Artist Statement

I am a French artist and currently live and work on the unceded and ancestral territory of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. My interdisciplinary practice is rooted in photography and critically considers methodologies, materiality, and modes of presentation. Through experimentations with analogue and digital image-making tools, my research centres on the camera-mediated relationship between body and space, as well as the material and representational potential of the photographic surface.

Artist Statement

Michelle Sound is a Cree and Métis artist, educator and mother. She is a member of Wapsewsipi Swan River First Nation in Treaty 8 Territory, Northern Alberta and she was born and raised on the unceded and ancestral home territories of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish) and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. She is a multidisciplinary visual artist and her art practice includes a variety of mediums including photo based work, textiles, painting and Indigenous material practices. Her artwork often explores her Cree and Métis identity from a personal experience rooted in family, place and history. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Simon Fraser University, School for the Contemporary Arts, and a Master of Applied Arts from Emily Carr University Art + Design.

Artist Statement

As a visual artist based in Vancouver, I am captivated by the intricate intersection of my identity as a first-generation Chinese-Canadian immigrant and the ordinary aspects of everyday life. Through my work, I delve into the nuances of mundane spaces and objects, seeking to unveil the hidden narratives and profound meanings that lie within them. Drawing upon my personal experiences and cultural background, I embark on a visual exploration of the shifting cultural landscapes within the Chinese-Canadian diaspora community. Through my art, I invite viewers to reevaluate their perception of the everyday, to find beauty and resonance in the seemingly mundane. By embracing the everyday, I hope to create a space for connection, dialogue, and a celebration of cultural diversity.

Artist Statement

Gerri York is a Vancouver based visual artist and was born in London, England. She completed a B.Ed. Degree (Hons.) at St. Gabriel's College, London University, UK, and holds a BFA in Visual Arts from Emily Carr University, Vancouver, Canada. Gerri York’s artistic focus has specialized in photographic and print media that merges photography with sculpture, a praxis that concentrates on material employment and experimentation. Her studio research is a continuation of the sculptural, material and spectral aspects of the photogram work, Folding. Materials and their collaboration with photography interests York and the qualities of light, transparency and materiality are consistent aspects unifying the images completed in recent years. It is this specific quality in photography that informs her approach, the reflective nature of light and its relationship to materials.

Artist Statement

Karen Zalamea is a Filipino-Canadian artist, educator, and cultural worker based in Burnaby, Canada, on the unceded and ancestral territories of the Hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ and Sḵwx̱wú7mesh speaking peoples. My interdisciplinary practice is rooted in photography and critically considers methodologies, materiality, and modes of presentation. Through experimentations with analogue and digital image-making tools, my research centres on the camera-mediated relationship between body and space, as well as the material and representational potential of the photographic surface. From photographing landscapes with a handcrafted large-format camera with ice lenses, to weaving 50-foot long ropes of reproduced family photo archives, to digitally merging domestic marble surfaces in an imagined restoration to the land—my work has expanded to use photography as a means to think through and encounter broader issues of identity, memory, and inheritance.