Staff photo by Lizz Bottrell

“Relic” depicts Wozniak-Bonk’s memory of an encounter with the rare black cougar while growing up on a farm near Corning.

By Lizz Bottrell, Citizen Staff

Childhood memories hold a special spot in a person’s heart. Some memories bring up immense happiness while others can stir up a feared moment in a person’s life. How a person deals with these memories can affect his or her entire outlook on life.

Debbie Wozniak-Bonk used her memories to inspire her works of art. One such piece called “Relic,” which she created over 10 years ago, currently sits on display in the Kipling Community Centre as part of the “On Hallowed Ground” collection. The touring exhibition, a partnership between the Saskatchewan Arts Board and the Organization of Saskatchewan Arts Councils (OSAC), opened in Kipling on May 6 and remains on display until May 22.

Wozniak-Bonk, originally from Corning, said the inspiration behind “Relic” stems from growing up on a farm in Southeast Saskatchewan. “I grew up on a farm surrounded by a lot of pasture,” said Wozniak-Bonk. “I would go for walks through the pastures and take photos. Sometimes I’d go walking by myself. One of the pastures was wild and a little bit scary so I did not walk through it that often. One year, when I was about 18, I walked through it and I saw a black cougar in the pasture. This is really rare for Southeast Saskatchewan. I was really scared so I never went back in there for quite awhile.”

Two years after she saw the black cougar, Wozniak-Bonk, along with her boyfriend, gathered up a lot of courage and ventured back through the pasture. What she saw left her with a lasting impact and the inspiration for “Relic.” “We found a dried out dugout,” said Wozniak-Bonk. “A deer carcass was sticking out of the dried mud. It was a strange thing to see this rib cage stuck in the dried out mud in the dugout. Usually here the animals would tear it apart so I thought it must have been the black cougar.”

This incident left such an impact on Wozniak-Bonk that to this day she still refuses to walk through that particular pasture. However, when she graduated university, the fearful memory left her with the inspiration for a brilliant piece for a show held at the university gallery. The piece, which essentially shows a rib cage half stuck in the ground, projects a morbid feeling while showing a light at the end of the tunnel. “Bones are always sort of a symbol of life and death and just how precious our life is,” said Wozniak-Bonk.

Her piece fits in well with the entire collection which shares the similar theme of spirituality. “These are not the works of religions or churches, but rather of the resting place of the studio, where the artists work in solitude,” explains curator, Aaron Clarke. The works present “an invisible source of inspiration made visible,” Clarke went on to say. “I think my piece probably suits the collection because it has a very eerie feel to it,” said Wozniak-Bonk. “It’s a feeling of life and death that really makes you think about life and death in general.”

To view Wozniak-Bonk’s beautiful piece of art work as well as all the other very intriguing works of art, visit the Kipling Community Centre anytime before May 22.