Golya Mirderikvand’s paintings emerge from a place of deep focus, where both her external and internal worlds converge. She explores subjects that draw and hold her attention with the right intensity. The works in this exhibition are part of a recent series inspired by nature, capturing intricate networks of branches—whether through the canopies they form or the shadows they cast.

Her artistic process begins with photographing landscapes that feature compelling patterns of tree branches. She captures scenes from multiple angles, experimenting with light and shadow and zooming in on compositions that balance abstraction and realism. The selected photographs are then edited and carefully chosen as references for her paintings.

Displayed together, this series of paintings creates a lyrical harmony, inviting viewers into a visually rich world of structured yet organic complexity.

Nature’s beauty surrounds us—not just in towering mountains or along the shore, but right in our own backyards. In tandem with Arts in the Garden this year, North Van Arts invites you to step Through the Garden Gates and discover the hidden wonders waiting just beyond our doors. For this exhibition, CityScape gallery will be transformed into a vibrant community art garden with a mix of 2D and 3D artwork inspired by domestic floral and botanical themes. Featuring 38 artworks inspired by flowers, plants, greenery and even pollinators that can be found within home and community garden settings.

Star Witnesses assembles works by a constellation of artists whose insightful observations of the cosmos bring new understandings of exploratory and migratory movements on Planet Earth. The artists involved present fragments of found and newly produced photographic evidence showing planets, moons, constellations in distant galaxies, and the light of our closest star – the Sun – to address earthly concerns.

The title alludes to the artists’ precise visions – honed at the technical limits of photography – and to how encounters with their artworks may transform audiences into ‘star witnesses’ in turn. Certain works in the exhibition evolve in close dialogue with scientific imaging, while others go beyond or deviate from the focus of telescopic cameras, the logic of astronomy, and the path of satellites. Together, they attest to the fact that there is no universal way of gazing at the universe.

Each work offers the image of the cosmos as material evidence for a distinctive perspective, worldview, or imaginary. They give substance to vital histories, which struggle to see the proverbial light of day: one woman’s survival in an internment camp; one man’s narrow escape from a white mob; underexposed connections between a war in the Middle East and peace in a mid-sized German town; an artist’s moment of grace on top of a moonlit mountain, far from home.

Questions of POV are paramount: much depends on where on Earth we – the humans, the stardust – were born and where we have travelled, migrated, settled recently, or remained for generations, if not millennia. Dark matter abounds. And this too is evidence awaiting fresh interpretations.