Description
“Shalak Attack” is an award winning Canadian-Chilean visual artist dedicated to painting, multi-media studio arts and is well known for her large scale spray paint murals. Since 2005, she has participated in numerous artistic projects, festivals and exhibitions in 18 countries around the world. She is a co-founder and co-director of the international art collectives “Clandestinos Art”, “Bruxas Crew” and “Essencia Art Collective”.
Whether on the street or in her studio, Shalak’s distinctive multi-layered and signature use of colour are emblematic of her unique style that inhabits the realm of psychedelic magical realism, and honours the sacred power of Nature. Shalak also shares her passion for freedom of expression, and has facilitated visual art workshops to at risk youth, women and community empowerment groups, as well as prisoners in various countries across the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and in Africa. Her artistic work and community art-reach is rooted in social and cultural values she received from her family who immigrated to Canada as part of the Chilean political diaspora caused by the country’s military dictatorship in the 1970’s.
Shalak graduated from Concordia University with a Bachelor’s degree in Studio Arts with honours, and studied one year of Fine Arts in the Universidad Autónoma Benito Juarez de Oaxaca, Mexico. In 2005-2006 Shalak participated in an internship program with Alternatives (Montréal) and Afro Reggae (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil), an NGO that uses art as a tool to engage youth as an alternative to the high risk of violence and drug trafficking of the favelas. Shalak considers her most impactful education to have come directly from the diverse communities she has had the opportunity to collaborate with around the world. Over the past 8 years, motherhood has played a major role in her artistic practice. Often challenged by systemic invisibility, she has sought to include her daughter in artistic processes and institutional spaces which has resulted in more intimate, resilient and deeply connected experiences. Shalak is currently based in Barrie, Ontario, together with her daughter and their two cats.
Meg Leslie is a mosaic and ceramic artist. She lives in Ramara, Ontario, a rural community that is surrounded by lakes and rivers and forests. Her work is deeply rooted in nature, storytelling and community. With a background in interior design and a Master Naturalist certificate, she brings a layered approach to ceramic arts—blending structural and organic, personal and ecological. Her practice evolved from large-scale pique assiette public mosaic installations to more intimate explorations in handmade porcelain tiles for backsplashes for homes and cottages. Meg is guided by a desire to seek out symbolism and find meaning. Over the past decade, she has led numerous community art projects, workshops, and creative initiatives across Ontario. These experiences have strengthened her belief in the transformative power of collective creativity.
