TORN CANVAS: art and times of Zeljko Kujundzic
at the Cowichan Public Art Gallery from June 13 to August 23, 2025,
126 Ingram Street, Duncan. Gallery hours are 10:00-4:00 Tuesday to Saturdays.
at the Cowichan Public Art Gallery from June 13 to August 23, 2025,
126 Ingram Street, Duncan. Gallery hours are 10:00-4:00 Tuesday to Saturdays.
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The Cowichan Public Art Gallery is an emerald gem hidden away in downtown Duncan, sheltered by an inviting stand of mature trees. The delightful heritage building was saved in 2000 by dedicated community members with the idea of creating an arts centre in Duncan. While fund-raising and planning for a future grand gallery, the hard-working society of volunteers continues to host exceptional exhibitions - ones not usually seen locally. This webpage explores Torn Canvas through the eyes of Zeljko Kujundzic’s four daughters: Natanis Christensen, Claire Kujundzic, Kate Enewold, Judy Kujundzic. I met with the daughters on July 3 and asked each one to pick out an artwork they wished to discuss. Their insightful comments, like pieces of a puzzle, help paint a picture of their father’s multi-faceted career. |
Natanis Christensen, Claire Kujundzic, Kate Enewold, Judy Kujundzic
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Judy Kujundzic with John the Baptist (top) the Sorcerer (middle) and the Fisherman (bottom)
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John the Baptist, hand-worked silver mounted on wood
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Self Portrait, pen and ink on paper, 1950
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Judy Kujundzic chose John the Baptist for her interview partly because of her life-long connection to metal. Judy first learned about metal work at age 13, during a jewelry class taught by her father on the Penticton Indian Reserve. “My father worked in several First Nations communities around BC to support and promote their culture,” she recalls. Using hammers, pliers and propane torches for soldering, Judy made a copper ring with a jade inset and an arm bracelet. This early training gave Judy the confidence to pursue a welding career in the shipbuilding industry. Judy is also a visual artist who paints and exhibits with a local group.
Judy finds the details in John the Baptist contrast with her father’s big, bold artworks of later years. The 6x8 inch work was completed when he was a student at the Royal College of Art in Budapest in his early twenties (circa 1940).
Hand-worked front and back on tempered silver with special tools, it shows the artist’s skill in capturing movement and drama within a compressed space. Beside Judy and beneath John the Baptist is the Sorcerer (hand-worked copper) and the Fisherman (hand-worked silver). These positive role models communicate the exuberant energy and youthful optimism of the artist.
Unfortunately, Kujundzic’s student years were interrupted by the Second World War. Forced to flee on foot to Austria, he carried John the Baptist with him. Eventually captured, he suffered in forced labour camps and arrived in Scotland in 1948 as a refugee. His self portrait, completed in 1950, shows a darker version of the vitality of his student days. From his memoir, Torn Canvas, the artist questions his life: “Well, well, so you wanted to become an artist…what is art to you now, after what you have seen? Well, this is life, and where is your art now?”
After viewing this collection, we see the artist did go on to complete his art education and experiment with a variety of mediums, including sculpture, painting and printmaking.
Hand-worked front and back on tempered silver with special tools, it shows the artist’s skill in capturing movement and drama within a compressed space. Beside Judy and beneath John the Baptist is the Sorcerer (hand-worked copper) and the Fisherman (hand-worked silver). These positive role models communicate the exuberant energy and youthful optimism of the artist.
Unfortunately, Kujundzic’s student years were interrupted by the Second World War. Forced to flee on foot to Austria, he carried John the Baptist with him. Eventually captured, he suffered in forced labour camps and arrived in Scotland in 1948 as a refugee. His self portrait, completed in 1950, shows a darker version of the vitality of his student days. From his memoir, Torn Canvas, the artist questions his life: “Well, well, so you wanted to become an artist…what is art to you now, after what you have seen? Well, this is life, and where is your art now?”
After viewing this collection, we see the artist did go on to complete his art education and experiment with a variety of mediums, including sculpture, painting and printmaking.
Kathleen and Claire, linocut print 22/50
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Family, carved wood panels with copper adornments
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George Ryga, acrylic with gold leaf on mahogany.
(Natanis Christensen on right)
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Natanis stands with her father’s collaged portrait of George Ryga (1932-1987). Ryga was a talented and prolific Canadian playwright, best known for his 1970 play The Ecstasy of Rita Joe. The portrait of Ryga uses mixed-media to great effect, outlining the head and shoulders using strong contours of confident brushwork in bright tones. The position of the face in three-quarters profile shows the focused intensity of the sitter. We see the carefully-contoured facial features, dark eyes and neatly clipped beard and hair. The hastily ripped and pasted clippings showing Ryga’s play and press coverage surround the bust portrait. Ryga’s forehead, illuminated with gold paint, completes this casual and warm- hearted gift of friendship.
