About the Exhibition

Exempla – exhibition essay by Nicole Boyce

Combining artistic tradition with contemporary mythos, Wendy Tokaryk’s Exempla examines spirituality in a morally ambiguous age.Inspired by Albrecht Durer’s moral allegories, the collection uses color and movement to evoke a tranquil, meditative mood, coaxing the viewer into moral contemplation.Though graceful and understated, the collection shares with Durer’s work a rich symbolism; through gentle iterations and soft, natural tones, Exempla leads the viewer through a process of spiritual discovery.

In the collection’s multi-print pieces, the viewer sees the same theme repeated in several forms.The shapes are organic, reminiscent of sunbursts, plant cells, organs rendered in gentle strokes.The colors are soft yet ripe; warm, yolky yellows, blush pinks and hushed, minty greens create a spring-like palette, suggesting an awakening or rebirth – something on the cusp of discovery.

Contrasting softness with vibrancy, Tokaryk drags the viewer’s eye across the work, making us aware of our processes of seeing and interpreting. In doing so, she constructs a gentle provocation, suggesting a question but not imposing an answer. The work is thought-provoking but unobtrusive;we feel not alienated but absorbed, invited to join in the contemplative process.

Even at their boldest – a vacuous blue sphere, a color palette becoming darker and more constrained – Tokaryk’s pieces are tempered by soft edges and a quiet, almost dream-like pace. Never melodramatic, merely vivid and evocative, they swell along their natural course, coaxing the viewer through a personal journey.

The total effect is introspective and ethereal. Balanced and subtle, the prints glow with an almost sublime light.Indeed, the artist envisioned the prints as halos, symbolic references to meditation, illumination and enlightenment.While some areas are vivid and sharp, others remain vague and tenuous, suggesting notions pondered but not yet excavated.

In this way, Exempla leads its viewers through a philosophical exploration, asking us to examine our morality in the context of social ideals.The collection’s name has dual meaning: ‘exempla,’ in the plural, means pattern.The singular form – exemplum – means anecdote or sermon. Indeed, these pieces are both patterns and anecdotes. In their movements and repetitions, we feel an idea threaded, looped, frayed and amended – a notion under quiet but diligent inspection. 

As with all meditations, Exempla is as much about process as enlightenment. The images give the sense of ripening and shifting within their own identities – although contained by borders, they are not restricted from growth and discovery. The colours seem to distill and become aware of themselves before drifting back into a haze. There is a sense of moral ambiguity here – the search for truth portrayed as constant flux.

Asking not just “are you good?” but ” what is goodness?”. Exempla is confident yet esoteric. The collection provides a catalyst for reflection, marrying traditional engraving techniques with modern metaphysical questions. In doing so, Tokaryk creates art both fresh and retrospective, shedding new light on humanity’s search for meaning.

About the Artist

An acclaimed print and paper artist, Wendy Tokaryk has exhibited across Canada and Japan. With collections at the University of Calgary and The Glenbow Museum, she is a significant presence in Alberta’s printmaking landscape.