Artist Profile

About the artwork

The AFA acquired this painting through its Art Acquisition by Application program. This program is designed to acquire contemporary works of art by any eligible Alberta artist. The next deadline to apply is April 2, 2024. Read the guidelines and apply.

The AFA acquired this artwork through its Art Acquisition by Application program in 2023. This program is designed to acquire contemporary works of art by any eligible Alberta artist.

Artist statement:

The following is an excerpt of Simone Elizabeth Saunders' artist statement. Read the full artist statement. 

My work uplifts Black womanhood, and the resilience, joy and the strength of being a Black woman. Textiles engage upon a search for belonging, a connection to a community, to personal identity and a connection to Black history. I create narratives through cultural mythology, current iconography, and personal landscapes. A big source of inspiration within my work is Art Nouveau, an era in which female portraiture was highlighted and exuded tremendous grace and femininity. This is reflected within The Messenger, capturing a sensuality, mystery, vigor and charm amongst the vibrancy of colour. It is a style that I capture within my textiles which I have called, Black Nouveau.

Artist profile

Simone Elizabeth Saunders (she/her) is a textile artist based in Mohkinstsis - Calgary, Canada. She holds a B.F.A. with Distinction from the Alberta University of Arts in 2020. Her textiles are hand tufted in the medium of rug-making using a punch-needle and tufting machine.

Saunders explores themes of the diaspora, ancestorship and Black womanhood. Her colourful textiles highlight motifs and iconography from her Jamaican heritage and engage with socio-cultural factors reclaiming power from oppressive ideologies.

Simone has a career in the theatre arts, a previous B.F.A. from the University of Alberta’s Acting Conservatory. Weaving her theatre experiences and integrating dramatism and story-telling within her creations - Simone uplifts narratives of Black joy and resilience. 

​Simone was the recipient from Calgary Black Chambers 2023 Achievement Award for Arts, Media and Entertainment. Simone was named one of 20 "top Compelling Calgarians for 2022" and "Top 40 Under 40" of Calgarian Professionals, by Avenue Magazine. Simone was awarded the National Winner for the Bank of Montreal's 1st Art Competition in 2020. 

February 28, 2024 is Pink Shirt Day. It was first started in Canada in 2007 and is a significant day that raises awareness about bullying.

In recognition of this day, we would like to share the late Violet Owen’s Pretty in Pink.

You can access resources to help you or someone you know who is being bullied, and learn how to prevent bullying.
 

www.alberta.ca/bullying

Violet Owen
Pretty in Pink, 1995
Oil on canvas
Collection of the Alberta Foundation for the Arts

About the artist

Violet Owen passed away on January 21, 2024, at the age of 93.

Owen was a professional artist for over six decades and played an important role in molding the foundation of Edmonton's art scene. The AFA is proud to hold a number of Owen's artworks within its Art Collection.

We extend our condolences to her family and friends.

Violet Owen’s oeuvre features paintings, drawings, and sculptural work, all deeply rooted in explorations of the female form. Inspired by modernist art movements including post-impressionism and German expressionism, Owen wrestles with ideas of form and mood in her work, articulated through pose, placement, and the strongly accentuated forms of the models she paints.

Owen graduated from the Department of Drawing and Painting at the Ontario College of Art and Design in 1953, and has continuously developed her strong aptitude for drawing and colour. There is a spontaneity and restless energy in Owen’s work, as if the artist clearly follows her own path rather than following a group esthetic. She attributes this attitude and her ability to work without fear to the longevity of her practice. During an interview in the early 1970’s, she explained more: "As you get older, you get more aggressive. Sometimes you're afraid to do certain things but the older I get, the less afraid I am … what the hell!"

Owen worked solely with artist and model Mimi Mah for fifteen years, capturing the many facets of this single personality with utter clarity. She once declared the figure to be the most challenging subject to paint, and after building up a lifetime of body art captured in chalk, pencil and paint on paper, canvas, and Plexiglass, she has grown comfortable in her own skin, and with exploring the essence of female sexuality.

