Portraits of Light celebrates a new body of work by David Stewart and the artist's ongoing exploration of light and colour. Depicting interior and exterior scenes—from   familiar domestic spaces in Vancouver to impressions gathered during a year-long journey through Korea—Stewart transforms each painting into an exploration of memory, perception, and place. Rather than documenting specific locations, these works capture the shifting character of light 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, inviting viewers into richly observed worlds. Each work possesses a cinematic quality, imbued with a compelling sense of atmosphere, movement, and narrative.

A student of Leopold Plotek during his Master of Fine Arts studies at Concordia  University, David Stewart 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 from the Eighties, the exhibition establishes a dialogue between the two artists. Together, the exhibitions reflect on the enduring lineage between mentor and student, connecting Stewart's contemporary explorations of everyday experience with the formative years of Plotek and the  foundations of an artistic practice shaped in turn by the influence of 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 has been awarded the Important Painting  Prize, the Elizabeth Greenshields Grant, in 2020, 2022, and 2025. He is also the recipient of the Jackson’s Painting Prize for Best Landscape in 2023.