This year, SJAC is proud to join PRUDE Inc., the Saint John Community Loan Fund and the Lorenzo Society in celebrating International Women’s day. For the next month, we will feature local women artists who accepted our invitation to share their work and thoughts on this year’s theme, ‘Choose to Challenge’.
From PRUDE Inc.:
Celebrating International Women’s Day: March 8, 2021
International Women’s Day (March 8) is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating women’s equality.
International Women’s Day (IWD) has occurred for well over a century, with the first IWD gathering in 1911 supported by over a million people. Today, IWD belongs to all groups collectively everywhere. IWD is not country, group or organization specific.
For the last four years in honour of International Women’s Day, PRUDE Inc. has organized a celebration of women and their achievements here in Saint John. Each year the event grows and we learn so much from the women around us, how to overcome barriers, meet challenges and rise above it.
This year our event will look a little different but we are just as determined to shine a light on the women in our community. PRUDE Inc., the Saint John Community Loan Fund, the Lorenzo Society and the Saint John Arts Centre have partnered to bring you these stories, connections and journeys virtually.
“A challenged world is an alert world and from challenge comes change. So, let’s all choose to challenge. Join us in celebrating International Women’s Day, not just on March 8th, but every day.”
International Woman’s Day website: https://www.internationalwomensday.com/
Featured Artists 2021
Artist Biography
Amy Ash is an interdisciplinary contemporary artist engaged with processes of meaning-making leading to a sense of belonging. She traces connectivity through the intersections and overlaps between memory, learning, and wonder, to incite curiosity. Her practice flows from curatorial projects and writing to teaching, socially engaged action, and hands-on making.
Amy has exhibited and curated programmes internationally, with projects commissioned by National Gallery London, The NB International Sculpture Symposium, Saint John Arts Centre, and Beaverbrook Art Gallery.
Her work has been awarded the support of groups including The Sheila Hugh Mackay Foundation, The Peter McKendrick Endowment Fund for Visual Artists, ArtsNB, and Arts Council England. She is a member of the International Association of Art Critics, and an instructor with the New Brunswick College of Craft and Design.
Of settler ancestry, she lives in Menagoesg/Saint John, New Brunswick, which sits on the unceded territory of the Wolastoqiyik and Mi’kmaq Peoples.
This year’s theme is ‘Choose to Challenge’. Please answer the following question: “How will you help forge a gender-equal world through art?”
I choose to help forge gender-equity by being cognizant of, and intentional with, my own privilege as a white person of settler ancestry — by using it to disrupt the patriarchal systems that created it— and by remaining visible as both a woman and queer person. Through my practice— particularly in curating, writing, pedagogy and jurying, I strive to create opportunities and hold space for womxn of diverse backgrounds to flourish—collaboration over competition always. 
Artwork: ‘Learnscape: Community Gesture’ / cyanotype, acrylic, and metal on paper / 16.5″ x 24″
Biography photo credit: Nienke Izurieta
Website: www.amyash.ca
Instagram: @amy_ash_
Artist Biography
Born and raised in rural Prince Edward Island, Darlene enjoyed creativity since she was a child.
Self-taught, she first set brush to canvas in 2008, and began a dedicated oil painting practice in 2015.
Darlene’s work explores the evolution of consciousness both in everyday life and in our natural surroundings. She sees her work as an act of devotion, in service to the illumination of true reality — that all life on earth is connected, is one. She pursues her commitment to unconditional love and compassion for all life with many subjects, including portraits, landscapes, beach scenes, florals, and social scenes, where many people are sharing in the joy of living.
Darlene now lives and creates in Rothesay, New Brunswick.
This year’s theme is ‘Choose to Challenge’. Please answer the following question: “How will you help forge a gender-equal world through art?”
I attempt to explore consciousness with my art. No matter the subject, what I’m really trying to interpret is the time-stopping wonder available to us when we fully engage our attention in the present moment. I’m striving to convey unity of existence, that we are all one, free of division, including gender, each of us but individual waves belonging to this beautiful, magical ocean called life. I hope my work will awaken this perception in viewers. We are, all of us, an evolving consciousness.We are, in our essence, a loving awareness.
Artwork: ‘Life is But a Dream’ / acrylic on canvas / 91.4 x 61 cm
Website: darlenebaker.com
Instagram: @darlenebakerart
Facebook: DarleneBakerArt
Artist Biography
Kyla graduated from the Ontario College of Arts and Design University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts where she was received the Fredrick Hagan “Passion in Paint” award at the Annual Graduation Exhibition.
As a local Saint John Artist, Kyla has enjoyed participating in local art projects. Kyla was one of many local artists who painted old windows from the Saint John City Market to be auctioned off as a fundraiser in support of P.R.O. Kids. Kyla chose to paint a beautiful scene depicting heritage buildings in the uptown area of Saint John. Her medium varies from traditional oil painting to digital paintings.
