Workshop: Queering the Figure: Reinterpreting Realism through Abstraction

Tuesday, October 1, 2:00 - 4:00 pm
greenhouse feminist artlab, University of Winnipeg Library
For 2SLGBTQIA+ people

Pre-registration required.

Presented in partnership with the greenhouse feminist artlab, the University of Winnipeg Department of Women's and Gender Studies and Margaret Laurence Endowment Fund Community Grants.

Artists Laura Lewis and Julian K. will present a two hour interactive workshop centred on interpreting shape and form through abstraction. Participants will make a departure from literal representation in portraiture through a focus on mark making, colour theory, and texture. All materials will be supplied. No prior painting experience is required. This workshop is presented in conjunction with The In-Between exhibition.

Register today!

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Laura Lewis is a queer visual artist originally from Kjipuktuk (Halifax, Nova Scotia) currently based in Treaty 1 Territory (Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada). Her conceptual figurative painting practice explores philosophical questions concerning psychosexuality, the multiplicities of self, and nuances of the human condition. Lewis graduated in 2018 with a combined degree from NSCAD and the School of Art, University of Manitoba BFA Honours program. She is the founder and facilitator of Critical Painting Perspectives, presented by Mentoring Artists for Women’s Art (MAWA). She has participated in artist residencies at the Banff Centre for the Arts and Creativity, and in Civita Castellana, Italy. She was featured in the 2023 Painting issue of Border Crossings Magazine (interview by Robert Enright). In 2024 her work will be exhibited at various institutions across Canada including Modern Fuel, MAWA, aceartinc. and Gallery 1C03 at the University of Winnipeg.

Julian K (he/they) is an interdisciplinary artist and writer based in Treaty One. His work explores inadequacy, queerness, trans identity, failure, and play! These ideas are often explored through humour and pushing the boundaries between personal and public.