Leonard Nimoy’s photography, a wooden Enterprise and four more pieces from the CNE’s Star Trek art show

If you’re a Star Trek lover, it’s time to boldly go where no one...er, many, many people have gone before: the CNE.

To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the beloved sci-fi series, curators Wade Buchanan and Jorge Ferraro assembled a fleet of Trekkie artwork, a globetrotting exhibition called Star Trek: 50 Artists, 50 Years. It touches down at the Ex from August 19 to September 5.

Buchanan hopes the show can bridge the gap between hardcore Trekkies and people less familiar with the canon. “Young and old are familiar with Star Trek in some degree,” he says. “Although there are details of the exhibit that will especially excite fans, everyone will appreciate the calibre of talent.”

We asked a few of the Canadian artists whose work is featured in the show to tell us about the inspiration behind their contributions.

Gary Pullin

Mirror Mirror

“The Star Trek universe is vast, so there is an incredible amount of inspiration to draw from. With so many new alien cultures introduced in each incarnation of the show, chances are that there is something that will resonate with you personally. The episode ‘Mirror Mirror’ has always stuck with me. In it, the crew enter a parallel universe and are forced to battle their evil twins to win back the Enterprise. It showed a darkness in Spock that made him more human to me, and Leonard Nimoy played a great villain.”

Marco D’Alfonso

Boldly Go

“Growing up, I was fascinated by the transporter. To me, it represented the endless possibilities of space. So I decided to mesh star constellations and the original teleporting effect into my design. I wanted to capture the feeling of transporting into adventure and discovering the unknown.”

Calvin Ma

Home is Where the Journey Is

“My Enterprise is decorated with aged wood-like textures and patterns, much like those I use in my artwork. Before starting the piece, I gathered as much reference material as I could to get an idea of the proportions of the Enterprise. I sketched out the scale to provide a guide as I began to hand-build the different components in clay. I work mainly with ceramic, so all my pieces are fired in a kiln, glazed and fired again. The piece took about a week and a half to complete.”

Joshua Buldich

To Boldly Go

“My inspiration was, first and foremost, the amazing relationships between the main characters. I wanted to tell a story with a visual narrative about the epic journey they’re on together. The iconic bond of friendship they share has always been an inspiration to me.”

Leonard Nimoy

Hand in Vulcan Gesture

As if the 49 other artists’ work wasn’t enough for dedicated Trekkies, the show includes a piece by Mr. Spock himself—Leonard Nimoy was a prolific photographer after his time on the show.