Arts and Entertainment

Peter Dusek explores water, art and environmental awareness in new work

June 11, 2026   ·   0 Comments

By Constance Scrafield

Hockley-based minimalist and abstract artist/photographer, Peter Dusek, is happy to report that his Peter Dusek Gallery in the heart of Creemore “is doing very well.”

The gallery has been open for four years in August, with help from his wife, Victoria.

Dusek met with the Citizen to discuss his introduction to Swim Drink Fish. This is an organization working with communities to improve the local water with science-based data and information on how to improve local water conditions.

Dusek outlined his introduction, “A couple bought one of my pieces in the gallery. They were members of Artists for Water and invited me to donate one of my prints for the fundraising Gala for Swim Drink Fish. It was held at the Design Exchange building in downtown Toronto.”

The gala was attended by 250 supporters, where they celebrated the vital role of art and music in protecting our waterways, raised $417,000 for swimmable, drinkable, fishablewater.

The reasons for the founding and growth of Swim Drink Fish were the increasing number of waterfront spots festooned with warning signs reading, “do not drink; do not swim; do not fish in this water.”

Over the years, Swim Drink Fish has helped communities not only in Canada but also in 11 other countries and over 170 communities.

Dusek was impressed, commenting, “Swim Drink Fish collects data on restoring water for safe use.”

The issue of clean water is important to Dusek, as so many of his art photographs are taken around water. It is his custom to ride his motorcycle at will in rural areas, to the Canadian Great Lakes, especially Lake Huron and Georgian Bay. What he really loves is how the water is so different. Lake Huron up to Killarney, everything is wild with lots of little islands until Midland and the Bruce Trail, where the water looks different, but it is the same lake.

“An artist’s work is about the land and the water,” Dusek observed. “People come to see exhibitions and we have to care.”

He talked about the Alliston Aquifer, a massive, ancient underground reservoir located beneath the Simcoe Uplands in central Ontario, renowned as some of the purest water globally and designated by leading scientists as a global benchmark for water purity.

Unbelievably, this world-renowned aquifer, with the purest water in the world, is at risk from gravel companies wanting to expand their mines in the area. This water source dates back 3,000 years.

Fifteen artists came and painted, and were joined by photographers to create an exhibition used by the Canadian Museum of Water.

“These events inform artists who reflect it in their art,” Dusek noted.

Another area of interest is the White Bear Forest in Temagami, an old-growth forest valued for its opportunity for scientific research and environmental monitoring.

Travelling the roads around Nottawasaga Bay, in his quest to find places to photograph, Dusek has discovered. “With the privately owned cottage properties, I was surprised how little I could get to the shore,” he commented.

He went on to describe his new work, with more expanding into colour.

“Over the last five years, most of my work has been photos of wind and water. And I have gone completely abstract, doing photos in full colour, where the sun decides. I call it Water Music,” Dusek said.

He mused, “Artists are witnesses of nature to pass it on to others who might not realize the risks to the environment.”

He has spent a lot of time thinking about how water can be used artistically, for it is very active, then very calm. Is there a message in calm water?

There is something about being on a boat – why does everyone love that specific feeling of calm?

And he offered the answer: In a forest, you can’t see what could be near you. Danger can come suddenly.

But on the water, you can see. Danger can come, but on the water, you can sense danger coming. There is that feeling of safety.

Thinking a lot about water – it is both soft and hard. “We are 80 per cent water.”

While he had an exhibit of barns at the Museum of Dufferin recently, Dusek really likes to spend time in his gallery, with his choice of a broad representation or a more focused theme.

“I meet so many great people, one who bought a nice water piece for donation for Swim Drink Fish.

Showing pieces at an exhibition or in another gallery is a passing “exist,” but being in his gallery means he “exists” all the time.

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