Visitors have until Sunday, Jan. 11 to see the Varley Art Gallery of Markham's two fall exhibitions, which opened in Unionville on Sept. 20, 2025: Kejie Lin: A Garden of My Own and the group show Sights of Convergence.

A garden painted in a classical technique

A Garden of My Own, in the Main Gallery, presents the work of Richmond Hill-based artist Kejie Lin, curated by Yuluo Wei. Lin, a former landscape architect who immigrated to Canada in her late forties, paints in gongbi, a classical Chinese ink painting style known for meticulous, controlled brushwork. Rather than the symbolic plants of traditional Chinese painting, she paints the flowers of her own Canadian garden.

The garden becomes a layered living medium where a translated homeland and a transplanted identity take root.

— Exhibition text, Varley Art Gallery of Markham

Three artists, one shared concern

Sights of Convergence, curated by Anik Glaude and Yuluo Wei, brings together Toronto artists Jess Riva Cooper and Stanzie Tooth and Saskatoon artist Gabriela García-Luna. Each works in a different material practice, but all three explore how closely human and natural worlds are entwined. The city describes anxiety, tension, loss and the shadow of ecological catastrophe running beneath the surface of the work.

What comes next

After the fall shows close, the gallery will host Fractals of Possibility, an immersive dance performance produced and choreographed by Markham's Zoe Kwan, from Jan. 16 to 18. The piece blends principles of Chinese martial arts with Western contemporary dance, and audiences move through the exhibition space with the performers. Amy Yeung, Aryana Malekzadeh, Julia Mak, Norey Lau and Shona Kiyama are listed as dancers and collaborators.

Performances are at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 16 and Saturday, Jan. 17, and at 5:30 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 18. Tickets are sold through Eventbrite on a sliding scale, the city said.

Fractals of Possibility is an imaginative and thought-provoking production that highlights both the depth of local talent and the cultural diversity that defines Markham.

— Mayor Frank Scarpitti, City of Markham

The Varley Art Gallery is at 216 Main St. in Unionville.