Northwestern Ontario Mixed-Media Artist Leanne Nicholson Featured in Regional Spring Exhibition
A spring exhibition showcasing artists from Northwestern Ontario is now on display at the Dyment Recreation Hall lower level arts space, offering a window into the region’s creative landscape. Among the featured artists is Leanne Nicholson, whose mixed-media practice brings together painting, drawing, and natural materials in a distinctive and deeply grounded body of work.
Originally from Red Lake and shaped by life in Northwestern Ontario, Nicholson’s artistic perspective is closely tied to the land. Early experiences spent at her family’s cabin on McKenzie Island helped form a lasting relationship with the natural environment—one that continues to inform both her process and subject matter.
Her work spans a range of forms, from expressive wildlife paintings and sketches to carefully transformed natural objects such as antlers, skulls, and bones. These materials are incorporated not as static objects, but as part of an ongoing relationship with the natural world. Through paint, pattern, and composition, Nicholson reinterprets them into works that reflect cycles of life, memory, and continuity.
Time spent in the forest remains central to her practice. It is there she gathers what she describes as “gifts from nature,” which become the foundation for many of her pieces. The resulting works combine organic texture with layered imagery, often carrying symbolic meaning tied to place, presence, and observation.
Nicholson’s art also reflects a personal dimension. For her, creative work has served as an important form of expression during periods when verbal communication was more difficult, particularly in relation to experiences with depression. That emotional depth is subtly woven throughout her work, giving it a reflective and human quality.
Presented alongside other Northwestern Ontario artists from Melgund Township and surrounding communities, Nicholson’s work contributes to a broader exhibition exploring land, identity, and artistic response to place.
The exhibition is on view until May 20, 2026, at the Dyment Recreation Hall lower level arts space, with visiting hours Mondays and Wednesdays from 1–4 p.m., and Saturdays from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
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