Natanis holds warm memories from time spent in the household of Norma and George Ryga. It was a bustling place in Summerland located near the Kujundzic residence. Both families were arts-based and cultural hubs, welcoming places where music, theatre and visual art flourished. The two families had children of similar ages, so much visiting back and forth ensued. Natanis recalls spending happy days in the Ryga’s household and seeing George cooking and canning. She didn’t experience the public side of George, but felt comfortable in the family home. “He was a lot like my dad,” she says, “and I believe they shared cultural and political values. I also recall George giving me driving lessons!”
Left: Prince of My Childhood Dreams, ceramic slab.
Right: Sentinel, ceramic, wheel-thrown and slab.
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Marko, slab built and pit fired, copper necklace with beads.
(Claire Kujundzic on left)
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Woman, ceramic wheel-thrown, hand built and carved
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Zeljko Kujundzic was born in Subotica, now Serbia, into a fifth-generation artisan family of Turkish descent. The youth spent time with both sets of grandparents. Marko was completed to honour one beloved grandfather revered as a mythic strong-man in this commemorative sculpture. The monumental head exudes an aura of dignity, defined by deftly-chiselled features, a peaceful expression and a carved copper and beaded necklace.
Marko is hand-built from slabs of rolled out clay, made malleable by careful manipulation of the medium. Claire, who studied ceramics at Emily Carr University explains the difficulty of producing a piece the size and weight of Marko. “A slab must be firm enough to stand on its own,” she says, “yet flexible enough to be molded into position.” Marko’s hair is made from strips of clay, cut and positioned to resemble bangs in front with trailing locks behind the head.
The dark ghosting on the surface is caused by smoke from pit firing. Pit firing is an ancient pottery technique in which ceramics are placed in a cavity in the earth and covered with combustable materials. Claire finds it astonishing the piece survived both the rigours of hand-assembly and pit firing. She fondly recalls her father’s ongoing experiments with a variety of mediums. Her own upbringing included a wealth of art supplies and creative freedom. She remembers being encouraged to make a mural on the bedroom wall with crayons in their new home. “We learned by doing” she says, “and our dad was an enthusiastic teacher.”
The dark ghosting on the surface is caused by smoke from pit firing. Pit firing is an ancient pottery technique in which ceramics are placed in a cavity in the earth and covered with combustable materials. Claire finds it astonishing the piece survived both the rigours of hand-assembly and pit firing. She fondly recalls her father’s ongoing experiments with a variety of mediums. Her own upbringing included a wealth of art supplies and creative freedom. She remembers being encouraged to make a mural on the bedroom wall with crayons in their new home. “We learned by doing” she says, “and our dad was an enthusiastic teacher.”
Mother Earth, acrylic and gold leaf on mahogany
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Kate Enewold with “age-four” bronze bust
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Two Fishermen, linocut print
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Kate Enewold stands with a bronze bust sculpture, showing her at age four. I was expected to sit for long periods and somehow managed the task, she recalls. For many years the sculpture remained a plaster cast (molded plaster over a chicken wire frame) with a painted patina. Moved many times, from Scotland to Canada and around BC, the fragile semi-completed sculpture managed to survive. Finally, in 2001 it was cast into bronze and Kate became a proud owner.
This vivid memory of being four years old, is accompanied by another memory from a similar time sparked by the linocut print Two Fishermen. When Kate was around four years of age her family lived on a sailboat in the harbour at Musselburgh near Edinburgh. Kate’s mother Ann sewed her a colourful sleeping bag and she nestled in a cubby hole under the bow. The bountiful nature of the sea and those who toil with their hands are recurring themes in the Kujundzic artworks.
In Mother Earth, themes of abundance are presented with greater complexity. The artist has fractured Mother Earth and the entire picture plane into a series of discordant shapes using strident colours and charged brushwork. The figure’s right hand is raised. A sign of surrender or blessing? The left hand appears to push down some great weight. The squared head is split in two, scratched and sightless. These visual clues communicate a mood of empathetic concern for the health of Mother Earth. Kate explains that her father was concerned about the environment and an early adapter of recycling. Thrifty and creative, he incorporated many different materials and methods into his artworks. He also invented a successful solar-powered kiln which uses giant lenses to focus sunlight. Kate, along with her family and friends, feels proud and happy to see her father’s work well-presented and receiving the attention it deserves.
The Kujundzic family welcomes your interest and can be contacted via this WEBSITE. Their brother Andy Kujundzic was not in attendance; their elder half-brother László Kuluncsit, passed away in Budapest in 2019.
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