same theme of expressing themselves through the use of bold and vibrant colours. How they use and express these colours is entirely unique.

→ Join us at 1100 Queen Street West, Tuesday to Saturday from 11 AM to 6 PM ←

Liz Szymczak

Liz Szymczak’s painting journey started in 2018 as therapy for anxiety, post-heart attack. She initially started painting rocks that she gathered from her walks at the lake. From there she jumped to small canvases, and now Liz’s largest piece to date is 36” x 48” and she hopes to go even larger! Painting opened up in her a well of creative energy that lay dormant for most of her life. Now painting is her sanctuary! All of her work is intuitive and many of her works have appeared to her in dreams. Liz’s only hope is that her art makes the viewer feel- because that is what makes life so beautiful!

Tamar Kevorkian

Tamar is an Armenian Canadian painter born in Beirut, Lebanon. Tamar grew up in Montreal, where she studied Fine Arts at Concordia University and Photography at Dawson Institute of Photography. Her infinite imagination and inspiration from her life experiences along with the influence of Pablo Picasso give life to an empty canvas.

Tamar’s preferred mediums are acrylic, oil pastel, charcoal, and ink, using brushes and palette knives of various sizes. She brings forth harmony to explore and create the visual imagery of her cubist graffiti paintings. Now living in Toronto, Canada, Tamar actively paints both on canvas and on digital media.

“Art should have no boundaries, therefore I paint freely and boldly because Art always matters.”

— Tamar Kevorkian

Judith McKay

Judith McKay is a Toronto-area abstract surrealist artist. Her intensely coloured, vibrant landscapes and portraits are influenced by magical realism and surrealistic dreams. The concept underlying her work is that of inseparable and contradictory opposites. The playful duality of abstract and representation—altering perception and reality. Interconnectedness and dissolving boundaries permeate her work—one element flows into another, merging and mixing, creating something altogether new. We think we recognize the places and people in these paintings but they are not as we remember them.

Her artworks featured at the Chromatics exhibit depict powerfully ethereal women spirits and sensual flowing skies, birds, and flowers in vivid, hopeful colours. Her mission in creating these works is to offer an alternative elsewhere, an escape from the chaotic world we find ourselves in. She uses acrylic on canvas; painting with swirling motion to give a sense of floating in ambient air. 

Recent exhibitions include the Loft Gallery Group Exhibition, The Artist Project, Toronto Outdoor Art Fair, HIRAETH, a solo show at the Urban Gallery, Toronto and FUSION, a shared solo show with Moses Salihou at the Freedom Factory Gallery, Toronto. Her work can also be found in private and corporate collections across Canada, the US, and overseas.

Adeeba Aslam

Adeeba comes from a deeply artistic family of painters, potters and clothing designers with roots in Pakistan. She is a self-taught artist who derives inspiration for her work from her spirituality, lived experiences and interactions with her community.

Over the past several years Adeeba has been trained with and is currently under the mentorship of a prominent Canadian artist, Catherine Shea.

Influenced by expressionist painters, Adeeba typically doesn't have a plan before exploring the canvas. She works with acrylic paint and selected mediums using unconventional tools and techniques to create her abstract pieces. Using bold colours, spatial and organic structures, Adeeba’s paintings evoke an ethereal depth and drama in telling her stories. The process of painting is both a deeply emotional and meditative experience for Adeeba.

Adeeba’s work has been featured at various locations in Toronto, where she was born, raised and currently resides.

For more information about her work, contact adeeba.aslam@gmail.com. Check out her Instagram: @adeeba.aslam.art.

Andrea Higgins

Andrea is a contemporary self-taught artist with a background in music, film, and dance. Her work is physical and improvisational, driven by emotion captured through an abstract lens. She describes her works as a dance with one's self, spontaneous and free, releasing energy, and emotions in a limitless direction. 

Similar to the way music creates a soundtrack to our lives, colours play a role in the background of our everyday moments yet carry meanings that vary from person to person. 

Andrea lives and works in Toronto, Canada. Check out her Instagram: @andreahigginsart.

Giuseppe Mandarino

Rooted in Italian tradition, Giuseppe was born in November 1976 and raised in the Downsview neighbourhood of Toronto. Giuseppe has been passionate about putting paint to canvas since his childhood. Experimenting with his artistic style by fusing a combination of textures, colours, and mediums his creations are one of a kind pieces developed through emotions, surroundings and human connections. Giuseppe speaks through his work, and each paint stroke is an expression. His art is created to channel feeling, movement, and inspiration for those that view it. With a love for his hometown of Toronto, Giuseppe has created custom work for an array of local art collectors, entrepreneurs, and admirers. The world that surrounds us has inspiration everywhere if we take the time to notice it, which Giuseppe displays on his canvas.  

