A Niverville artist is behind the new art installation at a prominent property on Pembina Highway in Winnipeg. The massive stainless steel piece at The Halo was designed and built by Darren Sakwi.
Sakwi isn’t exactly a newcomer to the world of stainless art installations, having created and sold several large-scale pieces in recent years. In 2016, he designed a sculpture to be displayed on Broadway in downtown Winnipeg. A couple of years later, he created another piece, dubbed ‘Sky Spirit,’ for the village centre plaza in Sage Creek.
In 2020, he also created the physical time capsule commemorating the one hundred fiftieth anniversary of Manitoba joining Confederation.
Gerry Gyles, one of Sakwi’s customers, introduced him to the owners of Private Pension Partners (PPP), the organization behind The Halo’s development. PPP was looking for a Las Vegas-style sculpture for the roundabout in the front of the new property.
“I was intrigued by the name [of the apartments] and had an idea to use a project I had started designing in the past,” Sakwi says. “‘The Tree of Life’ was an unfinished idea and I felt it was coming full circle with the meaning that would nicely tie into the overall vision of The Halo.”
Sakwi enlisted Gyles, also an artist, to help with lighting and artistic advice. Sakwi says that the engineering of the sculpture was a hurdle due to its massive size.
“All of the hours in the shop seemed to be a blur once the final bolt was connected on site,” Sakwi says. “It’s weird how the second the last bolt was tightened, I felt a huge sense of relief, as though the weight of the sculpture was removed from my shoulders. ‘The Tree of Life’ can be seen illuminating different colours throughout the seasons and I feel it is a successful and beautiful piece of art added to the property.”
Although Sakwi has no formal art education besides a few art classes he’s taken throughout the years, he feels that every step he’s taken in life has contributed to his artistic vision and talent.
“I have always been naturally artistic in different ways. I was always doodling, drawing, or cutting up cardboard boxes, making my own toys as a kid. I remember taking art classes as a young kid at the Winnipeg Art Gallery, which turned out to be an awesome experience to allow myself to explore more of my creativity and talents.”
Throughout high school, Sakwi always chose art electives, since they provided a mental break from the stress of his other classes. It never occurred to him then that art would be a part of his adult life, and certainly not a part of his life that actually earned him an income.
During and after high school, he spent much of his time racing mountain bike and travelling across Canada with Team Manitoba.
“One year I came home from racing to my mom saying, ‘Get in the car. You’re signing up for school.’ So after completing a ten-month drafting course at Red River College, I went out into the real world and got a job that allowed me to draw and design using computer software which I still use today.”
In 2009, Sakwi started his own business with a longtime coworker. That business, Stainless Concepts Inc., began with the building of a sculpture for another local artist. That piece is now on display on Provencher Boulevard.
“This project was a turning point for me in relation to my art, when that artist challenged me to produce my own type of sculpture,” Sakwi says. “After seeing my first piece I designed and fabricated, he jokingly suggested I quit my day job.”
Always on the lookout for another creative outlet, Sakwi recently tried something new.
“I designed something that I like to call functional art, which is actually a pizza oven that is aesthetically pleasing. I have a bit of a passion for food and wanted to design something that I could cook on that also looks like a sculpture for your backyard. I have customers who have also purchased this design of pizza oven and love how it adds to their backyard and even more so how it functions.”
The pizza oven plans are currently being streamlined so they can be made available for more customers.
