ESTEVAN - The Estevan Art Gallery and Museum (EAGM) celebrated its two newest exhibits during a reception Friday night.
Robert Truszkowski's display Weeb is currently in Gallery No. 1, and his wife Sarah Cummings Truszkowski has More than Sugar and Butter on display in Gallery No. 2. Both artists were present for a reception Friday night at the EAGM.
Robert Truszkowski noted weeb is a term often associated with an unsociable person obsessed with Japanese culture, and much of his exhibit deals with things that consume people.
"I love the opportunity to have a show in a public exhibition or show at a public gallery like the Estevan Art Gallery and Museum, because typically I can do weird stuff that I can't necessarily do in a gallery where we're trying to sell a thing or two," said Truszkowski.
A series of Japanese paper lantern installations, which he created, are named Weeb. Among the other components of his exhibition is a map from a Dungeons and Dragons video game he played as a child.
"I reclaimed that term [weeb] as many nerds and weirdos have over the past number of years," he said.
There are also small photographic etchings, the Horrors of War, on one wall that stem from his love for a movie.
"They all look similar, but they're different, and they're individual frames from an animation on the Internet that features the actor Russell Crowe as Inspector Javert in the 2012 Hollywood adaptation of Les Misérables, and if you would put these back together and animate them, you would see this character looking out of the window," said Truszkowski.
All of his work is meant to be funny, Truszkowski said.
Meanwhile, More than Sugar and Butter is a collection of paintings that Cummings Truszkowski created of desserts. But the exhibit delves deeper into such themes of motherhood and love shown through generations in the form of baked goods.
Cummings Truszkowski said she has been an artist for most of her life. In the past 20 years, she has focused on paintings, with a variety of subjects. But baking is another thread that has been woven into her life.
"I have baked with my mother. I have baked with my grandmother, and these are really special times that I remember," Cummings Truszkowski said.
She still has her grandmothers' recipe books, and Cummings Truszkowski now makes these recipes for her children.
"Painting the baking that I make for my family and my friends is a really special way for me to honour the women in my life, honour my mother and the things that she's passed on to me, and the traditions and all that."
It's also Cummings Truszkowski's way to honour the generations of women before her mother who created those special recipes.
Her children are now 18, 15 and 12, so they eat rather than assist with the baking, she said with a laugh, but there were many years in which they contributed to the food.
"I know it's not the healthiest thing to be baking with sugar and flower and butter and all that stuff, but for me, it is more than just the ingredients, it is about that time shared together."
She hopes with the artwork and what it means, she is elevating the experiences of women in her life and celebrating special times together.
Both exhibits will remain on display until Jan. 24, 2025.
