Department Women Represent in "Wayfinders" at the AGA
Department of Art & Design - 05 March 2026
We are very proud that four local female artists who teach across Art & Design (Emily Jan, Oksana Movchan, Tammy Salzl and Marilène Oliver) are featured in Wayfinders: A Constellation of Women Artists, an exhibition currently on show at the Art Gallery of Alberta (AGA) until the end of May.
Wayfinders brings together new and recent works by 8 local female artists who locate themselves within their own realities, mapping out varying ways to navigate the world. The exhibition is organized into several intimate conversations between artists that explore themes of balance, family, health, location, navigation, and folklore. In Wayfinders you can see Emily Jan's sculptural installation and photographic works where chimeric humanoids navigate the unintended ecological consequences of modern human movement, Oksana Movchan's series of complex abstract paintings which explore the ancient concept of metanoia, the transformation of the heart and human consciousness, Marilène Oliver's underwater film and drawings of ancient healing fountains for women, and Tammy Salzl's ceramic sculptures that subvert fairy tales and mythologies of archetypal women.
Emily Jan
GODS OF THE FUTURE WORLD: Lord of the Beasts (photographic works on the walls):
The Lord of the Beasts is the first in a new series of lens-based work which will ultimately capture 8-10 imagined deities photographed in landscapes across Turtle Island. With one foot in comparative mythology and the other in post-apocalyptic speculative fictions, Gods of the Future world asks, is it possible to conceive of what we will find sacred in a world that is unimaginably altered from the one we currently inhabit?
KALI YUGA I (sculptural installation):
Kali Yuga I considers the unintended ecological consequences of modern human movement across the continent. A chimeric humanoid creature traverses a landscape of native species, invasive species, and detritus, leaving altered footprints in its wake.
1 | Emily Jan, Gods of the Future world: Lord of the Beasts I, 2025. Image supplied by the Artist.
2 | (l-r) Emily Jan, Gods of the Future world: Lord of the Beasts II, 2025; Gods of the Future world: Lord of the Beasts III, 2025. Images supplied by the Artist.
3 | (l-r) Emily Jan, Kali Yuga I, 2022. Wool, reed, silk, silicone, resin, recycled textiles, faux flora, found objects. Courtesy of the Artist. Emily Jan, Gods of the Future world: Lord of the Beasts I, 2025. Phototex wall print. Courtesy of the Artist. Emily Jan, Gods of the Future World: Lord of the Beasts II, 2025. Dibond mount. Courtesy of the Artist. Emily Jan, Gods of the Future World: Lord of the Beasts III, 2025. Dibond mount. Courtesy of the Artist. Installation view of Wayfinders: A Constellation of Women Artists, Art Gallery of Alberta, 2026. Photography by Charles Cousins, courtesy of the Art Gallery of Alberta.
4 | (l-r) Emily Jan, Gods of the Future world: Lord of the Beasts I, 2025. Phototex wall print. Courtesy of the Artist. Emily Jan, Kali Yuga I, 2022. Wool, reed, silk, silicone, resin, recycled textiles, faux flora, found objects. Courtesy of the Artist. Emily Jan, Gods of the Future World: Lord of the Beasts II, 2025. Dibond mount. Courtesy of the Artist. Emily Jan, Gods of the Future World: Lord of the Beasts III, 2025. Dibond mount. Courtesy of the Artist. Installation view of Wayfinders: A Constellation of Women Artists, Art Gallery of Alberta, 2026. Photography by Charles Cousins, courtesy of the Art Gallery of Alberta.
5 | Emily Jan, Kali Yuga I, 2022. Wool, reed, silk, silicone, resin, recycled textiles, faux flora, found objects. Courtesy of the Artist. Installation view of Wayfinders: A Constellation of Women Artists, Art Gallery of Alberta, 2026. Photography by Charles Cousins, courtesy of the Art Gallery of Alberta.
Oksana Movchan
1 | (l-r) Oksana Movchan, Piercing-Light, 2022. Acrylic on canvas. Courtesy of the Artist. Oksana Movchan, The Voice of Eternity, 2023. Acrylic on canvas. Images supplied by the Artist.
2 | (l-r) Oksana Movchan, Piercing-Light, 2022. Acrylic on canvas. Courtesy of the Artist. Oksana Movchan, The Voice of Eternity, 2023. Acrylic on canvas. Courtesy of the Artist. Oksana Movchan, Rejoicing Serenity, 2023. Acrylic on canvas. Courtesy of the Artist. Installation view of Wayfinders: A Constellation of Women Artists, Art Gallery of Alberta, 2026. Photography by Charles Cousins, courtesy of the Art Gallery of Alberta.
