"I work from the impulse that drove early image-makers—the need to give form to what exists beneath language."
ARTIST STATEMENT
I work from the impulse that drove early image-makers—the need to give form to what exists beneath language. For me, art is not decoration but inquiry: a means of making visible what is felt yet difficult to articulate.
Drawing from cave painting, petroglyphs, and ancient relief traditions, I engage a perceptual principle rather than a style. Early artists, as I understand it, activated the contours of stone so that figures emerged from the surface itself—reading what was latent before making a single mark. The wall was not passive; it held latent structure. I work from this same understanding. Form is not imposed—it is discovered through sustained attention and material negotiation. I have come to understand that the surface already contains something; the artist's task is to find it, not invent it. This approach allows subject matter to vary—from skeletal frameworks to ornamental networks to narrative compositions—while the generative process remains identical.
Across graphite, ink, acrylic, bronze, and steel, I build layered fields in which light and darkness exchange roles and figure and ground remain unstable. I treat surface—whether paper or metal—as something to be mined for depth, compressing space so that forms emerge from within.
In works on paper, form emerges through accumulated graphite and ink, surfaces densely woven until images begin to appear. Lines feel incised rather than drawn—weighted by years of foundry work, they press into paper the way a chisel presses into stone, excavating form from layered tone. That foundry background is not incidental: it trained my hand to press into a surface rather than move across it, and that pressure is present in every mark I make, in every material. In metal sculpture, welding becomes a form of drawing—lines built through heat rather than mark, creating ink-like gestures in three dimensions. Heat itself alters surface, creating textures that cannot be predetermined. Patina is applied not as finish but as atmosphere, shifting how light moves across form.
I intervene carefully, attentive to what the material has already set in motion. Each work carries a fragile vitality formed through accident and flow—my role is not to impose but to protect that emergent life, to recognize where it wishes to gather and bring it to rest without extinguishing its energy.
This cross-pollination—drawing like a sculptor, sculpting like a draughtsman—creates unified visual language across materials. Nothing functions as mere background. The surface actively collaborates, generating images that emerge gradually rather than announce themselves.
The density of the work is deliberate. It resists instant consumption and rewards prolonged looking. Viewers often discover new images upon return, not because they were hidden symbolically, but because perception itself shifts with attention.
Meaning is not delivered. It unfolds.
BIO
Yuri Kaplunovich works from the impulse that drove early image-makers—the need to give form to what exists beneath language. Engaging a perceptual principle rather than a style, he creates densely layered works where forms emerge through sustained material negotiation rather than predetermined design. People often report seeing different images each time they return—not because content was hidden symbolically, but because perception itself shifts with attention.
Working across bronze and stainless steel sculpture, graphite drawing, ink, and acrylic painting, Kaplunovich builds layered fields in which light and darkness exchange roles and figure and ground remain unstable. He treats surface—whether paper or metal—as something to be mined for depth, compressing space so that forms emerge from within. In works on paper, form emerges through accumulated graphite and ink, surfaces densely woven until images begin to appear—lines feel incised rather than drawn, weighted by years of foundry work, pressing into paper the way a chisel presses into stone. In metal sculpture, welding becomes a form of drawing—lines built through heat rather than mark, creating ink-like gestures in three dimensions. Heat itself alters surface, creating textures that cannot be predetermined. Patina is applied not as finish but as atmosphere, shifting how light moves across form.
This cross-pollination—drawing like a sculptor, sculpting like a draughtsman—creates unified visual language across materials. His imagery ranges from skeletal frameworks revealing internal architecture to ornamental networks informed by textile design training to narrative compositions drawn from biblical and historical sources to fragments of remembered landscapes and architecture—all unified by a consistent investigative method. Nothing functions as mere background. The surface actively collaborates, generating images that emerge gradually rather than announce themselves.
Drawing from cave painting, petroglyphs, and ancient relief traditions, Kaplunovich applies principles first seen in Paleolithic caves where early artists activated stone contours to make figures emerge from the surface itself. The wall was not passive; it held latent structure. He works with this same understanding across contemporary materials and subjects, allowing diverse imagery to surface through identical generative processes.
