For the first time in awhile, Winkler Arts and Culture will have not one but two exhibitions on display for the month of February.
The Park St. gallery is once again making use of its second display space upstairs starting this Thursday, filling it with the work of artist Ngozi Okoye.
WAC executive director Jered Hildebrand is excited to reopen the space for art shows (it’s mainly been used for educational programming of late), given that the main floor gallery is pretty much booked up for the entire year.
“So that means that, other than the members’ show, we don’t have a lot available, especially when you have artists that have maybe just a few works that they want to show,” he says. “We’re reserving six months out of the year just to have it wide open for members to show their work off for one or two months, depending on the interest.”
For Okoye, it’s the perfect opportunity to showcase her abstract art pieces. This will be her first Canadian exhibition since moving to Winkler a year ago from Nigeria.
“It’s very exciting, because since I moved to Canada I haven’t seen like anything similar to what I do,” she says. “So I’m very excited to introduce my art to this community.
“I’m an artist that likes to create art with unconventional materials,” Okoye shares. “So mostly mixed media—paintings with lots of textures and a variety of other stuff.”
Okoye utilizes materials ranging from wine corks to stones to provide depth to her pieces, which aren’t your typical paintings of landscapes or portraits.
“My art is very unusual,” she says, noting there’s room for interpretation in the eye of the viewer as to what they see in her work, which can often be displayed in any orientation. “Personally, for me, I want my art to touch people in the way that they are inspired.
“I would love my art to be something that a lot of people can relate to, in the sense that maybe when they look at it they feel better or they feel hopeful.”
Okoye has always had an artistic bent, dabbling in everything from painting to sculpture to jewelry.
“It’s something that I’ve always, always loved to do, because it’s something that comes naturally to me,” she says. “Many times I can just be sitting down meditating and then something will come to my head and I have to jot it down so I can recreate it.”
Mixed media has given her the freedom to get really creative—just about anything can be used to make a piece.
“Nothing is ever set in stone, because today I’m [using] paper and tomorrow I might be using glass and the next day it might be stone,” Okoye says. “That’s how my art is. It’s different kinds of materials, so I have to have a very open mind to try new things, new materials.
“It’s just like recycling,” she observes. “Nothing is wasted … everything can be used to create something beautiful.”
In addition to Okoye’s show, the WAC is also welcoming Shirley Elias’ Spectrum exhibition in the main gallery starting Feb. 6. Stay tuned for a story on that show in a coming edition of the Voice.
Closer at hand, the gallery has its first Back 40 Festival Coffeehouse this Friday, Jan. 31, at 7 p.m. featuring local artists covering the music of The Highwaymen. There’s free admission and a cash bar.
