To Be Something More

Confederation Centre Art Gallery (CCOA) presents To Be Something More (and More), a major exhibition by Vancouver-based Canadian artist Sandeep Johal, opening June 20.

Through painting, collage, textiles, and mural, Johal explores the resilience of women in her signature Indo-folk aesthetic, confronting harsh and ugly realities with their dissonant opposites: brightness, hope, and beauty. Originated at the Kelowna Art Gallery, this powerful body of work arrives at CCOA as one of the most vibrant and emotionally resonant exhibitions the gallery has presented in recent memory.

Ahead of the exhibition opening, the gallery invites the community to get hands-on with Johal’s visual world through a special workshop event on June 14 at 2 pm. Registration is open at confederationcentre.com/event/sandeep-johal.

Johal is a visual artist, advocate, and leader whose practice engages drawing, collage, textiles, and large-scale murals. Through her Indo-folk feminine aesthetic, she confronts themes of bleakness, despair, and ugliness with their dissonant opposites: brightness, hope, and beauty. Her work centers around the stories of women and while she highlights female suffering in its many forms, these are ultimately stories of resistance and resilience.

Johal began her professional art practice after becoming a new mother at the age of 41. Since then, she has worked on notable site-specific commissions with the Vancouver Art Gallery (2021, 2019), Burrard Arts Foundation (2019), and Vancouver Mural Festival (2016 to 2021). Her work is held in numerous collections, including the TD Art Collection, the Gordon Smith Gallery of Canadian Art, Global Affairs Canada Visual Art Collection Program (Canadian Embassy, San Salvador), and Surrey Art Gallery.

She holds a Diploma in Fine Arts (honours) from Langara College (2007) and a Degree in Education from the University of British Columbia (2002).

Learn more at sandeepjohal.com.

To Be Something More (and More) will be on view through January 10, 2027.