Anna Syperek

Anna Syperek, born in England of Polish and English parents and raised in Oshawa,Ontario, moved to Antigonish, Nova Scotia in 1971, when she was 20.  Anna graduated with a BFA in painting and printmaking at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design in 1980.  After graduating from NSCAD, Anna settled back in the Antigonish area on the shores of St.Georges Bay with her husband, a film-maker, and together they raised a family of three daughters. Anna teaches part time in the Art Department at St. Francis.Xavier University where she also set up a community print making workshop.

Well known across the Maritimes for her large format landscape etchings and watercolours, Anna is also becoming recognized nationally and internationally for her oils. She was one of only 30 artists from across Canada chosen for the 2011 national portrait exhibition, The Kingston Prize, at the Royal Ontario Museum. Anna has appeared in numerous solo and group shows throughout the Maritimes and the rest of Canada.  In 2005, a large exhibition of her work entitled “Old New Scotland” traveled to four galleries in Scotland, courtesy of the Highland Council of Scotland after its debut in Nova Scotia.

Anna’s work is in the collection of the Canada Council and Nova Scotia Art Banks and numerous public and private collections across Canada, the United States, and Europe. She has received grants from the Canada Council, Nova Scotia Arts Council, and the Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation. She has recently been awarded the Alumnae Award of Excellence for her artistic contributions to St. Francis Xavier University by the St. FX Alumnae Association.

Anna is a founding member of the Nova Scotia Printmakers Association (former president), Visual Arts Nova Scotia, and the Society of Antigonish Printmakers.

The inspiration for Anna’s poetic realism comes from an intuitive rapport with her surroundings. “Over the last forty years, living and painting in northeastern Nova Scotia, I have gradually come to realized that the predominately Gaelic culture here and its strong interconnection with the land has deeply influenced my work.”