Lakehead University Honours Exhibition 2025
On view: MAR 7 >> APR 6, 2025
Thunder Bay Art Gallery is thrilled to present the 2025 Lakehead University Honours Exhibition. This exhibition is a milestone for students in the Visual Arts program, who will present works of contemporary beadwork, sculpture, painting, and drawing on view to the public for the first time. Celebrate the work of four students who have worked all year with faculty advisors to create a final body of work to complete their studies. What a moment!
Congratulations!
Marie Gauthier
Sara Gilbert
Alannah Kim
Gabrielle Rattray
LU Opening Reception and Awards Ceremony
Friday 28, March 2025, from 6:30 – 8:30 pm
A sign of spring at the Gallery! Join us for the opening reception and awards ceremony for the LU student exhibitions, the 2025 Lakehead University Honours Exhibition and Lakehead University Juried Student Exhibition. One of our most anticipated events of the year, this event celebrates a wide range of creative activities in Lakehead University’s Visual Arts Department. Every year, these two LU student exhibitions are a fascinating mix of media, including sculpture, textile, painting, drawing, and ceramics. Time to celebrate a year of making art at LU – don’t forget to vote for the People’s Choice Award!
GABRIELLE RATTRAY
Gabrielle Rattray was born in Hamilton, Ontario. In 2021, she was accepted into the Lakehead University 6-year Concurrent education program, majoring in Visual Arts. She soon moved to Thunder Bay to pursue her studies, with a focus on becoming an artist and teacher. In December of 2021, Gabrielle took a trip to the Appalachian Mountains where she discovered beautiful scenery that she had never seen before. Mountains like Killington Peak, Dorset Mountain, and Timber Ridge mountains as well as many rivers, small lakes, and endless different types of places inspire and fuel her artwork. After this trip, she explored Thunder Bay to see what scenery it had to offer –such as hiking the sleeping giant to see the blue waters below with the mountains in the far distance. Gabrielle’s main focus in art is realistic imagery using drawing and painting. After graduating she plans on moving back home to Hamilton to start her teaching career and has plans of moving to the United States and living in the Appalachian Mountains with her partner. Gabrielle wants to be an art teacher who inspires students to create and never stop dreaming about the future.
Gabrielle Rattray
Flesh and Bone, 2025
Acrylic on Canvas
11 x 14 inch
Gabrielle Rattray
Duality of Fate, 2025
Charcoal on paper
18 x 24 inch
SARA GILBERT
Sara Gilbert is of Anishinaabe and French descent from Thunder Bay and a member of Bingwi Neyaashi Anishinaabek. She learned the practice of beading from her mother at the age of ten, forming an immediate and lasting connection with the art form. Drawing from knowledge passed down through her family, community, and fellow artists, Sara’s work embodies a blend of traditional and contemporary techniques. Having the opportunity to attend the Aanikoobijiganag Beading Symposium, Sara engaged with other beadwork artists and learned from esteemed artists in the field. This experience has greatly influenced her practice, with new ideas and techniques woven into her work.
Sara draws much of her inspiration from the environment around her. Spending most of her free time on her reserve located on the southeast shores of Lake Nipigon, her work often reflects the beauty of the water and its surrounding forests. Sara aims to bring a contemporary twist to her beadwork practice, encouraging viewers to interact with the medium in new and meaningful ways.
Sara Gilbert
Still, 2024
glass beads and fireline
18cm x 17cm
Sara Gilbert
In Between, 2024
wood, sinew and dye
37cm x 26cm
MARIE GAUTHIER
Marie Gauthier is a Francophone artist born in Northern Ontario, now based in Thunder Bay. Deeply connected to the Canadian landscape, she explores its beauty and complexity through abstract and mixed media painting. Her current work weaves texture, colour, and movement, guiding viewers through a journey of pain and suffering, counterbalanced by the grounding and peaceful healing presence of nature.
Marie is currently completing her Honours Bachelor of Fine Arts at Lakehead University, building on her artistic foundation established over the years. She continues to evolve as an artist who explores both total abstraction or impressionistic depictions of her surroundings and travels. Marie’s sketches reflect her connection to nature where she finds much of her inspiration and license to freely express and push her creative boundaries.
Marie Gauthier
Rigidity and Social Constraints, 2025
Acrylic and collage on watercolour paper
30.48cm x 40.64cm
Marie Gauthier
A Journey Through Pain and Suffering, 2024
Acrylic on Canvas
91.5 cm x 396 cm
ALANNAH KIM
Alannah Kim is a painter and textile artist who was born in South Korea before moving to Atikokan at a young age. Raised by a family of authors, she was consistently surrounded by literature and storytelling. She thought she would follow the same path until discovering the joy of storytelling through the visual arts of painting and drawing, as well as making something with her hands. Alannah is studying painting and textile sculpture for a degree in Visual Arts at Lakehead University. Having grown up amongst the plentiful lakes of Northwestern Ontario, Alannah’s work is inspired by the environment and its naturally occurring patterns. Her art explores repetition, form, and texture, each work beginning with the question of the nature of things and ending with a playful answer. Following graduation, Alannah will continue to explore the boundless world of visual arts and create for the sake of creating.
Alannah Kim
Bedroom: Whale, 2024
Acrylic on canvas
48.25cm x 58.5cm
Alannah Kim
Sink: Hand Towel, 2025
Acrylic on canvas
61 cm x 76 cm
This exhibition is proudly sponsored by