3 | (l-r) Oksana Movchan, That - That is Not a Man, 2019. Acrylic on canvas. Oksana Movchan, That - That is Not a Woman, 2019. Acrylic on canvas. Images supplied by the Artist.
4 | (l-r) Oksana Movchan, Sun Seeker, 2020. Acrylic on canvas. Courtesy of the Artist. Oksana Movchan, Twin Flames, 2020. Acrylic on canvas. Courtesy of the Artist. Oksana Movchan, That - That is Not a Man, 2019. Acrylic on canvas. Courtesy of the Artist. Oksana Movchan, That - That is Not a Woman, 2019. Acrylic on canvas. Courtesy of the Artist. Installation view of Wayfinders: A Constellation of Women Artists, Art Gallery of Alberta, 2026. Photography by Charles Cousins, courtesy of the Art Gallery of Alberta.
5 | Oksana Movchan, The Journey of Ida and Pingala, 2025. Acrylic on canvas. Image supplied by the Artist.
Marilène Oliver
1 | Marilène Oliver, 12 Healing Fountains for Women, 2025. Video. Courtesy of the Artist. Installation view of Wayfinders: A Constellation of Women Artists, Art Gallery of Alberta, 2026. Photography by Charles Cousins, courtesy of the Art Gallery of Alberta.
2 | Marilène Oliver, Fontaine Sainte-Anne D’Auray, 2025. Ink on Paper. Image supplied by the Artist.
Images 3-6 | Installation view of Wayfinders: A Constellation of Women Artists, Art Gallery of Alberta, 2025. Photography by Charles Cousins, courtesy of the Art Gallery of Alberta.
4 | (top l to bottom r) Marilène Oliver, Fontaine Notre-Dame-du-Roncier, Josselin, 2024. Fontaine Notre-Dame de Quelven, Guern, 2025. Les Trois Fontaines, Noyal-Pontivy, 2025. La Fontaine Sainte-Brigitte, Landévant, 2025. Fontaine de Sainte-Hélène, 2025. Fontaine Saint-Anne, Dinan, 2025. Ink on Paper. Courtesy of the Artist.
5 | (top l to bottom r) Marilène Oliver, Les Trois Fontaines, Noyal-Pontivy, 2025. Fontaine Notre-Dame de Berven, 2024. Fontaine Saint-Armel, Ploërmel, 2025. Fontaine Saint-Anne, Dinan, 2025. Fontaine Notre-Dame de Pendreo, 2025. Fontaine Sainte-Anne D’Auray, 2025. Ink on Paper. Courtesy of the Artist.
6 | (top l to bottom r) Marilène Oliver, Fontaine de la Vierge, Bulat-Plestivien, 2024. Fontaine Notre-Dame-du-Roncier, Josselin, 2024. Fontaine Notre-Dame de Quelven, Guern, 2025. Fountaine Sainte-Radegonde, 2025. La Fontaine Sainte-Brigitte, Landévant, 2025. Fontaine de Sainte-Hélène, 2025. Ink on paper. Courtesy of the Artist.
Tammy Salzl
All Images | Installation view of Wayfinders: A Constellation of Women Artists, Art Gallery of Alberta, 2026. Photography by Charles Cousins, courtesy of the Art Gallery of Alberta.
1 & 2 | Tammy Salzl, Nelly Longarms Dipped Her Fingertips Into the Universe and Drew the Web of Life, 2025. Ceramic, glaze glass beads, thread. Courtesy of the Artist.
3 | Tammy Salzl, Medusa's Lament, 2025. Stoneware, porcelain, glaze, rocks, coral, barnacles, kinetics and sound. Courtesy of the Artist.
4 | Tammy Salzl, Pendle Hill, 2026, Porcelain and glaze. Courtesy of the Artist. Tammy Salzl, Nixie, 2026. Stoneware and glaze. Courtesy of the Artist. Tammy Salzl, Baba Yaga, 2026. Ceramic and glaze. Courtesy of the Artist.
5 | (l-r) Tammy Salzl, Evermore, 2025. Porcelain, stoneware, glaze, found objects. Courtesy of the Artist. Tammy Salzl, The Watcher, 2025. Stoneware and glaze. Courtesy of the Artist.
6 | Tammy Salzl, The Watcher, 2025. Stoneware and glaze. Courtesy of the Artist.
7 | Tammy Salzl, Evermore, 2025. Porcelain, stoneware, glaze, found objects. Courtesy of the Artist.
8 | Tammy Salzl, The Familiar, 2025. Stoneware and glaze. Courtesy of the Artist.