Dominik Modlinski — Artist Biography & CV
Artist Statement
I am a Canadian landscape painter shaped by long, direct encounters with wilderness. My work grows out of time spent travelling and painting in remote places—from the Yukon and the Rockies to the West Coast—where the land is not a backdrop, but an active presence. Working in the plein air tradition allows me to respond to weather, light, and terrain as they unfold, and those experiences become the foundation of my studio paintings.
What I return to most often is the relationship between physical presence and perception—how it feels to move through a landscape, to arrive after effort, and to stand within something larger than yourself. These moments are grounding. They require attention, patience, and humility, and they shape the way I see and paint the world.
I am drawn to transitions that are easy to overlook: the shift from forest to alpine, subtle changes in temperature and colour, and the quiet balance between stability and change. The process of painting reflects that experience. Layers are built, adjusted, and reconsidered over time, much like understanding deepens through repeated encounters with a place.
My paintings are meant to carry that sense of presence. They are not only depictions of landscape, but records of time spent within it—moments of stillness, effort, and discovery. I hope they offer a lasting connection to the wild places that inspired them, and a quiet reminder of what is worth protecting.
Jay Durant’s GLOBAL TV interview with Dominik J. Modlinski, This is BC.
https://globalnews.ca/video/9101812/a-landscape-artist-goes-to-extremes-to-reflect-the-world
DOMINIK J. MODLINSKI
AFCA. CSPWC.
I was born in Warsaw, Poland, in 1970, and now live and work on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. My path as an artist began with formal training in printmaking and design in Warsaw, and continued after my family immigrated to Canada in 1987. I studied at the Ontario College of Art in Toronto, graduating with honors in 1993, but it was not the classroom that ultimately defined my direction. It was the land.
During my student years, I was drawn north to the remote regions of Ontario, and after graduation I moved to the Algoma region to paint directly from nature. That decision set the course for the rest of my life. In the early 1990s, extended journeys into the Yukon and the far North deepened my commitment to wilderness as a lifelong subject. Since then, I have returned to northern landscapes for more than two decades, working across seasons and conditions, often on multi-week painting expeditions.
My work is shaped by direct experience in places such as the Canadian Rockies, the West Coast, the Yukon, and more distant regions including Antarctica, Greenland, Patagonia, and parts of Africa and South America. These environments have taught me to look for structure, balance, and the quiet order that underlies the natural world.
I approach painting as a disciplined, long-term practice rather than a search for novelty. Each work grows out of observation, memory, and time spent in the landscape. My paintings are held in private and corporate collections and represented by galleries across Canada and the United States, but recognition has never been the motivation.
What continues to drive my work is the desire to understand the land more deeply and to translate those experiences into paintings that carry a sense of stillness, endurance, and truth.
DOMINIK J. MODLINSKI
Born 1970, Warsaw, Poland
Canadian
Based in British Columbia, Canada
Education
Ontario College of Art, Toronto, ON
Diploma in Drawing & Painting with Honours, 1989–1993
Elected Memberships
Federation of Canadian Artists
Canadian Society of Painters in Water Colour
Solo Exhibitions
2025
