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From the roots of the Queer Arts Festival, this open visual art show honours our founder, Two-Spirit artist Robbie Hong and 21 years of Pride in Art organizing.
2020 Artists
Chris Watson
CREATEIIV
Edward Bader
Ilena Lee
Jackson Photographix
Kate Braun
Kyla Yin
Michel Dumont
Mikayla Fawcett
Vladimir Kolosov
Chris Watson
When we reach up, hands extended to foster connection, and intertwine our lives with others, we can be nurtured to blossom into something that is not determined by soil or seed. If we are able to accept, and reciprocate, we can alight with new colour, and alight others, while holding onto what is uniquely ours. This work explores that connection of community and growth.
Chris Watson is a Vancouver-based artist who works primarily in watercolour. His work explores nature, emotion, and humanity.
He was heavily influenced by the nature in his hometown while growing up, which is reflected in his work. The images take on an articulated yet playful approach. His work often features recurring patterns and motifs, showcasing an optimistic world view.
CREATEIIV
27X39, 2020 • $250
Edward Bader
Montreal Pride
In August 2017, I had the pleasure of participating in the Montreal Pride Parade.
This series of four watercolors are based upon photographs I took at the event and document members of the Leather and Rubber community celebration of Pride.
Edward Bader received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Lethbridge (1974-1979) , Masters of Fine Arts, (Drawing/Painting), from the University of Calgary (1993) and Interdisciplinary MA in Popular Culture, Brock University (2007). Since 1998, Edward has been a tenured instructor at Grande Prairie Regional College.
Edward has exhibited widely including: Alberta Biennale of Contemporary Art 2000, White Montreal Fierte, 2017, SLAM, Seattle Leather Arts Media, Seattle Washington, 2018, Pride in Art, Queer Arts Festival, Vancouver, British Columbia, June 2018, and DENCKER+SCHNEIDER Gallery, Berlin, April 2019.
His work is represented in the Alberta Foundation for the Arts Collection, The Canada Council Art Bank, the University of Lethbridge, The City of Calgary, Art Gallery of Grande Prairie plus numerous private collections.
Ilena Lee
8 inches x 6 inches x 5 inches, Hand built and burnished low fire clay, pit fired,(NSF, private collection)
6 inches x 4.5 inches x 3, Hand built and burnished low fire clay, slip decorated with 7 pointed star, pit fired with reduction. Curly hazelnut wood handle/stand. ($72)
Jackson Photographix
“In the age of contagious” series is an ironic commentary to what could still serve as homoerotica during this time of pandemic. While the male form is still central to jackson’s work, rather than a male nude, the model now appears in full-body protective wear or in some images a complete hazmat suit which would now appeal to the fetish/rubber/gear subculture. The images also explore the themes of isolation and the absence of human or physical contact.
A self-taught Vancouver-based photographer, jackson has spent over 20 years (ten of those in New York City) photographing the male nude. Under the name jackson photografix, his work has been seen internationally in print and online. His fine art photography has been exhibited in galleries like the prestigious Leslie Lohman Gallery in NYC, Galeria Jose Maria Velasco in Mexico City, Gallery Erato in Seattle, and countless group shows around the world. Recently, because of his unique brand of homoerotic photography, he was invited to be a content contributor to Getty Images as one of only 50 photographers recognized in their New Renaissance photography competition through Ello.co.
Kate Braun
Kate Braun was born and raised in Eswatini (Swaziland), attended university in UK, then returned to live in Eswatini, where she is still based. She travels frequently, often spending time in Vancouver in the summer.
Trained in applied biology, Kate worked as the Ecologist for Eswatini’s national parks for almost ten years, then did a career shift to self-employment, development of websites and databases, as well as continuing conservation related work. Apart from some overlap with her work, she tries to keep her photography as a hobby rather than a profession.
Kate has been interested in photography since she was a child, developing and printing black and white photos when she was a teenager. The advent of digital photography allowed for a huge increase in this interest, and since the 1990’s she has been taking a very broad range of photos, varying from technical records of Eswatini’s fauna and flora, to abstracts created from digitally modified photos. Recently, her focus has been on documenting moth biodiversity in Eswatini.
