Christine Klassen Gallery Featuring JoAnn Godenir

May 21-June 27 2026

Christine Klassen Gallery is pleased to present Ripple, a new solo exhibition by Calgary artist JoAnn Godenir.

Created in a new medium of oil and cold wax, the exhibition marks a shift toward a slower, more tactile process rooted in layering, carving, and excavation. Built gradually over many days, the paintings reveal accumulated marks, hidden surfaces, and rhythmic lines that emerge through patience and repetition. Using pottery tools to carve into cured layers, Godenir transforms gestures and scribbles into physical traces embedded within the work itself.

Line sits at the heart of the exhibition. Sometimes delicate and controlled, other times instinctive and searching, the marks move across the surface like fragments of thought becoming visible. Each painting is titled with a single word, offering a quiet point of pause within the work’s layered complexity.

 For Godenir, Ripple reflects both process and mindset: the way one action leads naturally into another, and how meaning often reveals itself slowly over time. As she describes:

“The process is slow and tactile, grounded in trust and patience. When the layers have cured, I carve into them to uncover what has been hidden. It feels like excavation and listening.”

Balancing structure with intuition, the exhibition invites viewers to slow down and notice subtle shifts in texture, rhythm, and form. The works feel meditative yet active, carrying traces of both control and surrender within their surfaces.