Ewa Tarsia, a distinguished Canadian artist, was born in Starogard Gdański, Poland, into a family of artists.  She pursued her formal education in art at the Gdynia School of Fine Arts from 1974 to 1979.  Her early artistic endeavours were nurtured in her uncle’s studio, where she began creating monoprints characterized by vibrant colours and intricate textures.  In 1991, Tarsia emigrated to Canada, settling in Winnipeg, where she furthered her education by earning a diploma with honours in Advertising Art and Computer Graphics.

In Winnipeg, Tarsia initially worked as a graphic designer until 2000, after which she dedicated herself entirely to her art.  Her work is deeply influenced by nature's organic forms and textures, often using printmaking techniques such as drypoint and collagraph on copper or plexiglass plates.  Her art reflects an intimate connection with landscapes and abstract textures, exploring themes like the transience of time and the interplay of light and shadow.  Tarsia’s contributions to the art community extend beyond her creations; she is an active curator, instructor, and mentor to emerging artists.

Tarsia’s dedication and talent have earned her significant recognition.  In 2007, she was inducted into the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts, highlighting her influence and contribution to the Canadian art scene.  Her exhibitions have been showcased in various galleries, in Winnipeg and internationally. At Winnipeg's Site Gallery Ewa had a solo exhibit called “Natural Instincts”, while internationally she has been exhibited in the United States, South Korea, Japan, and more.  Through her art, Tarsia continues to explore the harmonious coexistence of human and natural environments, using vibrant colours and dynamic compositions to convey her artistic vision

My work reflects the intimacy I share and has always shared with landscape forms, abstract textures, colour, shape, and light.  My sensitivity to these elements and larger arenas of life and nature is translated through the medium of printmaking and painting.  In this artistic language, I animate my perceptions and explore the transience of time, the character of night and day, and memories of past seasons.  The images that ensue are both documents and discoveries, bridged by the fundamental element of the process.

The successive stages of my projects can be planned but never fully predicted, as they depend on my inner impulses and interactions with the ever-changing environment.  In this negotiation, the dictates of my emotions and thoughts steer the ship, reacting, but never surrendering, to external circumstances.  I do what I find important at a given instant and allow instinct to animate the direction of my work. 

Artmaking is my vocation and inspiration; I use it as medicine and meditation.  Maintaining the rawness of this energy in the slow, deliberate medium of printmaking and painting is a challenge and opportunity.  My work seeks to connect these two ends, exploring processes to extend and suspend the in-between.  I have never practiced philosophical reflection as a prop of my work, but I have consistently recognized the need to record my process and chart my practice.  The memories of every decision, choice and thought are inscribed on my printing plates, and I seek to share that dimension with my audience.  I will elevate creative activities to the rank of the finished work and open the energy of my procedures.  Through this revelation, I seek to push my work beyond the product into a place where it can live.

 This approach opens itself to contingency and change, manifested in my work's content and language.  Through this process, the domain in which my art circulates has broadened to include archetypal areas, entering an imaginary region where I can bridge my thoughts and emotions with others through shared channels of the universal.  My creative world moves between a vibrant human cosmos and an abstract domain of forms and shapes, poised between emotions and formal questions.  I am very passionate about my art. All I create starts with intense feelings, and I seek to awaken equally passionate responses in my audiences. 

While most of my art has involved pigment on canvas, I have always been fascinated with the living, growing, natural world.  My grandparents' orchards and the people who tended them opened my eyes to nature's creative potential, aesthetic qualities, and utility.  Frightened by visions of cities paved with asphalt and carpeted with chemically fed grass, I find refuge, inspiration, and courage among the living plants of my garden.

 All of my “green” projects are inspired by the feelings of caring about all living things, the idea that humanity and natural environments can harmoniously coexist, and a strong conviction that such co-existence will enrich both the spiritual and aesthetic dimensions of human life.  In the age of synthetic trees and carbon credits, it is imperative to remind ourselves that we have evolved amid nature and that nature is an unerasable part of us.