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Scenius: a MFA Studio Intensive

MFA Studio Art Candidates

January 15, 2024 - February 02, 2024

Snelgrove Art Gallery

Curated by MFA (Studio Art) Candidates

Follow along as the MFA Studio Art Candidates take over the Snelgrove Gallery for the next three weeks!

Gallery Hours: The Gallery will be closed between January 15 - 23 to allow the artists time to privately work and develop their ideas. The Gallery will be open to the public January 24th - February 2nd, Monday - Friday between 10am - 4pm. 

Closing Reception: Friday, February 2nd at 5:30 - 8:30pm. 

About the Exhibition

USask MFA (Studio Art) candidates will gather in the Gordon Snelgrove Gallery for a three-week studio intensive to reflect on what it means to collectively engage in creativity as a community. In this new context and shared environment, the artists will consider what it means to contribute to and inhabit creative space. While initiating new dialogues between practices, this environment offers a unique opportunity to convene and carry out experimental and ambitious works while gaining artistic momentum.

About the Artists

Jordan Bidyk graduated with his Bachelor of Arts degree majoring in fine arts from the University of Regina in 2020, completed a post-baccalaureate certificate in visual arts from the University of Regina in 2022, and is a current MFA candidate at the University of Saskatchewan on course to complete his program in the Spring of 2024. He has received multiple scholarships for his studies throughout his educational journey, as well as acceptance into the minor of architectural studies from the University of Calgary in 2018. Jordan has produced dozens of works in the areas of drawing, painting, printmaking and sculpture, a mounted two two-person show and several group exhibitions across Canada and the United States. His current focus lies in depicting abstracted and atmospheric architectural spaces that both follow and defy the pictorial logic of perspective, to add tension and curiosity to otherwise analytical and structured spaces. 

Born in 1988 in Iran, Soheila holds a bachelor's degree in Fine Arts from the University of Art-Tehran (2014). Soheilas artistic journey is a tapestry woven with influences from conceptual art, human figures, Iranian architecture, and religious iconography, manifested in sculptures and installations. Delving into the lives of eunuchs and gender discrimination since undergraduate studies, the work addresses historical challenges faced by communities.

Her artistic language, inspired by the act of observing with prisms and binoculars, converges with the discreet gaze of eunuchs through raree shows. These magical eyeholes occasionally appear in her artworks, bridging past and present events or serving as contemporary subjects to convey profound concepts. Central to her art is viewer interaction, reflecting a commitment to meaningful communication. Through interactive art, she aims to convey deep meaning, foster intercultural understanding, and emotionally connect with the environment. Soheilas artwork finds meaning in the audience's reaction, transforming passive spectators into active participants in the creative exploration of physical space.

Jean-Sébastien (JS) Gauthier is an intermedia artist who adopts inquiry and experimentation to create immersive works of art.

Yang Lan is a painter, originally from China. She has lived in the Middle East for decades and a few years in the US. She had her BFA degree from the University of Jordan. Traveling takes part of her life and traveling experience has deeply influenced her art practice. Nature is her inspiration for art creation and the vehicle of exploration of color and shapes. The rhythms of her paintings depict her muti-perspective vision and the motion of travel.

Demilade Otayemi, a multidisciplinary artist from Nigeria, whose work serves as a powerful mirror to the ever-evolving identity and social consciousness of his environment.

Naazy Sedaghatkerdar is an MFA student, artist and photographer at the University of Saskatchewan. She is from Iran and has participated in several art exhibitions in her home country. Although her primary choice of medium is photography, she is interested in various mediums and techniques including installation, video art, and performance.

Gabriela Sieminska-Hauck is a multidisciplinary artist who was born and raised in south Poland as a member of an artistic family. She moved to Saskatoon, Canada as a young adult where she completed her BFA at the U of S. After years of travel, she returned to Saskatoon and is currently a candidate in the MFA program at The University of Saskatchewan while working at The Remai Modern Museum in the Learning and Engagement Department. She researches the notion and understanding of spirituality in bridging her Polish Canadian roots and through explorative techniques she documents culturally led customs, traditions, and diversity of Canadian culture. Her artistic practice focuses on the idea of cultural assimilation in a multicultural society involving many different communities and nationalities. Her work has been exhibited locally in public galleries. 

Nazli Tabkhi is based in Saskatoon, born in Iran in 1995, and earned her bachelor's degree in Fine Arts in Painting from the University of Tehran in 2018. Since then, she has dedicated herself to working on artistic projects, primarily focusing on self-portraits, While her main focus has been painting, she has also engaged in designing installations, performances, and cover arts on occasion.

Her paintings reside at the intersection of self-knowledge concepts, relational forms, and sets of color shades. Recognized as a medium-curious artist, she is known for constantly inventing new and distinctive styles. Passionate about the psychological aspects of humanity, Nazli utilizes herself as a model to deepen her consciousness through visual arts media. For her, painting is a source of peace and a space for meditating on the beauty within the world she has crafted in her unique style, experiencing the grace of living within it.

Aurora Wolfe is a multimedia artist, researcher, and musician of Cree and Scottish descent. Her work centers on the relationships between Indigeneity and institutions, teasing out stories that have been overshadowed by the dominant colonial narrative. She holds an interest in exploring dynamic relationality and creating art that generates acts of kinship with the past, present, and future.

Programming and Events

Throughout the duration of the studio intensive, the MFA Studio Art Candidates will also be doing a daily Instagram Takeover! Check what they are up to on the Gordon Snelgrove Gallery's Instagram Account: https://www.instagram.com/snelgrove.gallery/