A Black Diamond painter hopes to bring a little bit of Japanese culture to Turner Valley the next several weeks.
Twenty-two-year-old Brycal Sikorski has more than a dozen of her unique anime paintings displayed in the Sheep River Library’s gallery. They will remain on exhibit through May and June.
Sikorski said the paintings are unlike any that have been showcased in the gallery and she hopes the public will embrace them.
“I hope they accept it for a different piece of artwork, not something they would normally have in their home,” she said. “I hope they go there with the intent that some people are totally different than you and they are going to have a different image in their head than yours.”
Many of Sikorski’s pieces portray people, fantasy creatures, animals, the sun and moon and the elements water, wind, fire and earth.
“There is so many different styles of anime out there and so many different artists,” she said. “The past three years I’ve developed my own style of anime.”
Some of the images are of nude women.
“I think it’s about enjoying your skin and being comfortable in it,” she said. “I enjoy the skin that I’m in, I enjoy the body that I’m in, so it really reflects how I feel about myself.”
Sikorski’s love of everything anime began in her childhood. She was often told she was obsessed with the Japanese-origin animation style, which is characterized by colour graphics, vibrant characters and fantastic themes.
Her love of anime stemmed from her interest in the Japanese culture.
“I’m not Japanese, but I want to be so much a part of that world and so much a part of the people,” she said. “I have a friend from Japan and she has been inspiring me lots and giving me the details of what Japan is like. I’m learning Japanese right now and going to Japan at the end of the year.”
Initially starting with pencil drawings, Sikorski since progressed to creating her images using acrylic and watercolour paints.
“I’m just learning the way the paint works on canvas,” she said. “I wanted to try something new and challenge myself. I love art and I want to be sufficient in all forms. Painting was my big step.”
She developed a love of drawing in elementary school and was especially inspired by her high school art teachers.
“Mrs. Kaasten (former art teacher at Oilfields) was a great teacher,” she recalls. “She let us go crazy with what we wanted to create. Both of my teachers from Oilfields and the Comp were really encouraging.”
She hopes her work being exhibited in the Sheep River Library gallery is the first step in pursuing art as a career.
Her future plans are to also display paintings in her friend’s art studio in the Northwest Territories and enroll in a graphic art and comic book design program in a post secondary school with the goal of designing tattoos and working at a tattoo parlour.
“I want to keep my door open to as many people that are interested in my art as I can,” she said. “I want to be self sufficient in artistic ways as much as I can.”
Sikorski’s anime drawings and paintings are available for viewing at the Sheep River Library’s art gallery Mondays, Fridays and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Tuesdays to Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.