Portraits of Light celebrates a new body of work by David Stewart and the artist's ongoing exploration of light and colour. From interior and exterior scenes in familiar Vancouver domestic spaces to impressions gathered during a year-long journey through Korea, Stewart turns each painting into an exploration of memory, perception, and place. Rather than documenting specific locations, these works capture light's shifting character and its ability to shape space, evoke emotion, and transform the ordinary into the memorable.

Stewart is distinguished by a remarkable sensitivity to light and colour. Through scenes drawn from everyday life, the artist creates paintings of extraordinary intensity that invite viewers into richly observed worlds. Each work possesses a cinematic quality, imbued with a compelling sense of atmosphere, movement, and narrative.

David Stewart, a student of Leopold Plotek during his Master of Fine Arts studies at Concordia University, presents his first solo exhibition with Corkin Gallery. Portraits of Light underscores the importance of mentorship and artistic exchange across generations. Presented alongside Leopold Plotek's Eighties exhibition, the show establishes a dialogue between the two artists. Together, the exhibitions reflect on the enduring mentor-student lineage, connecting Stewart's contemporary explorations of everyday experience with Plotek's formative years and the foundations of an artistic practice shaped in turn by Roy Kiyooka and Yves Gaucher.

Stewart received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Emily Carr University and a Master of Fine Arts from Concordia University. He was awarded the Elizabeth Greenshields Grant, an important painting prize, in 2020, 2022, and 2025. He also received the Jackson’s Painting Prize for Best Landscape in 2023.