• Wilderness in Motion (Painting Demonstration & Exhibition), Canada House Gallery, Banff, AB
• Northern Paintings, University of Alaska / Mat-Su College, Palmer, AK
2024
• Wanderlust: Journey into the Wilderness, Canada House Gallery, Banff, AB
2023
• Creating Alpine Magic (Painting Demonstration & Exhibition), Canada House Gallery, Banff, AB
2016
• Changing Landscapes, Canada House Gallery, Banff, AB
2013
• Horizons, Canada House Gallery, Banff, AB
2011
• 20 + 20, Canada House Gallery, Banff, AB
2009
• Painter’s Journeys, Elliott Louis Gallery, Vancouver, BC
2008
• Recent Works, John A. Libby Gallery, Toronto, ON
2004
• Northern Journeys, Canada House Gallery, Banff, AB
• From Ocean to Icefields, Yukon Arts Centre, Whitehorse, YT
2001
• Wild Places, Libby’s Art Gallery, Toronto, ON
1998–1994
• Discovering Algoma, Libby’s Art Gallery, Toronto, ON
• Recent Works, Atlin Courthouse, Atlin, BC (1997, 1998)
• Oil Paintings & Watercolours, Libby’s Art Gallery, Toronto, ON
• Dynamics of Nature, Bailey Bedard Studio Gallery / Western Canada Wilderness Committee, Toronto, ON
• Recent Paintings, Gallery Pekao, Toronto, ON
Selected Group Exhibitions
2025
• Nanaimo Fine Art Show, Vancouver Island Conference Centre, Nanaimo, BC
• Artist of the Year Exhibition, Federation of Canadian Artists Gallery, Vancouver, BC
• Online Exhibition & Calendar Contest, Federation of Canadian Artists
2024
• Nanaimo Fine Art Show, Vancouver Island Conference Centre, Nanaimo, BC
• Landscape Exhibition, Federation of Canadian Artists Gallery, Vancouver, BC
2023
• Nature Trust of British Columbia – Artist of the Year Exhibition, FCA Gallery, Vancouver, BC
• Vancouver Salon, Federation of Canadian Artists Gallery, Vancouver, BC
• Water Exhibition, Federation of Canadian Artists Gallery, Vancouver, BC
2021–1993
• Waterworks Gallery, Friday Harbor, WA, USA
• Mountain Galleries, Whistler, BC
• Medicine Man Gallery, Tucson, AZ, USA
• Yukon Arts Centre, Whitehorse, YT
• Libby’s Art Gallery, Toronto, ON
• Northern Arts Festival, Inuvik, NWT
• Wagner Rosenbaum Gallery, Toronto, ON
• Captain Martin House Gallery, Whitehorse, YT
• Multiple national and international exhibitions
Awards & Grants
2024
• Third Place Award, Nanaimo Fine Art Show (FCA)
2023
• People’s Choice Award, Nanaimo Fine Art Show (FCA)
• Third Place Award, Nanaimo Fine Art Show (FCA)
• Cover Artist & Second Place Award, FCA Calendar & Online Exhibition
2016
• First Prize Award, Polish Canadian Art Fusion Exhibition, Vancouver, BC
1994–1992
• Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation Scholarship
• David L. Stevenson Scholarship (Drawing & Painting)
• Friends of O.C.A. Scholarship (Fine Art)
Artist Residencies
Storm Mountain Lodge, Banff National Park, AB
Fairmont Hotels, Whistler & Banff, AB / BC
Dechenla Lodge, Northwest Territories
Hakai Beach Institute, Great Bear Rainforest, BC
Antarctica – Lyubov Orlova Expedition Vessel
Eastern Arctic – Russian Icebreaker Kapitan Khlebnikov
Num-Ti-Jah Lodge, Banff National Park, AB
Algoma School of Landscape Arts, ON
Gallery Representation
Canada House Gallery, Banff, AB
White Rock Gallery, White Rock, BC
Hambleton Galleries, Kelowna, BC
Alpine Echo Gallery, Revelstoke, BC
Medicine Man Gallery, Tucson, AZ, USA
Selected Collections
Altamira Investments Inc.
Burgundy Asset Management
Husky Injection Mouldings
Magna Ltd.
International Data Corporation
Pat Quinn Collection
Nature’s Scene
Art of the Traderhorn
Lawrence & Company
Varughese Production Inc.
Publications & Media (Selected)
Arabella Magazine
International Artist Magazine
CBC Television
CTV News
Vision TV
Yukon News
Rocky Mountain Outlook
Canadian Journal of Rural Medicine
UNICEF (Selected Artwork)
Teaching
Lecture & Workshop Instructor, McMichael Canadian Art Collection
Workshops and lectures throughout Alberta and British Columbia
Online workshops (ongoing)