“Do something you really enjoy and it will never feel like work. I’m grateful for my family’s support, and for the opportunities I have been given.”

— Giuseppe Mandarino

Kim Benoit

Creating art is the perfect occasion for an artist to explore happiness. Experiencing art is a mindful activity which allows time and space to experience an emotion. In the paintings from Kim’s series “What Is Happiness?”, she proposes to expound on happiness. What aspects of art make someone feel good? Making a painting that aims to have someone explore their happiness or even to guide them to feel happy is no easy task. She needed to find a visual vocabulary to define happiness. All artists choose a palette to convey the mood. Dark colours can be calming or depressing, bright colours can be uplifting or overwhelming. The use of space can attract or repel. Loose brush strokes and flowing organic shapes can be freeing or disorienting. Strict movement and controlled geometric shapes can evoke safeness or confinement. All of these elements affect the experience. In Kim’s series ‘What Is Happiness?’ She selected paintings that are bright, flowing, and organic for the Chromatics exhibition. To see Kim’s other paintings which express stricter controlled geometric expressions, go to kimbenoitart.com.

The artist’s portion of the proceeds of the sale of these paintings will be donated to research and programs which support people with a mental illness.

We hope to see you there!

Meet Gloria Blatt!

What inspires your art?

My inspirations come from nature and the natural beauty around us. I’ve always been able to view the world through a lens of colour, shapes, and dimensions, and have the ability to translate this into artistic expression.

“Wings” acrylic on birch (30” x 40”) $1,500

Can you talk about your process? What tools do you use to create?

I begin my creations by imagining abstract renditions of images in my mind that have been formed through my life experiences. At times I even surprise myself when the process seems to take on a life of its own. I take advantage of a variety sources of mediums and continually experiment with innovative techniques. Some of my work is done with conventional paint and brush, and at other times they can involve my fingers and other non-conventional tools.   

Source: www.gloriablatt.com

When did you first discover art? Are you self-taught or did you go to school for it?

For as long as I remember, I have been fascinated by artistic expression. I attended formal study both at York University in the Fine Arts program, and Ontario College of Art and Design. York University provided me with a deep appreciation of art history, while OCAD allowed me the freedom to express myself in an incredibly innovative, fearless manner.

What is your personal goal as an artist?

My goal as an artist is first and foremost to be proud of my creations and share my passion for the craft with as many people as possible. It gives me incredible satisfaction when others are able to derive pleasure from my creations and discover their own life-story in my work.  

“Freeze” acrylic, oil, ink, enamel on birch, wood float frame (30”x 30”) $1,300

How do you title your artworks? 

The process of naming my art is often a reflexive response to the creation. It is always spontaneous and natural as my art always conveys a strong personal message.

Do you have a particular piece that has a special connection to you?

Of all of my paintings, the one that is closest to my heart is one inspired by my children, my greatest creations.

“Dragon” acrylic, ink, oil on birch, wood float frame, (30”x 30”) $1,300

Who are some of your favourite artists?

Having studied art history and having visited many world-famous galleries, I am awe struck and overwhelmed by the works of Picasso, Monet, Modigliani, Chagall, and Miro (although my list could go on).  

What is it like to be an artist in today’s world?

Being an artist is both maddening and transformative, as I serve as my harshest critic.  At the same time, the creative process allows me to escape into a state of inner peace and tranquility.

“Dusty Rose” acrylic on stretched canvas, (42.5”x 51”) $2,500

What are you passionate about?

In today’s troubled world, being an artist affords me the ability to remain optimistic and inspired.

What does “Energy” mean to you?

Energy is the life force that I derive from my family and friends, and that ultimately manifests in my artistic expression in the form of colour and movement.

Energy at Twist

Don’t miss this one Toronto! Be sure to visit us at 1100 Queen Street West and check out our newest artists featured. Our doors are open every Tuesday to Saturday from 11am till 6pm.

You can call us at (416) 588 - 2222 or email your questions and inquiries to info@twistgallery.ca.

 And since you’re here, check out the Twist Artist Showcase? CLICK HERE.

 To see what’s Upcoming at Twist Gallery CLICK HERE.

 Follow us @Twistgalleryand @TwistGallery!