Arts AccessAbility Network Manitoba

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Making a Riddle out of a Solution

Poster description: Poster background is green. At the top of the poster is AANM’s logo and the words coloured blue “Arts AccessAbility Network Manitoba. Below in large back font is “Making a Riddle out of a Solution”. Below in smaller black font is “A solo exhibition by Margaret Switala. In the middle of the poster is an image of Sweet Dreams are made of these painting by Margaret Switala. The painting is surreal paining of a person in a bathtub. The image is viewed from the point of view of the person in the tub with their feet sticking out of the water. The toenails are painted red and the water that they float in is dark and full of lily pads with a few water flowers and an orange fish. The wall of the bathroom consists of light-yellow square tiles. Above the water taps, some of the tiles are missing and through the hole a tropical scene can be viewed. At the bottom of the hole is a sandy beach with a light blue sea with white caps. The sky is a light blue with fluffy clouds. There 2 palm trees visible, one coming from the left side of the hole, and one from the right side. There are three pink ovals along the side of the poster which gives information about the event: “Where: 329 Cumberland Ave. East Parking Lot”, “Free Event! Free Snacks and Drinks!” , “When: July 2, 2021 8pm-11pm” Below the image is a pink box with the following text in black “The exhibition will also be available online at heep://aanm.ca/online-exhibitions/ after July 2, 2021. This event will only occur is health orders permit, see the Facebook event page for updates and more information: https://fb.me/e/2eUViiJrp”

A solo exhibition by Margaret Switala

Headshot of Margaret Switala. Margaret us a white woman with red hair. She is smiling in the photo and is wearing a light pink top with flowers. Behind her I s white wall with artwork.

ARTISTS BIO:

Margaret was born in Regina, Canada and lives in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

She has attended Red River College for Advertising Arts and also has taken advanced  oil painting lessons at the Winnipeg Art Gallery under renowned Canadian artist Wanda Koop.

After working as a graphic designer and illustrator for over 15 years, she returned to her first love – painting and began to take part in art exhibitions.

 Margaret is also an Associate member of The Society of Canadian Artists and CARFAC – Canadian Artists Representation. She participates in group and local shows.

Since 2004 she has participated in international art plein-air residencies, European and American shows both group and solo. She has also received grants from the Manitoba Arts Council and Winnipeg Arts Council to help further her artistic career.

She has received past awards and honorariums. Her work can be found in private and public collections in Canada, USA, Europe and Latin America.

ARTISTS STATEMENT

I find that working in the style of surrealism is the most creative potential of the unconscious mind and has unlimited possibilities of the imagination. For many years, I have been an admirer of such great artists as Magritte, Dali and Chagall but it is with Frida Kahlo that I most identify with personally. 


Working in oil, I choose a juxtaposition of landscapes and objects to create surreal compositions. Most of my work deals with spiritual, symbolical and metaphysical topics. They become a meeting place and threshold between the worlds of imagination and reality, the individual and the collective. It is a paradox within. These unusual combinations can create moments of visual poetry. 

I argue that my surrealistic images are even more representational of life because they contain feelings and emotions that resonate with the viewers. Sometimes life does not have to be viewed according to reality, instead, why not explore the depths of the mind and soul and reach for something deeper than the reality that plague us and traps us daily? Thus I create my own world and reasons and shut out the logical common ones. 

As art is a universal language, it is also a window to your soul.

