Posted : November 3, 2021
Our blog is chock full of great ideas for fun things to see and do in York Durham and Headwaters. We are always adding new content and updating old posts, but sometimes you might stumble upon something from our vault. If this article has inspired you to hit the road, be sure to double-check that the featured stops in this post are still welcoming visitors.
Art appreciation is completely subjective. We invite you as viewers to make your own personal connections with our digitized art collections by experiencing work that resonates with meaning for you.
Waterscapes
Viewing Ernestine Tahedl’s work offers one sanctuary in a painted Eden. Her ethereal compositions are infused with tranquility. Nature appears idyllic in a perennial world of exquisite beauty – a world that extols the purity of the most basic elements of Creation. In mood, the artist’s work is lyrical. Paint and music converge to interpret atmospheric concept. Tahedl’s deeply rooted appreciation for technical variations in classical music is cleverly integrated in her approach to painting multiple canvases and panels.
Waterscapes is an installment in the City of Vaughan’s PLANET EARTH SERIES, a tribute to champion international awareness of Earth Hour and Earth Day – both dedicated to global conservation and environmental sustainability.
Treescapes
Viewers are invited here into a realm of mystical landscapes where enchanted trees inhabit theatrical compositions. These treescapes read as allegories rich in symbolism and moral lesson where the natural world becomes juxtaposed with one that is man-made. Basic stage props are employed with simple ingenuity to illustrate mankind’s interaction with nature in an environmentally threatened society.
Treescapes is an installment in the City of Vaughan’s PLANET EARTH SERIES, a tribute to champion international awareness of Earth Hour and Earth Day – both dedicated to global conservation and environmental sustainability.
Earthscapes
Earthscapes are an abstract and painterly response to nature – not “views” of landscape as object, but immersions into an experience of place. Lisa Johnson weaves geographic, corporeal and abstract sensibilities through layers of
atmospheric grounds and gestural mark-making to create dramatic and emotional landscapes. These paintings suggest the power and mystery of nature; and despite our attempts to tame and control it, nature will fight back.
Earthscapes is an installment in the City of Vaughan’s PLANET EARTH SERIES, a tribute to champion international awareness of Earth Hour and Earth Day – both dedicated to global conservation and environmental sustainability.
Art Integration Collection
In 2007, the City of Vaughan began building a corporate art collection destined to animate key public areas of Vaughan City Hall, Vaughan Public Libraries and civic partnership venues. Currently, 78 permanent acquisitions are housed in the City’s growing Art Integration Collection. The curatorial vision and collection mandate is guided by a strong commitment to recognize, support and profile artistic excellence; encourage interactive, accessible engagement between artists and public audiences; embrace equality and diversity; foster art appreciation and integrate art into the fabric of everyday experiences. Artists represented in this Collection range from emerging to established in their career paths, working mainly from studios based in Vaughan and the Greater Toronto Area.
Symbolic Expressionism
ART as a symbol has the power to convey both personal and universal meaning. It transcends barriers of geography, language, status, gender and belief. As a reflection of human experience, art evokes a myriad of meaningful responses.
For Rina Gottesman, Bianka Guna and Rachel Ovadia, three internationally accomplished York Region artists of Jewish descent, symbolism is inextricably woven into the very fabric of their work. Unique visual vocabularies evolve in these paintings, where simplicity of line, suggestion of form and blocking of colour collaborate expressively. Their canvases convey cultural traditions, ideologies and personal experiences.
Mysterious and enigmatic, these symbolic reflections often reveal personal elements of Jewish heritage present in the lives of each artist. Rachel’s exploration of symbolism references the Kabbalah and Numerology drawn from ancient Judaic origin. Born in Israel as a child of Holocaust survivors, Rina’s life experiences, spirituality and Jewish heritage merge to influence her artistic perspective. Also a child of Holocaust survivors, escaping the Romanian Gulag and emigrating to Israel, Bianka’s work is inspired by the lyrical style of Israeli music.
