At first glance, Kyle Scheurmann’s landscapes feel immersive—until something begins to shift. What seems like wilderness slowly reveals itself as something under pressure.
We Could Have Been a Mountain, on view from April 11–28, 2026 at Bau-Xi Gallery in Vancouver, sits right in that tension. It’s a body of work that doesn’t just depict nature—it questions what’s left of it.
Scheurmann’s practice is built on proximity. Since 2019, he has worked from studios in remote, wooded environments, not just observing landscapes, but living within them.
That closeness changes things. His work isn’t about capturing scenery—it’s about witnessing transformation. Climate change, logging, wildfire—these aren’t distant ideas, but lived realities that shape both the subject and the act of painting itself.
A defining moment came during his time at the Fairy Creek blockades in 2021. There, Scheurmann wasn’t just an artist—he became a journalist, a legal witness, and part of a larger movement trying to protect old-growth forests.
That experience continues to echo through the work. The paintings carry a different kind of weight—not just aesthetic, but ethical. They’re tied to real places, real conflicts, and real losses.
Working in oil and mixed media on linen, Scheurmann builds surfaces that feel dense and atmospheric, but never fixed. His landscapes are always in flux.
You can sense both presence and absence at once. Forests appear, dissolve, reassemble. The imagery resists stillness, mirroring the instability of the environments it comes from. These aren’t static views—they’re landscapes in transition.
What makes Scheurmann’s work stand out is how far it reaches beyond the studio. His involvement with environmental initiatives, including organizing the Art Auction for Old Growth, places his practice within a broader system of action.
It’s a reminder that painting, in this context, isn’t just representation—it’s participation. The work contributes to conversations around conservation, policy, and collective responsibility, expanding the role of the artist in tangible ways.
There’s a quiet urgency to this exhibition. Not only because it runs for a limited time, but because the landscapes it reflects are changing in real time.
We Could Have Been a Mountain is on view until April 28. For more information, visit the gallery’s website—and take the time to experience these works while they still hold this particular moment in place.
