For Tomorrow

"For Tomorrow showcases new oil paintings on canvas, three sculptural works and a new intaglio varied edition print with hand painted watercolour. The work in the exhibition equally takes a look at the reality of our world and at the same time tries to find hope. The work often takes tragic and foreboding themes and finds the beauty and optimism within.

"In Beaming the title suggests the subject of devolution of nature, the impending fear of natural catastrophe or disasters, the sun exploding on itself. Yet it is combining humor with tragedy, a dark humor that the sun is smiling back on us, knowing it's own strength. Yet at the same time there is a pleasing appearance to the work. It’s warm yet possibly menacing and at the same time it has the last laugh and it's beaming on us.

"Blazing in the sun, a four by ten foot panoramic oil painting, focuses on similar ideas as the varied edition intaglio prints Beaming. The intensity of yellow hues and aggressive marks heightens the power of the sun-searing beam yet the energy and strength of the threatened landscape prevails and remains resilient within its fragility.

"In The Grin there is the illusion of being close up and distant at the same time. Some details are magnified and some are blurred. There is an over determination of space and indetermination existing in sync, a buzz and a silence existing together. The end result is that the work is viewed from an ant’s perspective and from a giant’s viewpoint at the same time."

-- Mélanie Rocan, June 2016


Mélanie Rocan is a Franco-Manitoban artist based in Winnipeg. She has a BFA from the University of Manitoba (2003) and an MFA from the University of Concordia in Montreal (2008) during which time she participated in an exchange program at the Glasgow School of Art in Scotland. As a three-time semifinalist for the RBC Painting Competition, Rocan has exhibited at the Power Plant in Toronto, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Montreal, the Contemporary Art Gallery in Vancouver, the Winnipeg Art Gallery and the Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art in Toronto. Rocan has also exhibited in venues in Glasgow, Scotland, in France and the United States. In 2012 – 2013 her work was the subject of a survey exhibition, Souvenir involuntaire organized byt the Doris McCarthy Gallery, at the University of Toronto Scarborough campus. This exhibition toured to the Kenderdine in Saskatoon and The Plug-In ICA in Winnipeg. The bilingual catalogue includes an essay by Josee Drouin-Brisebois, curator of contemporary art at the National Gallery of Canada. Rocan is the recipient of awards and grants from the Canada Council, Manitoba and Winnipeg Arts Council. She teaches at the University of Manitoba. For Tomorrow is Rocan's tenth solo exhibition at Paul Petro Contemporary Art