Her latest exhibition at Saint John Arts Centre was held in 2018 where she received 2018 Professional Visual Artists Fund. That painting series and other new paintings are available to see at her website: www.kylachung.com.
This year’s theme is ‘Choose to Challenge’. Please answer the following question: “How will you help forge a gender-equal world through art?”
The impact of an image is intense. It can deliver the message you want to speak instantly when lectures, speeches, or books need more patience and time. There will be no problem with understanding images in whichever language you are using.
Issues that women are facing vary from country to country and the discrimination that those women suffer has always existed in tacit forms. Women are still not allowed to drive in Saudi Arabia despite the women’s driving law itself has been legalized. Women are experiencing discrimination, or often being restricted for a religious or cultural reason.
Women have accepted the challenge to fight against discrimination even if they had to take a risk. By depicting what kind of injustice and discomfort women live with through imagery metaphors, I hope my painting can add strength to those who speak a message to help forge a gender-equal world.
Artwork: ‘Choose to Challenge’ / digital painting / 15.5″ x 10.5″
Website: kylachung.com
Instagram: @kylachung
Artist Biography
I took the circuitous route to my original intent.
I once lived in a town where Art was mayor. Art was blind in one eye and had one leg shorter than the other. He drove an old Cadillac, careening along the back roads, spitting gravel. Art was a menace. Art was dangerous. No one said anything though because of Art’s afflictions. Art’s wild ways were understandable. Still. I can say truthfully, that Art almost killed me a number of times.
Imagination saved me. I continually try to tell the tale.
This year’s theme is “Choose to Challenge”. Please answer the following question: “How will you help forge a gender-equal world through art?”
I first ran away from home at 18 months of age because of gender-based injustice. I believe children have a heightened sense of justice and are taught to subdue it. I’d like to call forth the rebel child justice fighter to ask all the questions: Why, why not, what if… and create a restlessness in the status quo. My work with shapes teaches me that moving something a fraction can change its meaning and create an entirely new narrative. Curiosity and courage, inviting play, and continual change.
Artwork: ‘Walk’ / ink and scissors / 18″ x 24″
Instagram: @zorgly1
Artist Biography
Sheryl Crowley was always a kid who lived inside her imagination. She had the great fortune to grow up among a close community of artists and craftspeople. Their examples of openness, compassion and exploration became key influences that later contributed to her artistic outpouring; expressions of her inner life connected to an artist™s interpretation of the tangible and complex world around her.
Her mural installations grace the YMCA of Greater Saint John and the Imperial Theatre of Saint John. She has worked collaboratively with children in multiple School Residencies. Collectors have shared, “You captured the feels in a picture that I didn’t know anyone else could understand, let alone see.” “It is beautiful. I see fear, longing, vulnerability, and courage in the (–) image. There is a simplicity in the lines and power in their boldness.” Sheryl seeks to summon an emotional transformation; bringing the viewer into a deeper compassion for our fragile, tormented species.
Sheryl is a Juried member of CraftNB.
This year’s theme is ‘Choose to Challenge’. Please answer the following question: “How will you help forge a gender-equal world through art?”
The art that I create surfaces through my emotional responses to what I see and experience in this world. In 2020 I have been exploring the mythological Greek Medusa and re-imagining her, through time, into our current social realities. My objective is bring to the viewers powerful images that will invoke them to explore and expand the current discussions around the violence, powerlessness, lies and vulnerability surrounding women and other communities that have been mistreated and attacked in contemporary society.
Artwork: ‘Hear Me, I Must Speak’ / acrylic on canvas / 36″ x 24″
Website: www.fracturedartmosaics.net
Facebook: fracturedartmosaics
Instagram: @fracturedartmosaics
Artist Biography
She has been creating crafts and jewelry since her first stage of motherhood and decided to try her hand at oil painting in 2010. She has had an opportunity to show her oil paintings at local art galleries, art events/exhibitions and at the Saint John Arts Centre as well. Manami has been teaching an Introduction to Oil painting workshop since 2015 until now.
Her work is recognized for its vivid, colourful and reflective subjects that have a realistic style. Most of her paintings are still life by oil on canvas. As much as she loves painting with her ideas, she also takes commission work which has more of a personal touch and meaning for the clients. Also she offers group art classes which have been well received. She said it is her lifework and it is grateful to share the experience with people who love art and becoming an artist.
This year’s theme is ‘Choose to Challenge’. Please answer the following question: “How will you help forge a gender-equal world through art?”
I choose to challenge and forge a gender-equal world through art by continuing to make the art that I choose, and by teaching others to do the same. The artist’s identity or beliefs should not negatively affect how their art is perceived, as it is one of the many tools an artist has that helps them create art the way that they do. What pieces I opt to create are a personal choice, and as a result, reflects me as an artist.