In celebration of International Women’s Day (IWD), we are proud to share artwork from Alberta based artist Karrie Arthurs

About the Artist

Karrie Arthurs received her B.F.A. with distinction from the Alberta University of the Arts in 2000. She had her first solo show entitled “Paper Weight” at the Christine Klassen Gallery in 2012. She continues to exhibit locally and internationally participating in solo and group shows. Her work is found in numerous private collections such as that of Paul Hardy Design, in Calgary.  
 

Karrie currently resides in Airdrie with her two children. She is a practicing tattooer since 2001, and has a shop in Calgary, Karrie is currently represented by the Christine Klassen Gallery. 

Watch Karrie talk about her artistic practice and her work in the AFA video "Diversifying the Collection":

About IWD

International Women’s Day is celebrated annually on March 8 around the globe. IWD has been celebrated globally since 1911 and is an important day that highlights the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women.

This year’s IWD theme focuses on inspiring inclusion. We encourage you to take part in an IWD event within your community and continue supporting women in the arts throughout the year.

The Art of Hide Tanning - Tradition Inspiring the Present and Future is a series of commissions to link the past, present and future of Indigenous art.

This project features new works by Amy Malbeuf and Ruby Sweetman created through the traditional thirteen-step Woodland Cree hide tanning process taught at Portage College in Lac la Biche, Alberta. The completed works will be exhibited at the Museum of Aboriginal Peoples' Art and Artifacts at Portage College. Learn more about the hide tanning process on Portage College's website.

Ruby Sweetman is of mixed Cree ancestry and has been a professional artist and an instructor in the Native Arts and Culture Program for over 20 years.

Amy Malbeuf is an award winning Métis multidisciplinary visual artist from Rich Lake, Alberta who works in a variety of mediums such as caribou hair tufting, beadwork, installation, performance, and video.

• Scroll through the slideshow above to see images of the artists and their works.

If you cannot make it up to Lac la Biche to see the exhibition in person, fear not; you can see a preview of the artworks and the hide tanning process in the video below. 

Portage College also made a video about this Commemorative Art Project. Watch it on their YouTube channel.

These works travelled to Edmonton and were exhibited at the Alberta Craft Discovery Gallery, from April 14 until May 26, 2018.

Check out other AFA Commemorative Art Projects.

On Monday, October 30, the AFA installed Peter Hide's Squashed Freemason sculpture in its new location outside the Misericordia Hospital's revamped emergency department in Edmonton. Artist Peter Hide was on-site to assist with the installation and made some time for the AFA to ask him few questions about the artwork and his career.
 

The AFA has acquired several of Peter Hide's artworks for its Art Collection, some of which are displayed publicly. View all of Peter Hide's artworks in the AFA Art Collection.

A Q&A with Peter Hide

Q: As an artist you want as many people as possible to engage with your work. How would you describe what it's like to have your artwork available to so many people?

A: You like it because lots of people can see it. Maybe it will stay there for ages and ages. These days things don't always last but the AFA has quite a few of my sculptures all over the place and I'm very grateful for that.

Q: The artwork that was just reinstalled at the Misericordia Hospital was started in 1983. Would you say your artwork has been able to stand the test of time?

A: Yes. That artwork has been in several different places. I think at one point it was in a private collection back in 1986.

Q: How much does the artwork weigh?

A: One ton. Roughly one ton.

Q: Is it difficult for you to part with an artwork after spending so much time working on it?

A: Not really. Do I treat them like children and I don't want to let them go? No, not really. I like it if it goes to someone. So, no I like when they go. I mean, I quite like having them and if they are around I tend to keep working on them, refining them. So, in a way, I'm a bit of a slow worker but I have made quite a few sculptures.

Q: How many would you say you've made?

A: Four or five hundered. My teacher and mentor Anthony Caro was much more famous than I. I think he's made about 8,000. He works in a different way. He works with quite a lot of technicians but he's quite a great sculptor.