Trained in Soviet classical art education (MA in Textile Design, Belarusian Academy of Design), Kaplunovich worked for 27 years in professional art foundries—five years in Israel mastering lost wax casting and 22 years at Canada's Artcast, fabricating life-size sculptures for renowned artists. He has developed unrepeatable techniques including heat-treating stainless steel to create organic textures, then fusing them with bronze through hand-patination and selective polishing. Each sculpture bears his thumbprint pressed into custom bronze—a mark of human presence enduring across time.
Kaplunovich has exhibited internationally in Canada, Israel, Ukraine, and Belarus. He has had a solo exhibition at Towne Square Gallery (Oakville, Ontario) and participated in group exhibitions at Propeller Art Gallery (Toronto), Alton Mill Arts Centre, Studio 87 Gallery (Perth), Haifa Auditorium (Israel), and Safed Exhibition Centre (Israel). His work is held in private collections across Canada, the United States, Ireland, Israel, Ukraine, and Belarus. He lives and works in Perth, Ontario, Canada.
CURRICULUM VITAE
Professional summary
Painting | Drawing | Bronze | Stainless Steel
Based in Ontario, Canada
Based in Ontario, Canada
Education
MA, Art & Design
Belarusian Academy of Design, Minsk, Belarus,
1988–1993
Belarusian Academy of Design, Minsk, Belarus,
1988–1993
BFA
School of Fine Arts, Kherson, Ukraine
1980–1988
School of Fine Arts, Kherson, Ukraine
1980–1988
Specialized Training
Bronze casting, stainless steel fabrication, metal finishing, and patination — 30+ years professional studio and foundry practice
Bronze casting, stainless steel fabrication, metal finishing, and patination — 30+ years professional studio and foundry practice
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Professional Foundry & Metal Fabrication Experience:
Omanut Foundry, Israel
Artcast Inc., Canada
Artcast Inc., Canada
Specialization in bronze casting, structural fabrication, welding (MIG, TIG, stick), heat-altered steel processes, and surface finishing and patination.
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2008
New Work—Towne Square Gallery, Oakville, Ontario
New Work—Towne Square Gallery, Oakville, Ontario
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2022
Contemporary Art—Studio 87 Gallery, Perth, Ontario
Contemporary Art—Studio 87 Gallery, Perth, Ontario
2020
Drawing Unlimited—Propeller Art Gallery, Toronto, Ontario
In the Mix—Alton Mill Arts Centre (Caledon Headwaters Art Gallery), Alton, Ontario
68th Colour and Form Society Annual Juried Exhibition—Online Exhibition
Drawing Unlimited—Propeller Art Gallery, Toronto, Ontario
In the Mix—Alton Mill Arts Centre (Caledon Headwaters Art Gallery), Alton, Ontario
68th Colour and Form Society Annual Juried Exhibition—Online Exhibition
2004
Art of the Neighborhood—Mill Pond Gallery, Richmond Hill, Ontario
Art of the Neighborhood—Mill Pond Gallery, Richmond Hill, Ontario
1998
Color Palette—Haifa Auditorium Exhibition & Concert Hall, Haifa, Israel
Color Palette—Haifa Auditorium Exhibition & Concert Hall, Haifa, Israel
1995
Omanut—General Safed Exhibition Centre, Tzfat, Israel
Omanut—General Safed Exhibition Centre, Tzfat, Israel
1993
Show of Life—Vitebsk Fine Art Gallery, Vitebsk, Belarus
Show of Life—Vitebsk Fine Art Gallery, Vitebsk, Belarus
1989
Art Festival—Centre of Modern Art, Vitebsk, Belarus
Art Festival—Centre of Modern Art, Vitebsk, Belarus
1987
Young Artist—Kherson Public Art Gallery, Kherson, Ukraine
Young Artist—Kherson Public Art Gallery, Kherson, Ukraine
Publications
2020
Munson, E.C. “Going With The Flow.” Thumbnail Sketches, Peel Weekly News, Lifestyle Section, October 15, 2020
Munson, E.C. “Going With The Flow.” Thumbnail Sketches, Peel Weekly News, Lifestyle Section, October 15, 2020
COLLECTIONS
Private collections in Canada, United States, Ireland, Israel, Ukraine, and Belarus