Everything’s coming up roses Artworks take on new life as floral interpretations By: Thandi Vera Posted: 6:06 PM CDT Thursday, Apr. 18, 2024

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This article was published 18/04/2024 (546 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Spring is about to burst forth, promising a colourful explosion of petals and leaves.

At the moment, however, nature remains dreary, lacking the vibrancy of greenery and buds. WAG-Qaumajuq’s Art in Bloom serves as a delightful transition, infusing life with colour and fragrance.

“It’s just the sense of coming in and celebrating the end of the winter,” says Jan Burns, chairwoman of the Art in Bloom committee.

This year, from today until Sunday, guests can expect to be welcomed by a cascade of more than 2,500 roses, enveloping the space in their sweet aroma.

The event, revived six years ago after its inception in the 1990s, showcases 94 floral interpretations of art pieces crafted by 109 interpreters. Burns estimates that more than 15,000 flowers, supplied by their partner, Petals West, will be used to create the pieces.

“It’s just a beautiful way to inspire, inform, uplift our audiences using the power of floral creations and the artworks,” says Stephen Borys, the director and CEO of the WAG. “(It’s) one of my favourite exhibitions because it incorporates amazing artwork with fantastic floral creations, plus the volunteer component is huge.”

The curatorial team selects pieces from the permanent collection and contemporary exhibitions that create a diversity of images, ideas and themes, Borys says.

“You get a whole variety of artistic periods, cultures, nations and media being used for the inspiration for the artworks. And also, you will find the artworks are spread out over the galleries, so Art in Bloom takes over the WAG,” he says.

Among the selections are nine pieces from the Visible Vault, featuring contemporary Inuit art, including whimsical carvings of animals such as owls and dancing bears, alongside unexpected motifs such as motorcycles.

“At every Art in Bloom since 2017, there’s been kind of a signature interpretation, if you will. And it takes a different form every year,” Burns says.

This year that signature piece is a textile called Our Flourishing Culture by Maata Kyak, an Inuit artist. The artwork will be reinvisioned by eight different floral artists, centered under the skylight. Each design will be arranged in a circle around the artwork, allowing for a 360 view.

“The idea that started this is that if you and I look at a piece of art, we both take something different away from it and it’s filtered through your experience, or your likes or dislikes, or your colour choices,” Burns says.

“So, I thought it’d be really interesting if we took one piece and had the opportunity for eight interpretations of that one piece. Four of the interpreters are trained florists and… we have a couple of architects and two artists.”

Another artist receiving a flowery version of his oeuvre is Winnipeg painter Tim Gardner, who has an ongoing exhibit at the WAG. There will be about 22 interpretations of Gardner’s work, including two watercolour paintings of liquor bottles and a pastel piece called Roy With Red Cup.

Other interpretations will be based on pieces from the exhibitions Dark Ice and Colour Therapy and works from the WAG’s permanent collections.

After the event wraps up Sunday, the flowers provide even more pleasure through Floral Philanthropy, a program through which they are repurposed and delivered to CancerCare, hospitals and care homes throughout the city. Burns says they also plan to repurpose the rose wall.

“(The flowers) will then go on and have a second life with folks that might not necessarily have flowers as a regular part of their day-to-day experience,” she says.

Borys says he loves the aspect of Floral Philanthropy.

“The interpreters and their work keep on giving and it’s just another way to welcome spring right now in Winnipeg,” he says.

Art in Bloom admission is included with gallery admission and is free for WAG members. Seven floral-arrangement workshops, including sessions tailored for children, are being led by Julie Myers throughout the weekend.

tvera@academic.rrc.ca