Tomoyo Ihaya, Well #1, 2005, Etching on paper, Collection of the Alberta Foundation for the Arts
There are many events and feelings one experiences throughout their life that can lead to contemplations of the spiritual. Messages from ancestors, the way the air is charged at a sacred place, gazing up at the stars, when you are in church for prayer or how knowledge passed down from our ancestors can strike a deep chord within ourselves. These humbling moments lead us to ponder life’s mysteries and delve further into life than the material and the immediate.
Selected from the collection of the Alberta Foundation for the Arts, the travelling exhibition What Lies Beyond features a wide variety of mediums, from photography to etchings to paintings. Each work explores a different facet of what it means to be spiritual.
All the world’s religions have made vast contributions to the imagery, materials, titles, and metaphors for God and spirituality. Drawing influence from typical religious iconography, indigenous spirit animals, as well as more abstract interpretations this exhibition encourages the viewer to meditate on what they consider to be spiritual, where their beliefs lie, and what the nature of reality really means.
Cover image: Orest Semchishen, St. Vladimir’s Church, Vegreville, 1974, Silver gelatin on paper, Collection of the Alberta Foundation for the Arts
Curated by Danielle Ribar, Art Gallery of Grande Prairie (TREX Region 1)
