Zoe Pawlak
Artist Statement
Where we Were and Are
Where we Were and Are is a series of fictional landscape paintings. They are emotive passages of land and sky derived from memory and invention. The title refers to the act of remembering and the notion that imagination plays an integral role in how we situate ourselves in the present according to the places we have been in the past.
The artist’s desire is to both value and evaluate images of places we have been by inviting us to look at the landscape within. The artist uses colour to juxtapose the approachable with the foreboding, creating a tension between the allure of the ideal and the resistance to enter the unknown.
The series is built around the notion that the viewer can encounter what seems to be a familiar place although there are no direct clues in the paintings as to where they are actually situated. Where we Were and Are challenges our quick attempts to catalogue, name and date associations related to place and instead encourages the viewer to enter the ambiguous climates of new regions of imaginary space. Paradoxically in encountering the unknown and the familiar, personal reminiscence is evoked. The paintings become the means of travel. Memory becomes the territory to be re-discovered.
Where we Were and Are considers the accumulation of places we have been and those experiences that commit us to the place we now are.
Education
2005 Nova Scotia College of Art and Design University, Halifax, N.S., B.F.A
Universidad de Las Americas, One semester exchange, Cholula, Mexico
2003 Nova Scotia Collage of Art and Design University, Continuation of B.F.A. Halifax, N.S.
2001 Concordia University, Began B.F.A., Montréal, P.Q.
Vancouver Art Institute, Studio Classes, Vancouver, B.C.
2000 Langara College, Art History Program in Europe, Vancouver, B.C.
Current Exhibitions
2008 Where We Were and Are, The Fort Gallery, Ft. Langley, B.C.
Individual Exhibitions
2007 Oil, Terror and the Superunconscious, North Vancouver Arts Council, N. Vancouver, B.C.
2007 Growing Old Inside, The Fort Gallery, Fort Langley, B.C.
2007 Profession of Hurt, Interurban Gallery, Vancouver, B.C.
2005 Los Obreros son Muchos, Bertha Cuevas Gallery, Universidad de las Americas, Cholula, Mexico
2004 New Paintings by Zoë Pawlak, White Rock and South Surrey Community Arts Council Gallery, White Rock, B.C.
24 Hour Self-Portrait, the Khyber Centre for the Arts, Halifax, N.S.
2003 Convincing Myself: unaccompanied, Department of Safety Gallery, Anacortes, Washington
Group Exhibitions
2006 Encore, Delta Community Arts Council, Delta, B.C.
N.S.C.A.D. University 2006 Graduation Exhibition, Halifax, N.S.
Miniature Show and Sale, The Art Exchange, London, ON
2005 Figure Painting: Summer 2005, Anna Leonownes Gallery, Halifax, N.S.
Midsummer Nights Dream, FRED Gallery, Halifax N.S.
2004 N.S.C.A.D. Group Show, The Loge Gallery, Nova Scotia College of Art and Design University, Halifax, N.S.
B.C. Interior Home and Design Show with fractureindustries, B.C. Place Stadium, Vancouver, B.C.
Nice to Meet You, Huundai Gallery, University of Ulsan, Ulsan, Korea
2003 Span with Jen Diamond, V.A.V. Gallery, Concordia University, Montréal, P.Q.
Art-traction, Montréal, P.Q.
Annual Members Show, eyelevel Gallery, Halifax, N.S.
2002 Paintings and Drawings with Katie Dutton, Gallery X, Concordia University, Montréal, P.Q.
2001 F.A.S.A. Magazine Launch Exhibition, Concordia University, Montréal, P.Q.
White Rock Community Arts Council Foundation Silent Auction, White Rock, B.C.
1998 Annual Group Grad Show and Annual Print Show and Sale, Mary Pratt Gallery, Ft. Langley, B.C.
A Maze of Grace, Trinity Western University Group Exhibition, Ft. Langley, B.C.
Publications, Grants and Awards
2007 CBC Radio Canada, Jan. 22nd, 2007
CBC National News, Jan.13th, 2007
The Globe and Mail, Jan. 11th, 2007
The Province, January 8th, 2007
Peace Arch News, January 6th, 2007
The Now, January 6th, 2007
2003 The Montreal Mirror, ArtsHole, July17-23, 2003. vol.19, No.5
2002 George Balcan Award for Fine Arts, Concordia University, Montréal, P.Q.
Nomination for Golden Key Membership, achieving excellence in Fine Arts, Concordia University, Montréal , P.Q.
