Kira Rumak

Bio

Kira Rumak is a Winnipeg-based artist working in painting, drawing and mixed media.  Her intention when creating is to communicate a story through art and to represent ideas that appear dreamlike and unnatural.  While primarily working in oil painting, she has also created pieces in printmaking and ceramics.  When creating art, art styles such as surrealism, expressionism, and abstraction have influenced her work.  

Growing up in a creative environment, Kira’s work as a musician and dancer has influenced her art practice taking inspiration from movement and relation between music and art.  When thinking about the subjects depicted in her work, she imagines them in a state of performance and how viewers will interpret the subject’s story.  Kira finds her work transforms performance into a still image allowing her paintings to represent a story.  

Aside from her experience in theatre, the influence of science fiction films, particularly from the 1980s and 1990s inspires her subject matter and colour palettes.  Artists Rae Klein and René Magritte’s work have also influenced her projects concerning the surreal themes in their work.  Connecting to her experience in other art forms, themes of memory, feminine expression, emotions, and dreams are represented in her projects.  

An ongoing theme of dark or solid backgrounds is present throughout Kira’s work.  She chooses to have a solid colour background to bring attention to the main subjects by painting them brighter as she sheds light on different topics for discussion.  Her art style incorporating dark backgrounds is driven by her work in performance and the effect light has between art and the viewers. 

Concerning performance, many of her pieces read as stories or have meaning viewers may relate to.  In her most recent series depicting dreamlike imagery, a continued narrative of how it feels to be trapped in a dreamlike state is presented to have viewers connect with her work.  As seen in her figure paintings, the emotion expressed by the subject separates from what is behind or around it due to the solid and dark backgrounds.  By illuminating the subject apart from the background, Kira intends to bring light to the subject and their story apart from the background.

Teaching Journey

Kira is pursuing her career in the arts by studying in the Faculty of Education at the University of Manitoba, to become a Fine Arts and English teacher. She has continued to create and share her passion with young artists during her practicum terms. Kira is currently in her final semester of completing her Bachelor of Education degree.

As a Fine Arts Major and English Minor, Kira has had experience over the past two years teaching high school setting. She has taught Visual Arts to a wide range of students from grades 5-11. Teaching students in Winnipeg schools and volunteering at the CanU program at the University of Manitoba, her experience has grown, as well as her passion for teaching.

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CV

Education

Exhibitions

2022 Group Exhibition – Printmaking – Art Lab hallway exhibition

2023 48 Hour Film Festival – Screening of Festival Entries

2023 Group Exhibition – Advanced Printmaking – Art Lab hallway exhibition

2023 Group Exhibition – Salon – School of Art Student Gallery

2023 Group Exhibition – Honours Pieces – Art Lab hallway exhibition

2024 Group Exhibition – Preview – School of Art Student Gallery

2024 Group Exhibition – Intermediate Design – Art Lab hallway exhibition

Skills