Q: Can you describe what it was like the first time one of your sculptures was selected for public display?

A: The first one that was on public display was when I was student at St. Martins in London. It was in an art gallery but it was also a chemist shop I think. It was in Chelsea though and it sold for 33 pounds that was in 1966. It was great. I thought maybe just maybe I might make it.

Q: Are you currently working on anything?

A: I'm working on tons. I have two warehouses and they're both full. You know, art is difficult: it's open to fashion. When I was 25, I was very well known in England and I sold quite a lot of sculptures there but it passed. That's why I came over the pond. Then it all happened all over again.

Q: Your artwork is part of the AFA Art Collection. Can you describe what that means to you as an artist?

A: I'm very pleased about that. They've really looked after the work. I think they've been very good for me.

Q: Do you have any advice for artists when it comes to large scale sculptures?

A: I think people have to find their own way. When I was an art student, I followed Anthony Caro and he made large spreading sculptures, so I tried to make that as a student. My problem was trying to find out how small I could go. Making sculptures as large as a room didn't suit me very well. Caro would stretch things out. He would stretch sculptures and I wanted to compress the sculpture. I was more traditional in a sense, more like I was a wood carver to start. I had a carver's idea about sculpture.

Q: You've been working as an artist for a long time, can you describe one of your favorite moments as an artist living in Alberta?

A: Oh, that's hard. That's a difficult one you know. I think the first public thing I had was in the Edmonton Art Gallery (now the Art Gallery of Alberta) as it was in those days. I had an exhibition there after I had been here for nine months. That was very pleasing and I thought that I might want to stay here. Everything was new. In New York and London things had moved on and in Edmonton it was fresh. There were many good artists and there was quite a range of people creating. Painting and making sculptures.

Q: You did a bit of maintanence on Squashed Freemason before the re-installation, what was it like to work on it again?

A: It was quite interesting. It's changed. It's been outside for many years and I liked that it got more and more rust on it and it looked like a big monument that was made out of stone or granite. It feels like a monolith.

Q: The artwork has been installed at the Misericordia for a number of years. Now it has been moved in front of the new emergency room. So, something old will be part of something new. What are your thoughts on this?

A: It will get a lot of traffic where it is now. Before it was a bit tucked away. A lot of people will get to see it and I like the idea of that.

Q: What was it like to be part of the installation?

A: It was cold! 

Click on the arrows above to scroll through images. 
 

Featured artwork:
GRANDE ENTRY
By Jessica Desmoulin – 2019 – felted wool, beads and leather
Collection of the Alberta Foundation for the Arts
 

A message from Paul R. Baay on behalf of the Alberta Foundation for the Arts (AFA)

On this third National Day for Truth and Reconciliation (also known as “Orange Shirt” Day), on September 30, 2023, I will take some time to reflect on how the AFA can support and advance the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada's Calls to Action, published in 2015. 

At the AFA, our mandate is to support, encourage and promote artistic activity for all residents of Alberta, which includes lands that are parts of Treaty 4, Treaty 6, Treaty 7, Treaty 8 and Treaty 10, as well as eight Métis Settlements. We primarily work in the area of contemporary artistic activity which, as the legacy of colonization and Canada's residential system continues to be brought to the fore, will be more and more reflected, examined, and resonated by artists of all backgrounds and disciplines in contemporary practice.

Our job is to continue to encourage and help increase participation and arts education by Indigenous artists. Our job is to continue to celebrate the unique artistic and cultural expressions of the mosaic of Indigenous peoples that reside in Alberta. And, our job is to continue to promote the exchange of ideas and artistic collaborations between Indigenous and non-Indigenous artists and arts workers to help build mutual respect and understanding in our arts community. 

That's why our board decided to nurture and promote Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Accessibility through arts-related programming by Indigenous, visible minorities, or deaf and disability artists to engage audiences in and through the arts through the 2023 cycle of our Organization Activation Projects grant program. While the AFA will provide up to $20,000 for projects by a single organization, we will increase that maximum amount to up to $50,000 for partnership projects. 

