Past & Present Artists
Maciek Balmas
Maciek Balmas is a multidisciplinary artist who draws inspiration from the organic and natural world. Born and raised in Poland, Maciek spent his young adulthood living in the Mediterranean where he was greatly influenced by his surroundings: the land and sea, and the generous artistic island communities. It was here that he found himself drawn to sculpture and painting which are the foundations of his personal and commercial art practice. He has exhibited his work in solo and group shows for the past two decades and his art can be found in private collections in Canada and Europe. He currently resides in Toronto and is the owner and creative director of Atelier Balmas, an international commercial art studio, that specializes in realizing interior designs, creating signature environments, and art installations.
https://www.atelierbalmas.com/
https://www.instagram.com/atelierbalmas/?hl=en
Elmyna Bouchard
Elmyna Bouchard was born in Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean,Quebec. Having studied printmaking at the Centre Sagamie in Alma, she relocated to Montreal in the early 1990sand has been working as a printmaker and engraver ever since. In 2003, she was awarded the Prix de la FondationMonique et Robert Parizeau. Most recently, she exhibited at the Embassy of Canada in Washington in 2020 at the invitation of the Canada Arts Council. For over 20 years, she has explored art on paper, developing a variety of techniques that often draw on the principles of engraving. Since 2011, she has used the stamping technique both as a constraint and dynamic element in drawing practice. She applies a stamping technique, using a single motif as the basic elements of an image. Monochromatic figures and surfaces are assembled into small drawings that resemble woven fabrics. Through structures initially set upas geometric figures, the shapes slowly transform into a more flexible material, in which gradations and scratches gradually emerge
https://elmynabouchard.com/en/
Kathleen Finlay
Born In Montreal, Kathleen studied fine arts at YorkUniversity in Toronto. Since 1992, she has exhibited her fine art photography in Canada, France, and Internationally in several solo exhibitions. After moving to Paris and studying drawing and sculpture for 3years, she returned to Montreal in 2016 and returned to painting, specializing in large-scale acrylic paintings on wood panels while continuing her photography work. Kathleen’s multi-media project Starfall was exhibited at La Tohu in Montreal, Harbourfront Centre in Toronto and published by Red Deer Press in 2012. She is the creator of The Soulƒood. Kathleen Finlay’swork explores the purity in nature contrasting with human interaction and man-made structures. She is fascinated with symbols that remind us that life is fleeting and transient. The austerity of her landscapes are dotted with traces of our passage and illustrate the idea that nature is immense and that our part in it is ultimately insignificant
https://www.kathleenfinlay.com/
https://www.instagram.com/kathleenfinlayphotographer/
Hans Fonk
Founder, publisher, and photographer of OBJEKT International, OBJEKT ASIA (together with Feng Hui), and OBJEKT USA|Canada; HansFonk started as an international fashion photographer. In recent years, he has exhibited his fine art photography world internationally, beginning in Bangkok with a project made especially for the Jim Thompson Art Museum. More recently he exhibited the Beijing Wall series in Beijing, Hong Kong, and Amsterdam. This was followed by the Golden Ginko series and a special series called Beijing 798, the famous art district in the Chinese capital. In the Netherlands, he created among others the Amsterdam Bottles series and the very special DutchBonsai series. These Bonsai series are photos printed on canvas and painted over with ancient Chinese pigments and egg Tempera. His latest series; Harbor began in Bangkok. This body of work consists of large-scale depictions of harbors around the world printed on special paper. His work has been exhibited in Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Amsterdam, Belgium, Bangkok, Toronto, and New York.
Aline Setton
Aline Setton is a Brazilian artist whose practice primarily focuses on painting. having grown up in São Paulo, she has been deeply influenced by the accelerated urban environment. Aline attended the architecture and urban-ism program at Escola da Cidade University in her hometown for two years before moving to Northern California, USA to study studio arts and become a painting apprentice. The shift from living in a metropolis to the countryside has furthered her understanding of the impact surroundings have on our ways of experiencing physical spaces. Aline taps into the cumulative effects of these changes of landscape to create narratives using abstracted fragments of architecture, geographies, and cultural references. She finds inspiration in nature, the utopian modernists and the cubist attempt to reveal a succession of different points of view in one composition. Aline has exhibited in Brazil, United States, Portugal, and Canada. Recently she has taken interest in themes such as migration and ecological impact, using abstraction to study spatial configurations bringing art, architecture, and nature together on a pictorial plane, which she now explores in her Toronto-based studio.
https://www.alinesetton.com/
https://www.instagram.com/alinesetton/?hl=en
Verona Sorenson
Born in Montreal, Verona Sorensen completed a BFA at Concordia University and embarked on a painting career when she was invited to apprentice with the Dormice art collective in Europe. After two years of training in Austria and in Italy, she moved to Ajijic, Mexico to study encaustic painting. Verona Sorensen has an extensive exhibition history including shows in Canada, Mexico, Europe, and USA. Her paintings on display at Arterial focus on the vivacious, visceral, and dynamic qualities of being alive, as well as the subtle and deep silence that is weaved into it all. Nature is important in her work, as is the notion of slowing down in this fast-paced world. These paintings attempt to join attributes and qualities of inner calm and of a contrasting fierceness; merging the two into one, as nature often does. They are expressions of contending forces that reside within and that strive to coexist; attempting to live both with mindfulness, while seizing the day and staying true to one’s passions.
https://www.veronasorensen.art/
https://www.instagram.com/veronasorensen/
Theo Willemse
Born in Amsterdam, Theo Willemse studied fine arts in Toronto majoring in sculpture. Theo gained experience in the lost wax process for bronze casting while working at Artcast Foundry. He later taught sculpture at The Koffler Centre. Theo Willemse is highly developed in multiple disciplines which is evident in his extensive array of sculpture, furniture, painting, and design projects found both nationally and internationally. Since 1971, Theo Willemse has shown his work in group and solo exhibitions in Canada and has been represented by Gallery House Sol, Merton, Koffler, Contempra, and Spazio Dell’Arte galleries in Toronto. His work is part of several private and corporate collections the US and Europe.“The core of my work is to expose the beautiful balance that lives within ourselves...A perfect balance of the masculine and feminine, allowing the humanity to speak through the forms and layers of skin. With each breath comes a new level of understanding, a clear vision, and a fearless execution.”
http://www.theowillemse.com/
Yves Gauthier
Montreal-based French Canadian Yves Gauthier was born in Hull, QC in 1959. An ardent art enthusiast since a young age, Yves has developed into a talented, multidisciplinary self-taught artist with a wide field of interests in multiple materials. His works span multiple mediums, including; painting, art objects, sculpture, lighting, and furniture. Yves is a strong believer in textures which is often depicted amongst his works, many of which display the depth that texture can convey and provide to the viewer. After studying furniture making and upholstery at George Brown College in Toronto, Yves's main profession resides within the design world, where he is a successful autodidactic interior designer. He also regularly attends international design and furniture shows which keep him in tune with the latest contemporary art movements and design philosophies.