March 13 – April 25, 2026
Mappae Mundi
Celebrating 120 Years of Abstract Art: 1906-2026
The Main Gallery
Opening Reception: Friday March 13th, 7 – 9 pm
Free admission
Mappae Mundi is a solo art exhibition of new large-scale oil paintings by Alberta-based artist Lori Sokoluk. These abstract works are an expression of the varied inner and outer realms we inhabit, in much the same way that medieval ‘mappae mundi’ combined geography, legend, history, scripture, dreams and nightmares to showcase the range of our human experience.
This work represents Lori’s return to her prairie roots as well as a return to large scale painting and brings her mature artistic expression to themes that have been a lifelong interest: landscape, mystery, duality.
Lori’s personal visual language uses external element to mirror inner aspects of our being. Expansive land under a vast sky represents our body and spirit. Rich summer colors express our abundant life force while the cold stark hues of winter speak of death. Straight lines and geometric shapes interact with landscape contours much like logic and intuition form different parts of our knowledge systems.
Are these new paintings landscapes? Tales of otherworldly journeys? Poetry breathed in secret? They may be all of these things, as multiple perspectives, strong contrast, layering, hints of landscape and ambiguity of abstracted elements work together to suggest rich, multifaceted meaning.
Several pieces are formatted as diptychs or triptychs. This presentation allows each panel to tell a facet of the story, and work in dialogue with the other segments. Other pieces have extensions added to the substrate, allowing the image to break out beyond the confines of the rectangular panel, reflecting the notion that a complete description of our experience doesn’t fit neatly into a simple box. Personal experience and universality are aspects of the same whole. Lori describes her understanding of human experience by weaving together elements of landscape, personal history, conceptual relationships and poetry in her own ‘mappae mundi’.
Artist’s Biography
Lori Sokoluk has recently returned to her prairie roots after many years living in Montreal, Boston, New York and Vancouver. She is now based in Smoky Lake, Alberta in Treaty 6 Territory.
A deep attachment to landscape and an affinity for mystery is readily evident in Lori’s highly abstracted work. Her search for the beauty, power and mystery that underlie the things we see and experience in everyday life is supported by a background in architecture and meditation practice.
Lori holds a Master of Architecture degree and has studied at the School of Visual Arts in New York City. She has taught at the Boston Architectural Center and international art summer schools in Metchosin and Gibsons, BC. In addition, she has served as guest critic at the Massachusetts College of Art, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
She exhibits in galleries in North America as well as at art fairs such as Red Dot Miami and Art Expo New York. Her paintings have been featured in Contemporary Art and Professional Artist magazines, two television shows, on two jazz albums and are held by the New York City Public Schools, Dalhousie University and in many private collections.
Top Image: The Truth Is Not Drawn On Any Map (detail) 2025; oil, acrylic, pastel and NeoColor II Crayon on cradled wood panels, 48 x 108 inch.
Courtesy of the artist
*Opening Recetions are for Members and Guests
