Exhibitions

1.    Tell us a bit about yourself, what is your background and how did you begin your professional practice? 
I studied photography at Focal Point and Vancouver Photo Workshops. While the initial spark for photographing plants in ice came while documenting frozen ponds in Stanley Park in 2015, it wasn’t until the summer of 2020, when the pandemic allowed for unexpected time and space, that I began exploring the process, which ultimately evolved into my Botanical Ice Tile Series. My enthusiasm for gardening, keenness to learn about foraging, and passion for spending time in the forest informs and fuels my practice.       

2.    What subject matter do you work with and why? 
My art examines the relationship between humanity and the natural world. I draw inspiration and rejuvenation from time spent in nature.  Through my work I aim to share nature’s restorative qualities, encourage sustainability, and invite others to reflect on their own reciprocal connection with the environment.

3.    How does the idea of community relate to your practice? 
Occasionally, I have the opportunity to host workshops which always prove to be a wonderful opportunity for creative exchange and storytelling.  In my public art projects, I seek to bring moments of colour, beauty, and nature to spaces often defined by concrete, with the intention of easing stress, lifting spirits, and fostering a sense of place and well-being among passersby.

4.    What is your dream project? 
My dream project would be to create a large-scale, nature-inspired installation that immerses people in a multisensory experience that engages sight, sound, scent, and touch.

5.    What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given as an artist? 
“Following the energy and excitement within yourself leads to authentic creation and helps you find your unique voice.” - Rick Ruben

6.    Name three artists who’ve inspired you. 

• Wangechi Mutu
• Firelei Báez
• Rajni Perera
  
  I admire their layered artmaking, inspired storytelling, versatility, and phenomenal career trajectories.
   

1.    Tell us a bit about yourself, what is your background and how did you begin your professional practice?  
I wouldn’t say I have a professional practice yet, as during the last 40+ years, I’ve been working in investment management followed by law. Not surprisingly, there was never any time to work on any meaningful projects during those years. When the law phase ceased in 2024, I took up painting full-time. This isn’t a new venture for me. Although I have never had any formal training, art has always featured in my life. As a child, I was constantly sketching, and it’s amazing to be able to circle back to what I consider to be my true self.

2.    What subject matter do you work with and why?  
My subject matter is often derived from what I observe. Especially in the great outdoors - it’s free, and everyone can enjoy the benefits, and I enjoy bringing that to life. I also love drawing from my own imagination, so that I don’t end up painting only houses, pretty scenes and flowers. For example, the collection on which I am currently working emerges from an imaginary world.

3.    How does the idea of community relate to your practice?  
I cannot answer this yet.

4.    What is your dream project?  
My dream project would be any commissioned work for which somebody would be willing to pay a reasonable price.

5.    What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given as an artist?  
Paint the colours you see, not the colours you think you ought to paint.

6.    Name three artists who’ve inspired you. 
Salvador Dali, Vincent van Gogh, Leonardo da Vinci.

1. Tell us a bit about yourself, what is your background and how did you begin your
professional practice?
I’ve been interested in visual arts all my life. As a kid I was homeschooled, and had a lot of extra time to follow creative ideas. Taking my time going to art school, I went to school to become a visual artist when I was in my 30’s. I had a lot of time to pursue my interests before deciding to try it professionally. Since going to school in 2021, I’ve exhibited in a few local galleries, such as the Gibson’s Public art Gallery, the Seymour Art Gallery, and the Silk Purse Gallery, as well as some Galleries in Edmonton, Prince George, and temporary exhibitions through Galleries out of Oxford UK, Upstate New York, and Toronto.

2. What subject matter do you work with and why?
My work is often is a toss up between abstract and impressionistic styles. I’m inspired by themes in nature, philosophy, and memory, among other muses. The inspiration for my work seems to be in sync with the rhythm of the seasons. In the spring and summer, I’m interested in renewal, growth, and connection with nature. The colours are often inspired by the bright green foliage and array of colours seen in our gorgeous plants around the lower mainland. In the fall and winter, when the rain and fog settles in, I look inward, and themes that emerge are around personal transformation, grief, memory, and mental health.

3. How does the idea of community relate to your practice?
We live in a time when it is easy to stay inside connect through tech mediated platforms that lack personal touch and body language. To counter that, my textiles connect to the concept of intentional, in-person community. Using material often from old clothes, symbolizing sincerity, humility and vulnerability, I stitch them together to illustrate our inherent subconscious relationships to one another. Themes that come up in the work are forging connections in difficult relationships (such as in “How to Draw a Line Between You and Me”; as well as the importance of being warm and kind to people who I know or don’t know, as the piece “Turning Towards Each other” illustrates. The cloth comes from clothing people in my life have worn, and so the work is made of the memories related to these experiences of being with my family while wearing the clothing. Family is often a mix of wonderful and difficult, and learning to be in community with those closest to us is it’s own kind of art. I wanted my works to reflect that even if in an abstract way. In Good Hands, the textiles are an homage to the local arts community of people who are bringing personality, humanity and warmth to the world in a time where AI generated themes are coming into our conversations and practices.

4. What is your dream project?
Ah - what a great question! I have many of these. Two off the top of my head— Right now I am working on a show that will be exhibited this November - which is in memory of my sister’s life. She passed away 4.5 years ago from cancer. This year I am the same age she was when she passed away. The show is about her life, and it’s also about my process. While grieving and remembering her would never have been my dream, I would say that this process is richly rewarding and the best way I can think of to remember and celebrate her precious life.

Another dream project is working on a giant tapestry — like an indoor mural that would be a good fit in a space with a very high ceiling in some kind of classy opera hall. I’ve always wanted to make a piece that is ginormous, spending the whole year or maybe even a few years making. I think there is something profoundly moving about large-scale tapestry works.

5. What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given as an artist?
Simply the best two pieces of advice I’ve ever been given — start somewhere, and keep going. These four words have kept my momentum and focus for years now!

6. Name three artists who’ve inspired you:
It is very hard to pick only three!

• Meghan Hildebrand — not only is she profoundly talented, she is involved in political activism, and she is generous with her life, using her creativity and skill to amplify voices that otherwise may not be heard.
• Julie Mehretu — I absolutely never get tired of looking at her works. They are immense in scope and scale. Her markmaking is incredible. She is also very generous as a human and is so inspirational on many levels.
• Serge Attukwei Clottey - repurposes everyday objects — such as plastic water jugs used in his home country of Ghana — into large scale tapestries, installations and sculptures. He brings to light humanitarian and political issues of migration, trade, exchange of materials, and environmental injustices. I am always engrossed in photos of his work in site specific locations. It would be incredible to see his work in Ghana one day.