U of M fine art honours graduate Leah Gertzen exhibited her more recent work in the self-curated Morningtide show at the U of M student gallery in Taché Hall from Jan. 21 to 28. She has spent her time since graduating in a mentorship with local organization Mentoring Artists for Women’s Art (MAWA) and a residency with the Harvest Moon Society, creating the collection which has culminated in this show. Her show evoked an eerie nostalgia for a calm prairie cabin, inspired by her previous artwork and the loss of her grandmother.

The show contained monochrome brown to yellow coloured and gold accented paintings on wood, featuring a cabin, landscapes, views from windows, animals, trees, autumnal leaves, women and unseen figures’ hands and feet. Five-point stars are a repeated motif throughout, which have been present in Gertzen’s artwork since childhood.

One standout canvas, “From the Western Wind,” was framed in wood and lace with a windowsill at the bottom, giving it the sense of looking out a cabin window at the snow-covered trees in the painting. The windowsill was topped with real pine needles, rosehip, sea glass, an envelope, a card and a stone cup. Dried bunches of thyme and rosemary hung beneath it. Gertzen revealed that the trees took until the day of the show opening to finish painting.

The show was largely a continuation of the themes presented in the work Gertzen created throughout her degree. In one instance, she built a small cabin and lived in it as a performance piece. The show also featured works of written word and audio recordings by Gertzen. Partway through creating her art, she suffered the loss of her grandmother. The cherished stories Gertzen grew up hearing her grandmother tell became entrenched in her artwork’s subject matter as she processed the grief.

“I started thinking about my grandma, because she passed away in January of 2024. She had the craziest stories from my life, she was hilarious,” Gertzen said. “I wanted to do something to honour her and the women in my family.”

Gertzen also spoke about stories her grandmother passed down about her mother. “Her name is Helen. She grew up in Kenora with her grandma, so my great-great-great grandma. During the Depression, she would pick rosehips to eat, so that was [the piece ‘Gathering Rosehips’].”

The pieces were divided in two series — Midwinter and the eponymous Morningtide, respectively inspired by Gertzen’s both true and fictional stories. The collection’s inspiration began with Gertzen’s repeated encounters with deer at the riverbank beside the U of M campus.

“Throughout my degree I made three series about different women going to different houses on the same island over 600 years. The last woman that goes, the series was called Sweetest Con, and [it] was about peace and having [a] quiet life. She lived there by herself, in nature,” Gertzen said. “A lot of it just had to do with making art because that’s what brings me so much happiness.”

Gertzen’s artwork is also now featured in MAWA’s Between Seasons show, which is on display at their Cumberland Avenue gallery until Feb. 27.