Aleks Bartosik (BFA '01)

aleks BartosikAleks Bartosik presently works from her studio in Toronto where she makes large-scale paintings and drawings.  Her work also extends to sculpture, installation, video and performance where drawing is the key medium.  Bartosik also is also employed at the Art Gallery of Ontario as a painting and drawing instructor.

After graduating from Queen’s, Bartosik continued her art studies at Concordia University in Montreal where she earned her MFA degree in 2005. Shortly after her thesis work Bartosik travelled abroad to study and research European paintings through the Brucebo Scholarship.

Aleks Bartosik is a two-time recipient of the Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation Grant (2004 and 2007) for her figurative painting and drawing, and is generously supported for her work by the Ontario Arts Council.  As part of Bartosik’s research and artistic development, she is an active participant in artist residencies and/or collaborations all over the world. Her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally, most recently in Canada (British Columbia, Quebec, Ontario, and Alberta), USA, Germany, Italy, Japan, Brazil, Chile and Argentina. Her work was featured in a group exhibition titled the Canadian Contemporary Figurative Art Exhibition at the Art Gallery of Mississauga (2006).

Bartosik’s work is represented by La Petite Mort Gallery (Ottawa, Ontario) and is collected by Headbones Gallery (Vernon, British Columbia).  Recently a catalogue of her work at Headbones Gallery has been published and featured at Toronto Women’s Bookstore.

Queen's was a good experience for me, not only because of my peers that attended the studio classes, but also the faculty.  I was lucky enough to have great professors who always challenged me to be more innovative and creative, to take risks in my art and to question everything that I did and others did in their work.  I learned to write better about art and view art with a critical eye.    My favourite part of attending the Fine Art Program was when we had professional artists come in and give artist talks.  This was very insightful, interesting and inspirational to see what the world of an artist may look like.  It pushed me further to challenge myself and better prepare for a Master's Program.  Seminar classes in our 4th year further prepared me for an MFA as they were very small and intimate classes.


ladybird
lady bird, oil and acrylic on canvas, 2012