Unfinished Tales 
The World and Works of Charles Van Sandwyk

September 16 – November 1, 2025

Exhibition Reception: Sunday, September 21, 2025 from 2:00 – 4:00 p.m.
Poetry Reading with Charles: Friday, September 26, 2025 from 6:00 – 7:30 p.m. Tickets on sale here
Artist Talk: Sunday, October 19, 2025 at 2:00 p.m.

Unfinished Tales: The World and Works of Charles van Sandwyk, is a mid-career survey of rare and never-before exhibited work by local artist Charles van Sandwyk. The exhibition ranges from paintings made by van Sandwyk during his youth in Deep Cove, to his most recent watercolour paintings, etchings and latest book “Fah-nama-nama-nama-lah”. Unfinished Tales is van Sandwyk’s most comprehensive exhibition to date, with many pieces on loan from private collections in addition to 40 new pieces he created for this exhibition.

“It is a strange fact in my life as a painter that, as a practised skill develops over time from naive beginnings, I realize that the pictures I draw now could never have been accomplished back then. More poignantly, what I did then I could not do now”. – Charles van Sandwyk

In addition to this retrospective with original paintings, prints, special edition books, and a kinetic sculpture, a facsimile of van Sandwyk’s artist studio has been carefully recreated in the gallery. This eclectic space created by van Sandwyk and collaborator Indika Gnanaratna, gives visitors an intimate glimpse into van Sandwyk’s studio in Fiji. Collected objects from around the world, notes, sketches, art materials, and varied sources of inspiration enrich the studio space, lending insight into van Sandwyk’s creative process.

Charles van Sandwyk was born in Johannesburg, South Africa in 1966. In 1977, he emigrated with his family to Vancouver, Canada, where he studied graphic design at the Capilano College art programme in North Vancouver. Upon graduating in 1986, van Sandwyk travelled to the South Pacific and fell in love with islands of Fiji and its inhabitants.

In that same year, van Sandwyk won an Alcan award for his limited-edition book “A Selection of Neighbourly Birds”, illustrated with etchings printed on an antique intaglio press. The National Library of Canada has maintained archives on his work since 1986, and in 1992 purchased the original drawings and paintings for his children’s book “The Parade to Paradise”. The book Wee Folk won Juror’s Choice award at the 1994 Seattle Book Fair, and also third prize at the Alcuin Awards ’95 for limited editions.

Van Sandwyk began to divide his time between Vancouver and Fiji (leasing land from the neighbouring family and building for himself a simple home of grass thatch, in the traditional island style) and settled into a pleasurable routine of winter seasons in Fiji filled with painting and writing, the results of which were brought back to Canada each summer and prepared for exhibition and publication each autumn. The fruits of these labours, his watercolours, etchings and books, are now collected across North America and in Europe.

An Evening of Poetry with Charles van Sandwyk
Friday, September 26, 2025 from 6 – 7:30 p.m. 

Please join us in celebrating our current exhibition Unfinished Tales: The World and Works of Charles van Sandwyk. For this special event Charles will read a selection of his newest stories and poems in the comfort add ambiance of the Deep Cove Shaw Theatre. This reading coincides with the launch of Charles’ new book “Fah-nama-nama-nama-lah” the story of a little boy who falls in love with a baby elephant in the heart of Sri Lanka before the war.

Ticket sales for this event support Seymour Art Gallery’s exhibitions and programming. Doors open at 5 p.m., at which time you will be able to choose your seat. The event begins at 6 p.m. Special thanks to Michael and Eileen Smith at First Impressions Theatre for their support of the Seymour Art Gallery, Charles van Sandwyk, and this event.

“Whimsy in nature is very appealing to me. Ever since I was a lad in Africa, I’ve been inspired by detail and clarity – the sharpness of a hornbill’s eye, the curve of its beak, the fine hairs on a warthog’s snout. I strove to put to paper the magic that was in the world around me. The heart of my stories came much later when I happened upon Fiji in my 20th year. Fijians are great story tellers and avid listeners, and I was always asked to prepare evening tales for the family I stayed with, particularly for the children. I still work closely with the friendships I forged in Fiji all those years ago, and I’m proud to collaborate with Mr. Waisiki Doughty, who I’ve known for 37 years. The need to create whimsical artwork comes from a deep love of humanity. We are servants of beauty.”

 – Charles van Sandwyk