ian tan gallery
CONTEMPORARY CANADIAN ART




 

    erikaTOLIUSIS

Inner Light
May 23 - June 11, 2009

Opening reception: Saturday, May 23rd; 2 - 4pm
Artist in attendance


Never stay forever  2009  Oil on canvas  36" x 58"  SOLD


Blink  2009  Oil on canvas  40" x 60"


Mirror of the Self  2009  Oil on canvas  36" x 58"


Sweetness  2009  Oil on canvas  32" x 58"


Blossoms of Blue  2009  Oil on canvas  32" x 58"  SOLD


Connecting Moments  2009  Oil on canvas  36" x 58"


Garden  2009  Oil on canvas  40" x 60"


Gift of Tears  2009  Oil on canvas  24" x 58"


Scent of Rain  2009  Oil on canvas  24" x 58"  SOLD


Song of a new Day  2009  Oil on canvas  24" x 58"  SOLD


I am of Earth's  2009  Oil on canvas  24" x 58"


A True Story  2009  Oil on canvas  12" x 32"


All things at Rest  Oil on canvas  12" x 32"


A Soft Heart  Oil on canvas  32" x 58"


Rain Drops  Oil on canvas  32" x 58"


Early Risers  Oil on canvas  20" x 60"


Self Portrait  Oil on canvas  24" x 60"  SOLD


Falling Up  Oil on canvas  36" x 58"


Forever  Oil on canvas  24" x 56"  SOLD


Let it be  Oil on canvas  20" x 56"


Three Hundred Sixty  Oil on canvas  40" x 60"


Wind Riders  Oil on canvas  40" x 60"

Inner Light - Erika Toliusis - introduction by Sherri Kajiwara

 “ It was a lovely morning, full of enchantment and beauty, there were so many shadows and so many leaves trembling. There was perfume in the air and though it was an autumnal sun there was the breath of spring. “ J. Krishnamurti

 At first sight, your eyes are inexplicably magnetized to a view of the horizon line of an ocean, the power of clouds swirling overhead, or to the play of light upon a wave.  There is a recognition of space and place that is simultaneously familiar and foreign. Upon closer inspection, you realize you are not looking out of a window or peering into a photograph, but rather, are in the presence of an Erika Toliusis painting.

 In seeking the familiar, one cannot fail to draw comparisons of Toliusis’ sweeping vistas to Turner, Homer or Bierstadt, but these are not the influences who have informed the artist’s work.  All locations are real, primarily drawn from travels abroad.  They are not, however intended to be a documentation of place.  Locations are selected specifically for the sensory emotion they elicit. The real inspiration behind this artist, the energy that flows in and through her work, is most strongly identified by the artist’s favourite philosopher, J. Krishnamurti.  Painting to Erika Toliusis, is a meditation and as the sage cogently states,  “Meditation is the seeing of “what is” and going beyond it.”  

Her earliest experiments with paint quickly taught her that while she may be inspired by the traditional theme of landscape, her methods are not to be dictated by the brush.  Rather, she discovered that the purity of colour in the mixing of pigment can only be achieved to her liking if done with the palette knife and applied with the same.  Ms. Toliusis’ remarkable ability to realistically capture expressive landscapes in oils is executed entirely with the palette knife.

 Toliusis is consistent in her dramatic use of shade & shadow and invariably silent spaces.  In this newest body of work, however, there is a movement away from the idyllic and peaceful landscapes that the artist is best known for, to a more transformative view of the world with stronger expressions of light.  Oceans surge in multi-coloured waves in “Falling Up”, clouds whorl in deft movement in “Never stay forever” and sunlight dances enticingly in both “Connecting moments” and “Mirror of the Self”.  Your senses are beckoned to come fully alive in the viewing.  An awakening of sorts.

 Born in the capital of Uruguay and educated in both Montevideo and Massachusetts, Toliusis calls Vancouver, Canada her home.  She has exhibited throughout Canada, the US, South America and Europe and is in numerous private and corporate collections.

 

prior work:


Birdhouse  2008  Oil on canvas  36" x 60"


Exposed  2008  Oil on canvas  56" x 32"


Neighbourhood  2008  Oil on canvas  56" x 36"


The other side  2008  Oil on canvas  30" x 16"


The other tree  2008  Oil on canvas  56" x 32"


Tree Song  2008  Oil on canvas  36" x 72"  SOLD


By Peter's playground  2008  Oil on canvas  36" x 56"  SOLD


Day's end  2008  Oil on canvas  36" x 56"  SOLD


Escape  2008  Oil on canvas  16" x 30"  SOLD


I am  2008  Oil on canvas  36" x 56"  SOLD


Essential  2008  Oil on canvas  36" x 56"  SOLD


Old friends  2008  Oil on canvas  36" x 60"  SOLD


The end of the story  2008  Oil on canvas  24" x 56"  SOLD


All of us  2007  Oil on canvas  30" x 72"  SOLD


La Paloma  2007  Oil on canvas  34" x 58"  SOLD


Southward  2007  Oil on canvas  16" x 48"  SOLD


Silent  2007  Oil on canvas  34" x 58"  SOLD

  
artist's cv

Please contact the gallery for more information and images.

 

 
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Copyright 2009.  Ian Tan.