Join us in welcoming Monica Gewurz, our newest local artist exhibiting at the OMG Art Hub: Where Sea to Sky artists come together. Monica is a contemporary and environmental artist who originally hails from Peru but now calls Vancouver her home. We are very excited to have Monica exhibiting at the OMG Art Hub over June, July and August. Drop by and see her exquisite pieces in person.
ABOUT MONICA GEWURZ
“I want to bring the ocean’s beauty and serenity into your home”
After a successful multi-disciplinary career in the Environmental field spanning 30 years, Monica has now established herself as a Canadian international artist making art that evokes emotion and welcomes viewers into tranquil and calming spaces.
Monica’s muse is the ocean and her artwork draws on the exceptional seascapes and sublime sunsets of the Pacific West Coast, and from her travels around the world.
A CONVERSATION WITH MONICA
OMG: What was your inspiration behind the pieces in this exhibit?
Monica: The sea and the reflections in water and light during dusk are the major inspirations for this exhibit. Born in Peru near the Pacific Ocean, and now living in a seaside community, Lions Bay, I look at the water every day. I also get inspired by traditional art that I have encountered on my numerous travels including my native Peru. I always take something away: the colours, textures, patterns, and symbolism.
My paintings are not literal representations of a setting but are meant to create an emotional response. I find it amazing and exciting the connection that some of my ethereal-like paintings illicit viewers that I have never met. I find it humbling when viewers immerse themselves in the layers, shades, and texture of my paintings and they share with me how they are seduced into a visual-tactile and emotional experience ranging from serenity to energy. When this connection is made, I feel my mission is accomplished as I inspire self-discovery, and mindfulness and create a connection, an encounter- a meeting of minds and souls between the viewer and myself.
Most of my seascapes and semi-abstract, paintings depict calm and tranquility. Collectors tell me they help them feel peaceful qualities that are becoming increasingly rare in today’s world. Yet the message is also that we can lose them if we do not take care of nature.
I am passionate about the environment. Sometimes I use my science background to send an environmental message through my eco-artwork. Some include the use of upcycled plastic, textiles, paper, or foils. For example, some of my paintings have a distinct colored sharp horizon line, which intuitively depicts the transition between sky and water, but also depict either a “line of fire” due to the increase of global temperatures or a “line of raising waters” due to melting glaciers. One of the paintings in the exhibit Exposed II, when viewed at a distance, looks like an abstract, but looking closer, it represents layers of permafrost melting in the tundra.
I like to describe my artwork as textural-luminous paintings that have a West Coast and nature-inspired influence. I am known for my creative use of texture and metallic paints creating art that is beautiful, impactful, and calming at the same time.
OMG: Can you describe your creative process or technique and how you approached making these pieces?
Monica: I’m an established contemporary artist who creates mixed-media art that connects with the soul. I use mixed media, for its capacity to reach beyond the visual, to a more tactile experience. The complex surface and depth are created in several stages; to create the texture I overlay thin and thick layers of natural and or man-made materials followed by several layers of opaque and translucent acrylic color layers to give depth and an atmospheric feel; and lastly adding metallic inks, paints and real silver/gold leaf to create luminosity.
I try to work in that zone between naturalism and abstraction. When a painting hits on that otherworldly quality between the two, then I feel I have achieved something – those moments when I see reality in abstract marks and abstract marks in reality.
OMG: What are your plans for future artistic projects or exhibitions?
Monica: I would like to expand my participation in international shows in Toronto, Montréal, New York, London and Berlin.
OMG: Where else can we find your artwork?
Monica: I am currently represented year-round by Ukama Gallery, Vancouver, the Federation of Canadian Artists and the Tofino Gallery of Contemporary Art in Vancouver Island, and virtually by Singulart in France. My current portfolio can also be found online at monicagewurz.com
My artworks have won several international awards and have been exhibited at numerous galleries in BC’s Lower Mainland, including the; Federation of Canadian Artists; Ferry Building Gallery, Silk Purse, International Artists Gallery, the Seymour Gallery, and the Scott Milo Gallery in Washington US. My work is collected internationally and it is in the permanent art collections of the Lions Gate and the Vancouver General Hospitals in Vancouver.
