Parallels between dancers and butterflies explored in flight2

December 18, 2020 · 0 Comments

Dancers have the power to convey significant emotion with a deceptively simple shift in their body.

They are celebrated the world over for their fluidity and grace, and have inspired no end of artistic inspiration.

King artist Grazyna Tonkiel is also attracted to grace and fluidity in her work. But rather than depicting dancers mid-movement, her attentions are focused on the humble butterflies of Canada.

The grace and movement of both butterflies and dancers have now converged in flight², an exhibition coupling Ms. Tonkiel’s drawings of butterflies and sculptures created by Gordon Becker, hosted virtually by the Aurora Cultural Centre.

flight²is the first gallery exhibition hosted by the Aurora Cultural Centre in Town Hall following the temporary closure of the historic Church Street School during Library Square construction.

As closures and lockdowns continue, however, what they hoped to deliver in-person to the public has been translated by the Centre into a virtual exhibition that is on now through February 27.

Ms. Tonkiel, an artist and musician, takes her work very seriously. Her King Township garden is a designated wildlife and butterfly habitat, providing her with no end of artistic inspiration.

“My degree is in Operatic Performance and acting, so for 30 years of my life, I have been an opera singer and a second interest has always been visual art,” said Ms. Tonkiel, sitting down with curator Clare Bolton during the gallery’s installation. “Now, having retired as an opera singer and singing only occasionally, I have been drawing butterflies as my full-time job. [It started] as a simple project of drawing butterflies for my daughter’s bedroom. Once I was doing it, I started drawing more and more butterflies. That sparked an interest in learning about butterflies.

“Butterflies have been the symbol of beauty through the history of human kind and dancers also reflect the symbol of beauty. They possess complete control over their body and as fragile as they look, they are extremely small [and strong]. I point, for example, to the migrant monarch butterfly. It travels sometimes 9,000 km. As fragile as they are, they also have tremendous strength.”

The strength and complexity of the butterfly is very much reflected in her work.

Her drawings not only depict the colourful wings we’re so familiar with, but the underside of the butterfly as well, a dimension which offers its own unique beauty.

While her work is two-dimensional, it’s kicked up to the third through the application of such media as gold leaf to bring out the depth and the light within her subjects.

“We all need a ray of light to uplift our souls and spirits,” she said. “I hope that flight²will raise hope in anybody to conquer the sadness or the anxiety in the moment we are [in] at the present.

“The preparation for this exhibit sparked an idea because I was at the very beginning of my process of drawing butterflies, I was drawn more to tropical butterflies. As I went and my sanctuary grew, I am more and more inclined to do everything for the butterflies and I am more than ever interested in Canadian butterflies. I am going to work on creating the only collection of Canadian butterflies. There are 160 [species of] butterflies in Ontario., so I don’t think I will be short coming on subjects to draw. I don’t know if I ever will finish 160, but I will try to actually draw a lot of them to bring awareness to the public. We are familiar with monarch butterflies, but very few people can name any other Canadian butterflies.”

For more on flight², including a complete gallery of works created by Granzya Tonkiel and Gordon Becker and how to purchase the works on display, visit auroraculturalcentre.ca.

By Brock Weir
Editor
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter