MONICA GEWURZ
Monica Gewurz lives and works in Vancouver, BC. Born in Peru in 1957, Monica immigrated to Canada in 1976, where she obtained both a Bachelor of Science and Master in Landscape Architecture with a focus on environmental design and land reclamation. She earned her Fine Art Certificate and an Advanced Painting Certificate from Emily Carr University of Art and Design. Monica has travelled extensively, studying different art forms throughout the world.
Influenced by Turner, “the painter of light,” and Asian traditional painting, Monica’s abstract landscapes aim to reflect truthfully the moods of Nature. Captured on canvas or in silver, her work draws on the exceptional landscape of the Pacific West Coast, and worldwide tribal symbolism.
She is drawn to the extraordinary in the ordinary, capturing the feeling and emotion on canvas, reflected in her luminous layers and enticing textures. Eliminating recognizable details in her work, Monica explores the texture of patinas, the patterns of light and wind as they travel across water and rock surfaces, and the radiance of both calm and stormy skies. She creates an expression of spirituality rather than visual accuracy. Working from memory, Monica allows her subconscious to lead the way, leaving a space for herself and the viewer to wonder, imagine and dream.
Monica’s distinctive style of textural painting, in which she applies thick layers of acrylic paint and medium with palette knives, results in a 3-D effect, suggesting organic energy, flow and movement. At the same time, she uses multiple glazes of colour to produce contrast and harmony, creating lightness, fluidity, and ephemeral atmospheric effects.
Monica is represented by the following galleries; Ukama in Vancouver, The Kube, International Artists and Mattick’s Farm in Victoria-Vancouver Island. Her paintings have been exhibited at numerous galleries in BC’s Lower Mainland, including Federation of Canadian Artists Granville Island; Ferry Building West Vancouver, International Artists and Seymour in North Vancouver. Her work is in private collections the US, Mexico, Australia, Japan, UK, New Zealand, Peru, China and Europe.
Monica is a Board Director of The North Vancouver Community Art Council, and has an Active juried member status from the Federation of Canadian Artists, member of the North Shore Artists Guild and the Craft Council of BC