Michael Pszczonak “Marking Time” May 24 – June 27, 2025

Opening Reception with Michael Pszczonak on Thursday, May 29 from 7-9pm

Time has always been an important aspect of Michael Pszczonak’s painting practice.  From his earlier “window” paintings representing each month of the year, to this newest work that records specific moments from everyday life, Pszczonak has an uncanny ability to create environments that are rooted in a specific place, memory, feeling or perception.

Exquisitely painted, Pszczonak’s new paintings are rooted in personal reflections, but are universal in feeling.  Like flipping through a family photo album, the paintings show the passage of time from sumptuous summer landscapes to still lives of a favourite meal, moments of rest, and portraits of family, reflecting an active life as both father, teacher and painter.  Measuring 18 x 15 inches, each small canvas installed in the large grid feels cinematic in sensibility.  The paintings are meditative and humourous, aspirational and real, a relatable narrative with a familiar feeling.

In direct contrast, hanging on the opposite gallery wall, are three sumptuous paintings that explore light.  Looking in, looking out and a reflection of his apartment window, the three paintings show three distinct interpretations of the same place.  What is different in each, however, is how light plays with the surfaces and objects, both tangible and reflective.  Rich in colour and detail, each painting glows with warmth, exuding the feeling of home.

“The paintings on display are simply personal reflections on time, work, and parenting.  They highlight both the absurdity and urgency of painting when confronted with the responsibility of raising a thoughtful and healthy child.  For me, they act as reflections on the beautiful, grotesque, funny, strange, and peculiar moments of everyday life.  By offering a glimpse into this particular point in my life – a parent and artist that is precariously employed as a part-time college instructor, substitute teacher, and bartender – I see these paintings as a way of close looking and taking stock of the commonplace, a search for the exceptional in the mundane and the universal in the specific.”
Michael Pszczonak, April 2025

Michael Pszczonak, born in 1981 in Windsor, ON, received his MFA from Western University and his Bachelor of Arts from the University of Guelph.

The recipient of numerous grants and awards, Pszczonak was the inaugural winner of the 2023 CIBC C2 Create and Curate National Visual Arts Prize.  He has also received an Ontario Arts Council’s Emerging Artist Grant, and a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Grant.

His artwork is in the collections of CIBC, Manulife and Museum London and private collections across North America.

He maintains an active studio practice in London, ON and currently teaches within the Fine Art Program at Fanshawe College.

Visit Michael Pszczonak’s Artist Page HERE