or (repeat the process seven times)
MFA Studio Art Candidates
January 15, 2025 - February 07, 2025
Snelgrove Art Gallery
Curated by MFA Studio Art Candidates
Gallery Hours: check back for hours and public events. Closing Reception: TBA
About the Exhibition
The culmination of a three-week residency at the Snelgeove Gallery, or (repeat the process seven times) brings together the works of seven women. Each are Master of Fine Arts candidates from diverse cultural and geographical backgrounds. Arriving here from many continents, each artist brings a unique perspective shaped by their personal experiences, artistic practices, and cultural heritage: their positionality.
Through a dynamic interplay of mediums—ranging from painting, sculpture, video, performance and installation—the exhibition serves as a tapestry of distinct artistic voices. Interwoven themes of identity, memory, place, and belonging emerge across the work, as the artists explore the intersections of the personal and the communal, the traditional and the contemporary, and the individual and the collective.
This collaborative residency fosters a space for dialogue and experimentation, wherein the shared experiences of creation and curation have been as significant as the resulting presentation.
or, (repeat the process seven times) not only celebrates the diversity of women in the arts but also highlights the potential of art to transcend boundaries, connect communities, and envision new possibilities rooted in relation.
About the Artists
I am a Canadian of Indian origin, a multi-disciplinary artist, and an MFA candidate at the University of Saskatchewan School for the Arts. My primary research interests include community, landscape, land, and migratory experiences—human or material journeys—along with memory, presence, and absence themes. I have honed these interests through various media, such as sculpture, photography, printmaking, drawing, and ethnographic research methods. My connection to diverse lands, cultures, and the narratives of different people inspires my artistic journey. I start with experimentation, research, and a desire to understand my materials. I aim to create a dialogue between myself, my chosen materials, my methodologies, and my viewers. My work often fosters reciprocal relationships by promoting listening and sharing of stories. An ongoing question, "What is the connection between art and me?” positions me in a state of receptiveness—between the known and unknown in each piece I create. As I attempt to answer this question, a pattern of connections emerges among my childhood experiences, stories, memories, and relationships up to this moment.
Veronika Chermenskaya is a young Russian-Jewish artist, who recently relocated from Israel for her MFA in Studio Art. She merges traditional drawing with animation using a variety of digital software to immerse the viewer in mental states that provoke transcendental experiences. Anchored in memory, Veronika’s work allows her to journey through time, place, space, and states of mind. She depicts specific places where each remembered detail acts as a type of object mnemonic.
Shona Dietz is a prairie based multi media artist whose work has a connection to memory, ritual and the everyday. Her practice is rooted in materiality; the history and cultural association of her materials become the content of her work. Currently, she is investigating the inevitability of aging and the experiential and perceptual shifts that occur, which affect the individual and their communities – namely all human connections. Based in Saskatoon, she received her Bachelors of Fine Arts degree from the University of Saskatchewan and is currently a candidate in the Master of Fine Arts program. She has been involved in numerous arts organizations and is an active member of CARFAC. Her work has been exhibited across Canada and in the United States.
Born in 1988 in Iran, Soheila Fallah is a multidisciplinary artist who holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Art-Tehran (2014) and is currently an MFA candidate at the University of Saskatchewan. Her practice delves into themes of self-reflection, spatial perception, and cultural identity, drawing inspiration from conceptual art, human figures, and Iranian architectural elements.
Guided vision, inspired by the Iranian Shahre Farang, or Raree Show, is a recurring theme in her work. This influence allows her to explore the dynamic interplay between 'inside' and 'outside' as physical and emotional spaces. By bridging the known and unknown, she invites viewers to engage with abstract concepts and reflect on the complexities of perception.
Naaz Sedaghatkerdar is an interdisciplinary artist, originally from Iran (born in 1995), who holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Photography from the University of Tehran (2019) and is currently pursuing her MFA at the University of Saskatchewan. Having participated in several art exhibitions in her home country, her practice explores the interplay of themes such as everyday life, identity, belonging, location, dislocation and the immigrant experience.
Gabriela Sieminska-Hauck is a multidisciplinary artist who was born and raised in southern Poland in an artistic family. As a young adult, she relocated to Saskatoon, Canada, and earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) Honours degree from the University of Saskatchewan. After extensive travels, she returned to Saskatoon and is currently pursuing a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degree at the University of Saskatchewan, focusing on photography and visual arts.
Gabriela teaches foundational drawing and photography courses at the University of Saskatchewan's School for the Arts and works at the Remai Modern Museum in Saskatoon. She is part of the museum's Learning and Engagement Department, where she teaches art, conducts workshops, and develops descriptive tours.
Her artistic practice explores the body as a living archive where memory, history, and identity converge. Gabriela creates mixed-media installations and performances that challenge static perceptions of memory and narrative. She crafts immersive environments where past, present, and future overlap by integrating ephemeral materials, muted tones, and interactive elements, inviting viewers to engage with their memories meaningfully. Gabriela’s work bridges personal and universal experiences, illuminating the body as a site of transformation.
Nazli Tabkhi is based in Saskatoon, born in Iran in 1995, and earned her bachelor's degree in Fine Arts in Painting from the University of Tehran in 2018. Since then, she has dedicated herself to working on artistic projects, primarily focusing on self-portraits, While her main focus has been painting, she has also engaged in designing installations, performances, and cover arts on occasion.
Her paintings reside at the intersection of self-knowledge concepts, relational forms, and sets of color shades. Recognized as a medium-curious artist, she is known for constantly inventing new and distinctive styles. Passionate about the psychological aspects of humanity, Nazli utilizes herself as a model to deepen her consciousness through visual arts media. For her, painting is a source of peace and a space for meditating on the beauty within the world she has crafted in her unique style, experiencing the grace of living within it.
Programming and Events
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