We at the AFA encourage all Albertans to be more informed about the history and legacy of residential schools, and to explore the rich culture and artistic expression of Indigenous peoples of Turtle Island.

About the featured artwork:
Grande Entry by Jessica Desmoulin

This artwork was acquired through the AFA's Art Acquisition by Application program in 2020. This program is designed to acquire contemporary works of art by any eligible Alberta artist through a competitive application program. 

• This artwork, as well as Autumn Sky, were both part of 38 artworks purchased through this program in 2020. 

At the AFA, we actively support Indigenous Arts as a unique, distinct arts discipline. We also collect artworks by Indigenous artists through the AFA Art Collection to preserve, exhibit and promote. I continue encourage everyone reading this message to visit the AFA Virtual Museum and view the Indigenous collection as part of your learning and reflection on Truth and Reconciliation Day.

About the Artist

Jessica Desmoulin is Ojibway of the Pic River First Nation. As a child, she lived in Rochester, AB and later in Sparwood, BC. She currently lives with her family in Edmonton, AB.

After the birth of her second child, Desmoulin developed an illness that left her unable to work outside the home. She took this opportunity to approach her art seriously and began to paint canvasses and occasionally buffalo skulls in the new Woodland style. Her works, which connect her to her ancestral memories, explore the essential role colour plays in creating a design and reflect nature and the patterns in its creations, such as the rings of a tree, the waves in the ocean, the cracks in the earth and the petals on a flower.

Animals often appear in her paintings, both as symbols and reflections of her family and loved ones and as the totems she approaches for spiritual guidance. Her use of copper, silver, gold, and bronze reminds viewers of the precious materials in our environment and that we need to cherish our world.

Desmoulin has participated in several regional exhibitions, including "Patterns in Nature", "Animal Speak", and "Nurturing the Spirit" at Edmonton’s Bearclaw Gallery (2013, 2014, 2016). Her artwork has been featured on the covers of Alberta Native News (November 2014, September 2016), used as the logo for the Spirit Runner app, which promotes positive lifestyles for aboriginal youth and is held in the collection of the AFA.

See all of Jessica Desmoulin's artworks currently included in the AFA Art Collection.

Pendulum intends to show a personal story about healing by using intuitive and symbolic language, which can be interpreted in many different ways by different viewers, depending on how they relate to it.

Oksana Movchan's goal is to create an environment that resonates with viewers in ways that help them to open up and look deeper inside. Her aim for the artwork is to be a guide and facilitator for the process of healing. Art has a way of inspiring people to explore their real but perhaps unknown ability to build or change their own future. 

Did you know? Alberta is home to more than 345,000 people of Ukrainian descent. Ukrainian Albertans have contributed immensely to our province’s communities and culture.
 

Hundreds of thousands of Albertans of Ukrainian origin help build and enrich our province. Ukrainian art can be one thing to help bring us together and lift our spirits during this challenging time.
 

About the artist

Oksana Movchan studied in Kyiv, Ukraine and obtained a bachelors, masters and doctorate. Throughout her career, she has been working in various fields and medias including printmaking, painting, public art and as a glass artist.

Her artwork investigates personal memory, metaphor, cultural iconography and history through poetic narrative and abstract storytelling. Her artwork has exhibited nationally and internationally in various public and private collections, including the AFA Art Collection.

Art Acquisitions by Application

Pendulum was acquired by the AFA through the Art Acquisitions by Application program.

The next deadline is April 1! Check out the guidelines if you’re interested in submitting your artwork to have it be considered for acquisition to the AFA Art Collection.

Image description

The abstract artwork displays numerous hair-like coils woven in different geometric shapes around a black and grey pendulum in the centre of the image with a grey ball swinging side to side. The coils are twisted together on either side of the pendulum in different shades of grey, silver, brown and gold.