Making a Riddle out a Solution

Image description: Surreal oil painting of a glass bottle with a cork, floating above a green field with low, green mountains in the distance and many grey/brown clouds fill the sky. In the bottle the viewer can see a woman on a green floating mat with stripped fish and coral in the water below her. The woman on the floating mat is white and has long brown hair. She is wearing a red one-piece bathing suit, sunglasses and a white sun hat. She is laying down on her back on the floating mat with her hands behind her head. The shore is visible in the bottle, a sandy beach with lush green grasses and palm trees behind it. The sky in the bottle is blue with white clouds.
Bottled up Vacation Plans, 2021, Oil on Canvas, 30 x 24 inches, NFS
Image description: Surreal oil painting of an open red door and its red frame. The door sits in a dark green field with dark mountains in the distance and a dark and cloudy sky. Through the open door, light pours out. There are rolling yellow fields visible through the door as well as light blue skies with a few fluffy white clouds.
Tomorrow Never Knows, 2019, Oil on Canvas, 24 x 30 inches, $900.00
Image Description: Surreal oil landscape painting of a cliff in front of a sky in which the sun is setting over purple, grey and black mountains. At the top of the image the sky turns into evening and stars are visible. The land below the mountains is covered in thick fog and is not visible. The cliff rises out of the bottom left corner of the image. Floating just above the end of the cliff is a white woman with long brown hair. She is wearing jeans and a red t-shirt. She is holding on to strings which are attached to six celestial bodies floating in the air: Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Venus, the Moon and Neptune. The strings are pulling the woman off the cliff and into the air.
Fly Across the Universe, 2019, Oil on Canvas, 30 x 24 inches, $900.00
Image description: Surreal oil painting of a black crow. The bottom third of the image is sand and the top two thirds is the sky. The sky is light and white in the lower middle bottom and fades into a darker blue/grey at the top and side edges. The crow is standing on the sand with a red letter “B” in his beak. There are two handheld analog phones hanging from their cords from the top of the image. both phones are black and the following text in yellow, red and brown is coming from the phones “Hello, how are you?”, “Everybody’s got something to hide”, “What time can he come over”, “Interesting thing happened today”, “Give it time, let it be” . “Goodbye”
Let Her be/Letter B, 2019, Oil on Canvas, 24 x 24 inches, $900.00
Image description: Surreal painting of an anatomically correct heart floating in the sky. The sky is blue with light fluffy clouds. The heart is red with veins, arteries and areas of fat. In the middle of the heart is a black keyhole.
This Heart is Locked Forever, 2020, Oil on Canvas, 24 x 24 inches, $900.00
Image description: Surreal painting of an island with a woman rising out of it, viewed through a cave. The cave is dark smooth stone and a wooden train track goes from the cave into the water at the mouth of the cave. The water is light blue and sandy near the cave. The island is floating on the horizon, a third from the bottom of the image. The island consists of a small sandy beach and lush, blurry green flora. Out of the island and behind of it a large image of a woman from the shoulders up is seen. Her head is as large as the island. The woman is white with long straight black hair, pink lips and closed eyes. She wears a green tank top. Her head is thrown back with her hair falling down her back and her face up. The sky behind the woman goes from light white at the horizon, light blue sky and clouds half way up and a dark sky with stars and the moon at the top of the image.
Every Woman is an Island, 2019, Oil on Canvas, 30 x 30 inches, $1000.00
Image description: Surreal painting of a frying pan with bacon and eggs. The black pan sits on a wooden surface. The eggs are shaped like a skull with the yellow yolks as eyes. The bacon is crossed to create an “x” below the skull to look like the classic image of a pirate flag with skull and crossbones.
Fried Egg Skull, 2017, Oil on Canvas, 20 x 20 inches, $700.00
Image description: Surreal paining of a person in a bathtub. The image is viewed from the point of view of the person in the tub with their feet sticking out of the water. The toenails are painted red and the water that they float in is dark and full of lily pads with a few water flowers and an orange fish. The wall of the bathroom consists of light-yellow square tiles. Above the water taps, some of the tiles are missing and through the hole a tropical scene can be viewed. At the bottom of the hole is a sandy beach with a light blue sea with white caps. The sky is a light blue with fluffy clouds. There 2 palm trees visible, one coming from the left side of the hole, and one from the right side.
Sweet Dreams are Made of These, 2016, Oil on Canvas, 40 x 30 inches, NFS (Print available)
Image description: Oil Painting of a field with a white man in a blue suit. The background of the area where the man is dark with storm clouds and trees can barely be seen in the distance. The man is pulling the image up from the right side to reveal the same field but with blue skies and light white clouds. There are also red flowers planted in a circle surrounded by rocks. There are two circles of flowers that can be seen.
Searching for Tomorrow, 2010, Oil on Canvas, 24 x 30 inches, NFS (Print available)
Image description: Oil painting of a sunflower. The yellow sunflower is against a black background but there is an outline of the sunflower on the right side. Inside the outline a blue sky with clouds can be seen. There are also three clocks floating in the sky. The sunflower is to the left of the image and there is a blue, black and white butterfly that is sitting in the middle of the flower.
Silence of Time Passing, 2010, Oil on Canvas, 24 x 30 inches, $800.00
Image description: Surreal oil painting of an orange frog with black eyes morphing into an orange. The head, front arms and body of the frog is visible. At the waist, the frog morphs into an orange peel that is unravelling from an orange. The fruit inside the peal is visible. The frog/orange is sitting on a stone tiles that are grey.
An Orange Metamorphosis, 2012, Oil on Canvas, 24 x 30 inches, NFS
Image description: Surreal painting of an apple core against a black background. The top and bottom of the apple are connected by a woman’s torso instead of the core. The torso is of a white woman with perky breasts, curved hips and a flat stomach. The apple top and bottom have red skin and bite marks that show where the apple has been eaten.
Forbidden Fruit, 2017, Oil on Canvas, 24 x 30 inches, $800.00
Image description: Surreal painting of a stage. The stage red, heavy, curtains are pulled to the side and tied with gold tassels. The stage is wooden and there the scenery background shows a blue sky with a few clouds, a low mountain range and a tree in the bottom right corner. What makes the painting surreal, is two feet wearing ballet slippers are visible on the stage but are so large that we can only see the feet and ankles of the dancer. The feet belong to a white woman and are wearing pink ballet slippers.
Life is But a Stage, 2011, Oil on Canvas, 24 x 30 inches, $800.00
Image description: Surreal painting of an outline of a plush chair is seen in a room with a reddish wooden floor and ocher walls. Inside the outline of the chair is a green field with blue skies. There are six different plush and comfortable chairs that can be seen in the field. The chairs are blue with wood, floral with wood, orange with wood, red stripes on white with wood, a light brown plush chair and a cream-coloured plush chair.
Contemplation of Comfort, 2010, Oil on Canvas, 24 x 30 inches, $800.00
Image description: Surreal painting of fruit. On a wooden table with a white cloth many fruit are floating in the air against a black background. There is one plum, one banana, one lime, one grapefruit, one cherry, two oranges, two apples, three lemons, and three pears.
Enigma, 2010, Oil on Canvas, 24 x 30 inches, $800.00
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