Kyla Yin
Kyla is an illustrator, designer and multimedia artist from Vancouver, BC. Her work is inspired by subcultures, sociopolitical systems, the unconscious, as well as her mixed heritage. Through her creative practice, Kyla explores her connection to intergenerational experiences and how these cultural nuances apply to present discourses. She utilizes coded visual language to create surreal and speculative scenarios that question the status quo.
福(fú) is an extremely important character in Chinese culture. It represents good fortune and is part of Chinese new year celebrations. By turning it upside down the homonym* translates to fortune arriving.
Within the sections of the character is a symbol that represents spirit. Spirit, in mandarin, is also a homonym for “to show/demonstrate”. 福(fú) signifies good fortune tied to the physical and spiritual realms.
This depiction of fortune being passed between two spirits directly combats the “bury your gays” trope in popular culture. Too often, queer characters in the media aren’t given happy endings or positive relationships with each other. Depicting queer joy is an act of resistance and survival, notably during a global pandemic when traditional methods of celebration and physical gathering have been altered.
*words having the same spelling or pronunciation but different meanings
Michel Dumont
My name is Michel Dumont, I am a Queer Metis Two Spirit disabled artist from Thunderbay Ontario. I work primarily with mosaics with hand cut vintage tile. Installation art and with wearable art made out of cellotape.
Mikayla Fawcett
This is an intuitive work, first of a series of experiments to feel internally consistent and complete. I am attempting to articulate sensations of dissociation and multiplicity of self and dissonance of both cognition and emotion, as well as physical sensations of touch and proprioception. Proprioception is our sense of position and movement of our body or parts of our body relative to itself.
This image was drawn by hand on a tablet computer, allowing myself to be surprised over several sessions. It has changed drastically since the first lines went down. The line art is pixelated on a hard edge, and the textures are hard-edged screen tones. I wanted to challenge myself to portray something organic and ephemeral through harsh and artificial means—textures that I find counter-intuitive to the subject matter.
Mikayla Fawcett makes comics, poems, stories, sculptures, and illustrations. Restless hands. Queer/non-binary/gender-fluid/bisexual. White settler on unceded Musqueam territory—the floodplain currently colonially known as Richmond. Chronic dabbler in mixed and new media. Fascinated by cognition, sensation, perception, biology, ecology, human-environment interactions, and the void. Frequently enjoys collaboration on comics, stories, and other art works. Prone to hauntings. Published in Carousel Magazine, Pulp Literature, Pulp Mag, and Cloudscape Comics’ Life Finds A Way Anthology.
Vladimir Kolosov
There is no greater medium for expression than works of art, an idea is best spread through artwork as it allows the audience to interpret it in their own individual ways. My art is my main means of expressing both: extraordinary and simple joys and intricacies of the world that I have come across in my lifetime. Words would not suffice in trying to explain the inner workings of mind – painting, photograph, or sculpture do a much better job at showcasing the emotions and thoughts that ran through my mind with each event or thought portrayed in my artwork.
Art is my alter ego. It was a long journey from my study of classic fine art in the USSR in the late 70’s to what I create today – the art that reflects the complex world in all its diversity. I try to encourage observers to think, try to intrigue the viewers into coming up with their own deductions of what the artwork represents, of what it means to them, and so forth. It becomes a dialogue between me and audience and a permanent game on crossroads of our minds that makes us Homo Sapiens. My artworks are a way to express my being, memories, thoughts, and feelings to others without the need to resort to words. It is a part of my life journey …
Ten days he tries to write his bio. Looks like the KGB wants to hire him … However, kindly … Vladimir Kolosov is creative alien, born in a country which does not exist. He has strong background in visual arts, mathematics, physics, psychology, something else… Speaks / reads on several languages and able to read people’s minds. Erudite, artist, curator, essayist, multi-instrumentalist, composer, – rocker, entrepreneur… More? See LinkedIn.