March 7– April 17, 2025
The Main Gallery
Opening Reception for Members and Guests: Friday March 7th, 7 -10 pm.
Free admission
Only in my pain, did I find my will.
Only in my chaos, did I learn to be still.
Only in my fear, did I find my might.
Only in my darkness, did I see the light.
-Unknown
Oksana Movchan’s show entitled, There is a Beginning and no End presents a collection of abstract paintings united by a theme which explores the ancient concept of metanoia, the transformation of the heart and human consciousness.
Oksana’s interest lies in exploring the transcendental nature of the soul through personal experience and a practice of meditation. Her “lived through” and heartfelt experience informs her artistic practice. The studio is her creative lab where thoughts and feelings are dissected, examined, and dressed in the forms of symbols, which she then uses to populate the imagery of her paintings.
Solaris, Piercing Light, Rejoicing Serenity, Meditation Portal No.1 and Meditation Portal No.3 – illustrate Oksana’s continued, and experiential, journey to the destination called blissfulness.
It is in this state, referred to in some teachings as “zero frequency”, where a monumental shift happens- elevating the human being to the next level. There is a deep fascination with quantum theory and ancient spiritual practices that resonate with the artist’s perception of life; this becomes apparent in her paintings as she uses shapes, forms and symbols; portraying this energetic awakening.
Oksana’s paintings feature a variety of imaginary and reality-based spaces populated by dream-like objects, both organic and inorganic, that are infused with geometric figures and undefined visual interventions. She is continually striving to develop and refine her painting technique by adding new elements to her existing painting style. Building on a vocabulary of symbols allows the artist to use a storytelling approach alongside a visual language of non-linear abstraction and surrealism.
Oksana’s earlier paintings can be described as monochromatic or minimalistic in colour since she had previously limited her palette to black, white and one additional colour. The exhibition in the Main Gallery of the Harcourt House combines both monochromatic and full colour pieces as an illustration of search and discovery towards an inner light. This light takes the physical form of the colour spectrum combined with a wide variety of shapes and unexpected portals.
As a visual artist, Oksana transforms her personal experience into a visual expression of her journey. She is talking about the emergence of light after the process of diving into her own subconscious darkness and facing it. Some of the themes that she is working with include bliss, peace, a state of meditation and the twin flames journey.
Artist’s Biography
Oksana Movchan was born into a family of artists in Kyiv, Ukraine. She studied Printmaking at the Ukrainian National Academy of Fine Arts and Architecture graduating with a PhD in 1997.
At 27, Oksana Movchan was invited to Toronto to present a solo-show at the Canadian-Ukrainian Art Foundation. Shortly after this she exhibited at numerous galleries in Toronto, Houston, and Hong Kong. Throughout her career, she has been working in various fields and medias including printmaking, painting, public art, and as a glass artist. Oksana’s artwork investigates personal memory, metaphor, cultural iconography, and history through poetic narrative and abstract storytelling.
In 2012, she was awarded her first major Public Art Commission Project for the Ardrossan Recreation Complex. 2013 saw Oksana present a series of paintings and etchings at the Peter Robertson Gallery in Edmonton. In 2016, she was awarded a Cultural Diversity in the Arts Individual Project Grant, facilitating the development of a new artistic voice which subsequently revealed itself in a body of work presented at the Front Gallery in 2018. In 2020 she was awarded with the Edmonton Arts Council Public Art Commission Project which was completed and installed in 2021 at the Bonnie Doon LRT station in Edmonton.
In 2022, Oksana’s painting Pendulum was selected into the Alberta Foundation for the Arts collection through the Art Acquisition Program. Since 2023, she has taught Painting at the Faculty of Arts, University of Alberta in Edmonton. Most recently, Oksana’s exhibition Metanoia was presented at the Gallery @501 in Sherwood Park.
Top Image: Piercing Light (detail) 2022, acrylic on canvas
Courtesy of the artist
