MICHAEL MACLEOD

Wandering is a shared part of the human experience.

Susan Varga, an MFA student at the University of Saskatchewan, explores this notion in her exhibit, The Wanderer, currently on display at the Snelgrove Gallery.

The Wanderer is an expression of the journeys Varga has taken throughout her life, both physical and mental, and the work is influenced by various events in her life such as the death of her brother and her time at the University of Saskatchewan.

Taking a whimsical approach to the exhibition, Varga creates a conversation between herself and her audience about the journeys we have taken, will take and are currently on. To Varga, the words in this conversation don’t matter, only the feeling the pieces convey. What the viewers are meant to take away from the show are connections that form between her experiences and their own.

She said that while the large space provided by the Snelgrove Gallery was perfect for displaying her work, she struggled transitioning from the studio to the gallery.

“It’s hard to go from a small studio to a large gallery space,” Varga said. “You need to find a flow for everything so that it is augmented rather than weakened, [and you need to explore] how it fits together and interacts with the area around the work.”

Perspective is a major part of the exhibit. In one piece the viewer looks up from the ground through expanded sketches of iris flowers and up into the night sky at stars that are both there and not there — having burnt out thousands of years ago. In another piece the viewer looks down from the sky on large land masses with ghostly figures. These contrasting pieces focus in on the individuals communal entanglement between the two perspectives.

Varga’s exhibit shows how our experiences shape us and how they remain tied up in the present, never leaving us. She uses multiple layers on her pieces to express intangible objects that are obscured by the physical world, with the physical pieces only existing because of the intangible objects supporting them. For example, the exhibit makes audience members aware of themselves through reflective surfaces that remind them they have agency.

Varga creates a nirvana for herself and the viewer through the various mediums on display. This acts as a brief respite for the tired wanderer and a place for her to share a little bit of her story.

[box type=”info”]The Wanderer will be on display at the Gordon Snelgrove Gallery from Jan. 3 to 18. A reception will be held on Jan. 18 from 7-10 p.m. while a special guest talk with the artist will be held on Jan. 17 at noon.[/box]

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Photo: Linnea Bargen