CLOISTERED
Works by Laura Rosengren and Michal Tkachenko

September 9 – October 28, 2023

Cloistered presents mixed media paintings by Laura Rosengren and dioramas by Michal Tkachenko.

Laura Rosengren’s work references motherhood, labour and the accumulated marks of childhood. It draws on some of the dissonances, undercurrents and ambivalences that grow out of people living and working together. Her practice involves a mixed material approach to painting, including oil, watercolour, wax and felt. Felting in her work is a counterpoint to the gestural moments of paint and a way to insert a slower, methodical caretaking posture into the act of painting. Something is being done and undone and re-done, every day, and out of the apparent futility, something continuous and forming.

Michal Tkachenko’s work considers how places of dwelling have been transformed by the COVID-19 pandemic, both in terms of physical space and in how we think about home. Using upcycled scale-models, Tkachenko has created five COVID-19 quarantine dioramas presenting lived experiences during lockdown, and throughout the course of the pandemic. For some, home was, or still is, a school, an office, or an over-crowded place of refuge. Others might have felt isolated in large houses, while some were confined to care homes, unable to see family or friends. The impacts of COVID-19 are nuanced and are experienced differently by each individual. Tkachenko’s detailed sculptures offer glimpses into imagined interior spaces, inviting viewers to reflect on the past three years.

Laura Rosengren is a Canadian artist currently living and working on Stó:lo territory near Chilliwack, B.C. Laura has a BFA from the Alberta University of the Arts, and an MA from Regent College, and is currently an MFA student at Emily Carr University.

Michal Tkachenko is a visual artist based out of Vancouver, Canada. She received her MA in Fine Art from the Chelsea College of Art and Design, London, UK. Michal’s works have been exhibited in Canada, the United States, Africa and Europe and can be found in a number of collections including Ernst & Young (UK) and The Artists’ Special Book Collection at the University of the Arts London (Chelsea College Library) in the UK.

Artist Talk with Michal Tkachenko: Sunday, October 1, 2023 at 2 p.m.
Exibition Reception: Sunday, October 8, 2023 from 2 – 4 p.m.
Family Felting Workshop with Laura Rosengren: Sunday, October 15, 2023 at 2 p.m.
Space in this workshop is limited so registration in required. To sign up please register here.