Regina-based multi-disciplinary artist Zachari Logan’s work explores themes that revolve around the natural world, identity, and queerness. He’s largely known for his large scale drawings and ceramic work.
He recently spent time at the renowned West Baffin Cooperative in Kinngait, Nunavut as an artist in residence to work on drawings, along with two print editions in stonecut and lithography. The drawings will be exhibited in Toronto at the Paul Petro Gallery, opening November 14.
LV spoke to Logan about his experience and work.
The West Baffin Cooperative
The West Baffin Cooperative is Canada’s oldest Inuit owned and led social enterprise. Located in Kinngait, Inuktitut on the southwest coast of Baffin Island, the Cooperative was founded in 1959 to respond to a surge of artistic activity in the Cape Dorset region. Also known as the West Baffin Eskimo Cooperative or Kinngait Co-operative, it has become renowned as a centre for producing and distributing Inuit art in various disciplines.
Hundreds of artists have visited the Cooperative during its decades of operation. Zachari went to work with the Kinngait Studios master printmakers in order to create two new editions in stonecut and lithography, as well as develop a series of drawings inspired by the landscape and the work of the artists at the facility.
Isabelle Gapp, Assistant Professor at the University of Aberdeen, Scotland, organized a public exhibition at the end of Zachari’s two-week residency as part of a larger research project titled From the Floe Edge: Visualising Local Sea Ice Change in Kinngait, Nunavut.
If you’re interested in the Cooperative’s work, there is an exhibit of print work from the West Baffin Cooperative at Toronto’s Metro Studio Gallery (401 Richmond Street West #306 in downtown Toronto) that’s on view until November 15.
Zachari Logan
Logan’s work has been exhibited widely across North America, Europe and Asia, and can be found in private and public collections worldwide, including the National Gallery of Canada, Art Gallery of Ontario, Remai Modern, McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Peabody Essex Museum, Leslie-Lohman Museum, Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art (NMOCA), 21cMuseums Hotel Collection and Thetis Foundation, among others.
Zachari Logan: The Interview
Zachari’s work includes a variety of media, but one discipline is his base.
“Drawing, I would say drawing is an anchor for everything I do,” he says. “Ceramics I dabbled a little bit in school. There wasn’t a lot of access to it.”
It was after his days at the University of Saskatchewan, where he earned his Master’s in fine art, that he returned to ceramics. What began as a way to work out his drawings in 3D became an end in itself.
“Hand building through a combination of invention and observation,” he describes it. “Very similar to how I work with drawing.”
When drawing, he often uses pastels that he mixes with his fingers. “In my most recent ceramic work, I’ve begun to combine materials,” he adds. That includes some paper elements that may be drawn or painted.
West Baffin Cooperative
“It was a remarkable opportunity,” Logan says of his two-week stay in Kinngait.
“I try to do as many residencies as possible,” he adds. His own studio is in Regina. “In some ways I feel a little bit isolated.”
He notes that residencies, particularly abroad, give him an opportunity to research historical collections and other background information, as well as develop his own work.
He was invited to the West Baffin residency by the facility’s Executive Manager William Huffman, who had seen some of his work. Because the materials Logan used most often were similar to those used by the Cooperative’s artists, albeit in a very different way, he extended the invitation.
“He thought it would be really interesting as a way to expose the collective to my practice,” he says. “It was a really great opportunity to share with the collective,” he adds. Likewise, he welcome the exposure to their own techniques and practices.
“Also just on a personal note, I’ve known about this collective for a long time. They’re incredibly important to the history of drawing and painting in Canada. It was a huge, huge honour for me to be invited.”
Working At The Cooperative
The residency allowed Zachari to extend his skill set, working with one of the facility’s master stone cutters. “I pulled my first stone cut,” he says. “And I worked on a lithograph that will also be released as a special edition next year.”
The natural environment of the West Baffin region was inspiring.
“Hugely,” he says. “Interesting to work with. It was so different than any of the landscapes I’ve worked with before. Remarkable but different.”
Above the tree line, he describes the ground cover, a low-growing shrub dubbed Arctic fur. “It’s this beautiful flowering plant, and in the fall when I was there, it was everywhere.” The seed pods are covered in a fuzzy material that looks like rabbit fur.
“The textures in the rock, and the rock itself, which is enormous, creates these incredible undulations,” he says. “It’s never flat.”
His lithograph is based entirely on the landscape, its textures and rhythms.
Northern Exposure
“The lithograph that I developed while I was up there is a raw initial response to the experience of the landscape.”
He worked in the studio with the collective and its members, learning while watching, and using the same materials in different ways. Logan says it opened his eyes to seeing new possibilities and means of using those materials. “Thinking about even something as simple as using line differently by observing.”
He also appreciated the communal aspect of the Cooperative.
“I’m always alone in my studio. To be physically in a space in a very different kind of studio, I think, changes how you work,” he says, noting that many residencies can be quite isolating.
“This was a very different way of working.” The artists work from nine to five in the communal space, taking breaks and eating lunch together. “It’s not something I was used to, but it was a wonderful experience.”
He’s back in his Regina home base now.
“I’m kind of back in my studio yearning for that kind of camaraderie. It’s really beautiful,” he says. “It was very unique. I hope I get the opportunity to go back.”
In the meantime, he’ll be continuing his collaboration with the Cooperative’s master stone cutter long distance. “We decided we’d like to do a series of collaborative drawings.” They’ll be sending drawings back and forth.
“We’ll see what the distance and time creates.”
Zachari Logan: The Moon Swept Down at Paul Petro Gallery
An exhibition of Logan’s work — the drawings he completed at the West Baffin Cooperative — opens at the Paul Petro Gallery in Toronto on November 14, and is available to view until December 20, 2025.
The title of the exhibition comes from a line in Joni Mitchell’s song For The Roses, and the works in the show include drawings, paintings, print work, and an installation, all revolving around the figure and landscape. Through those interconnected elements, Logan explores themes of selfhood, identity, and queerness.
- Find more details [HERE].
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