{"id":119285,"date":"2025-11-07T13:54:16","date_gmt":"2025-11-07T18:54:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/?p=119285"},"modified":"2025-11-07T13:54:16","modified_gmt":"2025-11-07T18:54:16","slug":"interview-artist-zachari-logan-talks-west-baffin-cooperatives-2025-artist-residency","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2025\/11\/07\/interview-artist-zachari-logan-talks-west-baffin-cooperatives-2025-artist-residency\/","title":{"rendered":"INTERVIEW | Artist Zachari Logan Talks About His West Baffin Cooperative\u2019s 2025 Artist Residency"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Artist
Artist Zachari Logan (Photo courtesy of the artist)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Regina-based multi-disciplinary artist Zachari Logan\u2019s work explores themes that revolve around the natural world, identity, and queerness. He\u2019s largely known for his large scale drawings and ceramic work.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

LV spoke to Logan about his experience and work.<\/p>\n

The West Baffin Cooperative<\/h2>\n

The West Baffin Cooperative is Canada\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Isabelle Gapp, Assistant Professor at the University of Aberdeen, Scotland, organized a public exhibition at the end of Zachari\u2019s two-week residency as part of a larger research project titled From the Floe Edge: Visualising Local Sea Ice Change in Kinngait, Nunavut.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re interested in the Cooperative\u2019s work, there is an exhibit of print work from the West Baffin Cooperative at Toronto\u2019s Metro Studio Gallery (401 Richmond Street West #306 in downtown Toronto) that\u2019s on view until November 15.<\/p>\n

Zachari Logan<\/h2>\n

Logan\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

\"L-R:
L-R: Diana (detail)\u00a0, 2025 chalk pastel on black paper (6 panels); Cut Flowers, After Mary Delany, (What Remains, No. 1), ceramic, acrylic, paper, pastel, human hair, 2019; Datura, from Eunuch Tapestries, pastel on black paper, 2013 (Images courtesy of the artist)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Zachari Logan: The Interview<\/h3>\n

Zachari\u2019s work includes a variety of media, but one discipline is his base.<\/p>\n

\u201cDrawing, I would say drawing is an anchor for everything I do,\u201d he says. \u201cCeramics I dabbled a little bit in school. There wasn\u2019t a lot of access to it.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was after his days at the University of Saskatchewan, where he earned his Master\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cHand building through a combination of invention and observation,\u201d he describes it. \u201cVery similar to how I work with drawing.\u201d<\/p>\n

When drawing, he often uses pastels that he mixes with his fingers. \u201cIn my most recent ceramic work, I\u2019ve begun to combine materials,\u201d he adds. That includes some paper elements that may be drawn or painted.<\/p>\n

West Baffin Cooperative<\/h3>\n

\u201cIt was a remarkable opportunity,\u201d Logan says of his two-week stay in Kinngait.<\/p>\n

\u201cI try to do as many residencies as possible,\u201d he adds. His own studio is in Regina. \u201cIn some ways I feel a little bit isolated.\u201d<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

He was invited to the West Baffin residency by the facility\u2019s 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\u2019s artists, albeit in a very different way, he extended the invitation.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe thought it would be really interesting as a way to expose the collective to my practice,\u201d he says. \u201cIt was a really great opportunity to share with the collective,\u201d he adds. Likewise, he welcome the exposure to their own techniques and practices.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlso just on a personal note, I\u2019ve known about this collective for a long time. They\u2019re incredibly important to the history of drawing and painting in Canada. It was a huge, huge honour for me to be invited.\u201d<\/p>\n

Working At The Cooperative<\/h3>\n

The residency allowed Zachari to extend his skill set, working with one of the facility\u2019s master stone cutters. \u201cI pulled my first stone cut,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd I worked on a lithograph that will also be released as a special edition next year.\u201d<\/p>\n

The natural environment of the West Baffin region was inspiring.<\/p>\n

\u201cHugely,\u201d he says. \u201cInteresting to work with. It was so different than any of the landscapes I\u2019ve worked with before. Remarkable but different.\u201d<\/p>\n

Above the tree line, he describes the ground cover, a low-growing shrub dubbed Arctic fur. \u201cIt\u2019s this beautiful flowering plant, and in the fall when I was there, it was everywhere.\u201d The seed pods are covered in a fuzzy material that looks like rabbit fur.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe textures in the rock, and the rock itself, which is enormous, creates these incredible undulations,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s never flat.\u201d<\/p>\n

His lithograph is based entirely on the landscape, its textures and rhythms.<\/p>\n

Northern Exposure<\/h3>\n

\u201cThe lithograph that I developed while I was up there is a raw initial response to the experience of the landscape.\u201d<\/p>\n

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. \u201cThinking about even something as simple as using line differently by observing.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also appreciated the communal aspect of the Cooperative.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m always alone in my studio. To be physically in a space in a very different kind of studio, I think, changes how you work,\u201d he says, noting that many residencies can be quite isolating.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis was a very different way of working.\u201d The artists work from nine to five in the communal space, taking breaks and eating lunch together. \u201cIt\u2019s not something I was used to, but it was a wonderful experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

He\u2019s back in his Regina home base now.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m kind of back in my studio yearning for that kind of camaraderie. It\u2019s really beautiful,\u201d he says. \u201cIt was very unique. I hope I get the opportunity to go back.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the meantime, he\u2019ll be continuing his collaboration with the Cooperative\u2019s master stone cutter long distance. \u201cWe decided we\u2019d like to do a series of collaborative drawings.\u201d They\u2019ll be sending drawings back and forth.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll see what the distance and time creates.\u201d<\/p>\n

Zachari Logan: The Moon Swept Down at Paul Petro Gallery<\/h3>\n

An exhibition of Logan\u2019s work \u2014 the drawings he completed at the West Baffin Cooperative \u2014 opens at the Paul Petro Gallery in Toronto on November 14, and is available to view until December 20, 2025.<\/p>\n

The title of the exhibition comes from a line in Joni Mitchell\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n