Rotunda Gallery

Laura is a Canadian-Laotian artist, writer, and historian. She will present a series of oil paintings that will act as a symbolic narrative journey throughout various animal habitats. Fairy tale, mythology, and natural history motifs will be incorporated into the imagery, with themes of biodiversity, environmentalism, and interspecies dialogue.

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January and February - Sabrine Hakam

Sabrine presents photographs that investigate the complex identities of third culture and postcolonial individuals in Canada. These powerful portraits convey the essence of identity, belonging and cultural hybridity.

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The artist presents a series of mixed-media wall-hanging ceramic sculptures that combine two traditional craft techniques: clay coil-building and punch needle rug building. She believes traditional methods and the inspiration from nature reflect a deep-rooted, shared human experience and heritage that has been handed down over time. The contrasting materiality of these two mediums express her feelings as an artist with a minority cultural heritage.

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For more than 20 years, CAFKA has supported a diverse spectrum of local, national and international artists, bringing hundreds of thought-provoking contemporary artworks to public spaces across Waterloo Region. The gallery will feature Guelph artists Richelle Forsey and Anna Gaby-Trotz as part of CAFKA’s 2025 biennial exhibition across the Region. Their collaborative body of work explores the balance between hope and despair, art and climate change with the goal to create an interactive experience and space for contemplation to illuminate complex and troubling questions about where our environment is heading.

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Marjan aims to spotlight what often is unrecognized: the thinking that happens before doing. She presents oil paintings showing a variety of figures in the process of thinking, creating or conceptualizing new ideas. These works concentrate on the themes of enrapture, deep concentration and various degrees and stages of the idea-making and brainstorming process.

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Alisa presents punch needle wall hangings depicting the re-telling of folk/fairy tales from Scotland and Ireland blended with her own narratives. She takes her love for faces, abstraction, kitsch, queerness, and history and blends them together. They are made of reclaimed textiles and yarn sourced from unraveled garments, thrift stores and from items gifted by friends.
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Lee explores tree bark as an ecosystem in their ink and watercolour paintings. The collection of artworks is based on tree references found in southwestern Ontario, with a particular focus on hyperlocal, urban trees in Kitchener-Waterloo. Each art piece opens a window into a different world, connecting the viewer to an ecosystem hidden in plain sight.

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