Gallery 1C03’s latest exhibition is Bria Fernandes’ Things Left Unsaid, which runs from September 11 to October 31, with an opening reception on September 11 from 4 to 6 p.m. All are welcome to join an artist talk with Bria Fernandes and Ekene Maduka on October 9 at 10 a.m., in 2M70 (second floor, Manitoba Hall).
“Bria’s paintings are intriguing,” said Jennifer Gibson, Gallery 1C03 Director/Curator. “Her works often read like theatrical sets, with characters interacting on a stage. There are many details to discover and she sets up psychological tensions between her figures which encourages viewers to pause and wonder.”
Winnipeg-based artist Bria Fernandes creates introspective paintings that explore her social, cultural, and personal experiences as a Black woman in Canada. By revisiting specific memories, Fernandes considers complex thoughts and feelings such as self-doubt, anxiety and displacement that emerge from the specificity of racialized and diasporic communities. Her large-scale tableaus are abundant with a cast of often expressionless figures tethered to one another and to symbolic objects and animals. The result are layered narratives that speak to the intricacies and intersections of individual and collective lived experiences within diasporic communities.
“Gallery 1C03 aims to provide a platform to artists from equity-deserving communities,” said Gibson. “The perspectives of racialized women are underrepresented in the arts and in academic settings. Featuring Bria’s art in this solo exhibit offers an important opportunity to assert her unique creative perspective as a BIPOC woman artist. And many students at UWinnipeg will relate to Bria’s concerns as a young racialized person, navigating conflicted emotions.”
The exhibition will include an interpretive text by Winnipeg artist Ekene Maduka and a public conversation between Fernandes and Maduka.
About Bria Fernandes
Bria Fernandes is a Canadian-born figurative painter whose art delves into themes of identity, vulnerability, and belonging, using silence, omission, and exclusion as tools to depict oppression and introspection. Through symbolic imagery and passive body postures, she captures moments of self-reflection, focusing on marginalized communities’ unseen emotions and unspoken truths. Working primarily with oil paint and acrylics, Fernandes incorporates symbolic forms that reflect her personal and cultural narratives. Her intricate works create emotionally resonant spaces, inviting viewers to share these moments of contemplation and fostering dialogue about identity, anxiety, and displacement. Born in Ottawa, Fernandes now resides in Winnipeg. She has a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the Alberta University of the Arts. Fernandes’ art has been shown in the following exhibitions this year: The Feminine Lived Experience at The Esplanade Arts and Heritage Centre (Medicine Hat, AB), UPRISE 2025: The Art of Resistance at The Untitled Space (New York City), Black History Month Showcase with Kanbi Projects via Artsy (online), and Threads of Kin and Belonging at the Winnipeg Art Gallery–Qaumajuq (Winnipeg).
You can see the exhibition in Gallery 1C03 Monday to Friday between 12 and 4 p.m. from September 11 until October 31, 2025. Closed September 30 and October 13. Learn more about the exhibition.
