After completing his graduate studies at the University of Western Ontario in the fall of 2000, Wlasenko worked as Assistant Curator at The Robert McLaughlin Gallery (RMG) in Oshawa, Ontario. There he organized over twenty photography exhibitions featuring vintage prints that document the historical development of his hometown of Oshawa. Wlasenko has curated over 200 exhibitions, notably Broken Promises: Soviet Photography in the Age of Stalin at the MacLaren Art Centre, Vera Jacyk: Chysto, Chysto, Chysto at the RMG, Brendan Fernandes: Dada Afrika, Toni Latour: The Femme Project, Meryl McMaster: In Between Worlds and most recently Barry Ace: The Great Lakes at Station Gallery. This year marks Olex’s 16th anniversary as Curator at Whitby's public gallery.
Olexander's work has often mirrored social realism and Ukrainian and Eastern European visual history. Olexander continues to return to his Ukrainian roots as a touchstone for meaningful reflection and refining his craft. The subject of Olexander's work are often scenes from various films, mostly European, from the 1960s. Olex’s fascination for film comes from time spent as a child watching his father’s collection of Soviet era Ukrainian films. He selects a turning point in the movie, captures it in charcoal, often framing it in shades of black like a movie film negative and injects emotional content.