Skip to content

Curated by Lex Barrie

February 15 - March 5, 2023
at Propeller Art Gallery
30 Abell St. Toronto

In Ethereal, four emerging artists explore the themes of individualization through the purity and simple beauties of our world.  Acting as guides, the artists showcase their interpretations, creating connections between cultures, experiences and time periods.

Marc Bourgeois integrates a vast array of physical materials to create the stunning illusion of cloud-like sceneries within his works. In Shevon Lewis’ visually communicative paintings, he uses astronomy and physics as symbolic references to ideas of change, growth and moving away from the darkness of mental illness. Sandamali Angunawela’s pieces speak to the passion and pride she has for the culture she represents, using her works as a streamline to connect with viewers and other artists of all walks of life. Ren Lonechild’s works reflect his immediate family’s connection to art, having been first inspired to draw by watching his father, a well-renowned Saskatchewan artist from the Cree nation.

These mundane moments in time are made precious through the artists’ eyes. Their works remind us that, while we may never see true perfection, we can learn from and through the experiences of others, to feel our own ethereal moments.


Purchase Works at Propeller Art Gallery

Artists

Marc Bourgeois

Marc Bourgeois’ photography captures moments of flowing or dissolving paint and blends it with human textures in a sometimes playful, sometimes somber way. Human expressions emerge from a mixture of abstract slurps and splatters. The broader narrative is an ongoing investigation of the fragmentation, identity scrambling, narcissism, disconnection and reality-shuffling typical of our digital era and its various likenings to virtual reality. Marc Bourgeois studied visual arts at Université du Québec à Montréal and at University of Leeds (UK) and commercial photography at College Marsan in Montréal.

Shevon Lewis

Shevon Lewis is a Toronto-based Sri Lankan-Canadian Artist. He is a graduate of the OCAD U Illustration Program and currently works there as a Sessional Instructor teaching Painting. Shevon uses traditional representational oil painting techniques to interrogate human conditions. His observational paintings map an ecology of lived experiences and archetypes expressed through individuality and transnational society, holding the painterly gesture as part of the process of healing and elevating the human spirit.

 

Sandamali Angunawela

Sandamali Angunawela is a self-taught artist originally from Sri Lanka. Her journey as an artist began in 2020, shortly after being laid off due to the pandemic. She had her first showcase in April of 2022. Sandamali is fascinated and inspired by the human struggle in developing countries and their incredible resilience in the face of hardship, having been born and raised in a third-world country. Her pencil drawings are done using graphite, colour pencils and charcoal. She finds beauty and emotion in its contours and movements and tries to capture and portray this ‘Body Language’ in every acrylic piece she creates.

Ren Lonechild

Ren Lonechild is a Cree artist from the White Bear reservation in Saskatchewan who started drawing at the young age of 3. He also became interested in comic books, drawn to the colourful superheroes and action sequences, he studied the techniques and the styles of the illustrators which he would eventually adapt into his own work. In 2016, Ren decided to try his hand at painting and, already having over 30 years of drawing experience, he caught on quickly. This launched an exciting new chapter in his life which led to two art shows and numerous sales. Shortly after, he met Johl White Duck who founded R.U.N. “Red Urban Nation Artist Collective”, a collective of Indigenous artists who create murals around Toronto, which led to working with R.U.N. and streetARToronto.

Curator

Lex Barrie (they/them) is an undergraduate student of the Criticism and Curatorial Practice program at OCAD University.

They have curated in-person group exhibitions at the Ada Slaight Gallery and co-curated a group, virtual exhibition in collaboration with the Ontario Society of Artists (OSA), the Archives of Ontario and OCAD University titled, “The Archive of Merit: From OSA to OCAD”.

Having worked with Propeller Art Gallery for over a year on various projects and exhibitions, they gained valuable experience in the art of curation and design. They acted as the coordinator for the latest “West Queen West Art Gallery Crawl”, in collaboration with 8 Toronto contemporary art galleries, including Propeller in July of 2022. Lex is also a writer for ArtToronto.ca, a Toronto art magazine covering exhibitions across the city.

Acknowledgments

This exhibition is part of Toronto Outdoor Art Fair’s awards program. The Emerging Artists by Emerging Curator Award provides an opportunity for an emerging curator to conceive a show from start to finish by selecting artists from the TOAF artist roster within the framework of their chosen curatorial theme. The show is a professional exhibition opportunity in a gallery setting for the selected emerging artists. This award is generously supported by Propeller Gallery, Propeller member and former Chair, Frances Patella and The Deeks Financial Group of CIBC Private Wealth Management.

TOAF would like to acknowledge the support of the Government of Canada, the Department of Canadian Heritage, the Government of Ontario, Business for the Arts, the City of Toronto and Ontario Cultural Attractions Fund, a program of the Government of Ontario through the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport, administered by the Ontario Cultural Attractions Fund Corporation. Special thanks to the Koffler Family Foundation.

Public Funders

Foundations & Corporate

Programming Partners