| ARTIST BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH: | Watercolour and digital painter Stefanja Dumanowski describes the intent of her artwork as “a meditative experience” to allow viewers to perceive “the objects within the painting [as losing] the ordinary functions of their daily lives [and gaining] the special qualities and meaning which I see them possessing.” Many of her works delight in avian and rainforest imagery, exploding with colour and light.
Born in Peterborough, England, Dumanowski studied at the at the University of Calgary’s Faculty of Fine Arts (1967 – 1968), and spent four years earning her Diploma with Honours in Painting from the Alberta College of Art (A.C.A) (1968 – 1972), graduating the same year she became a citizen. She then travelled Europe visiting galleries and historically significant artistic sites (1972- 1973).
Dumanowski taught at the A.C.A (1974) and the Continuing Education Programme of the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (1974 – 1979). She was a Programme Coordinator at the A.C.A (1983 – 1986) and also taught there (1974 – 2008).
In addition to solo exhibitions in Calgary such as Just This at the Skew Gallery and Mind Glow at the Herringer Kiss Gallery, Dumanowski participated in numerous group exhibitions, including A.C.A. staff shows, The Uncollege Exhibition at Calgary’s James Ulrich Gallery, and Series 84 at Red Deer College. Her work dwells in the collection of Calgary’s Cardinal Energy Resources, Ltd., Cardinal Resources, Petro Canada, and the Alberta Foundation for the Arts, and in other Canadian, U.S., and Japanese collections. |