The act of making art creates space for an artist to explore a world without confines. What an act of freedom it is to be able to have that space, both physically and mentally, and to be able to express oneself creatively! To be able to teach this ‘space’ or “flow” can be seen as a choice to challenge as well, as many students are taking the plunge for the first time. To encourage them to grow, to watch them grow, and to grow with them makes for a beautiful and special connection and “space” that is not always easily found in average day to day life. The challenge is for all of us to continue to keep art on a personal level and to keep helping to make “space” and to continue challenging others to understand the importance of the liberating and transformative experience that is making art.” I believe that a goal that many artists share is to touch those who experience their art in some way.
Artwork: ‘Quench your thirst’ / Oil on canvas / 30″ x 40″
Facebook: @manamiart
Instagram: @manami_artdesign
Twitter : @LadybugX20
Artist Biography
Mary Garoutte is a professional visual artist based in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada.
Born in Mesa, Arizona, Mary has spent most of her artistic career travelling between the US and Canada. She holds her degree from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design (BFA 2004) and is also a teacher, mentor and active facilitator in art education though the public and private sphere. She has exhibited throughout Canada and internationally, notably at the University of Ulsan in Ulsan, South Korea.
This year’s theme is “Choose to Challenge”. Please answer the following question: “How will you help forge a gender-equal world through art?”
The arts fulfil a significant role in storytelling, critiquing and revealing aspects and behaviours of society and the time we live in. The arts allow for, and validate, self and collective expressions and are a means of communication through being heard and being visible in public spaces. I believe that by the very outlet to be able to have an art practice as a woman and to have the privilege to engage in the art community; to be heard and seen and to be taken seriously is in itself the outcome and the fruit of a long history of women and women artists who pushed boundaries and pursued artistic careers, despite the many different eras they were ignored or deliberately overshadowed by their male counterparts in a male-dominated sector and society. While gender equality is a topic that is ever in-flux, I wish to contribute to the ongoing dialogue in my own work through narrative of self-identity and personal experience whereby others can relate and share
Artwork: ‘Hiding Place’ / oil on birch panel / 24″ x 30″
Website: marygarouttefineart.com
Instagram: @mary_garoutte
Facebook: @canadianartist81
Artist Biography
Maggie Higgins is a multimedia artist based in Saint John, New Brunswick. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Mount Allison University (2014) and a Bachelor of Education from the University of New Brunswick (2016). Currently, she is employed as a Foundation Visual Arts Instructor with the New Brunswick College of Craft & Design in addition to her studio practice. Higgins has been honored with such recognitions as the Fred Ross Scholarship, a Faces of Fusion Arts & Culture Award Nomination, Saint John Professional Visual Artist Fund Award, and The Originals Emerging Artist Award.
This year’s theme is “Choose to Challenge”. Please answer the following question: “How will you help forge a gender-equal world through art?”
I will forge a gender-equal world through my art practice by being authentic to my creative instincts and working only with organizations and individuals who prioritize diverse representation across race and identities.
Artwork: ‘Nails Sliding’ / ink and cyanotype on paper / 18″ x 24″
Website: maggiehiggins.com
Instagram: @maggiehiggins_art
Facebook: @maggiehigginsart
Artist Biography
Bonny Hill is a contemporary artist who was selected for the 2017 Studio Watch at the Lord Beaverbrook Art Gallery for her series, I Don’t Know Anything About Art. I Just Want Something Nice to Hang Over My Sofa to Match My Living Room. Bonny completed a BAed at NSCAD University in 1984 and has recently retired from a 31 year career teaching art in public schools. In 2011, she was recognized as the CSEA Canadian Art Educator of the Year award. Her teaching was also recognized nationally in 2013 with a first-place finish in DC21YCC Youth Creativity Challenge sponsored by Heritage Canada and provincially with the NBTA Credit Union Award for Excellence in Teaching.
Bonny has also been active in theatre: directing spring musicals, building and designing sets, teaching choreography, and performing. Bonny began exhibiting her work in 2006 and has since been awarded seven solo and several group shows in public galleries. Bonny has been successful in receiving three ArtsNB grants and many private and public commissions.
This year’s theme is “Choose to Challenge”. Please answer the following question: “How will you help forge a gender-equal world through art?”
Little has changed since I attended art school in the 80s where I witnessed first-hand that male artists were taken more seriously and given more opportunities than their female colleagues. Through my teaching, I tried to empower young women by encouraging them and helping them to seek out opportunities in higher education, public funding, and employment. I am hopeful that these young. highly educated and motivated female artists will be instrumental in narrowing and closing the pervasive gender-based income gap in the art.
Artwork: Meta 1 / acrylic on canvas / 54″ x 42″
Website: bonnyhillart.com
Artist Biography
Born in Saint John, Melissa is a visual artist and art instructor who lives in New Brunswick, Canada
She studied traditional methods of drawing and sculpting at The Florence Academy of Art in Florence, Italy, where she remained as a principle instructor of drawing for an additional three years, before moving back to Canada.
In her work she strives to capture and express the beauty and subtlety that exists in nature, by focusing on recreating an accuracy of feeling through extended observation of a subject. Choosing the medium that best suits the purpose, she works with a variety of materials for drawing and sculpture, including charcoal, pencil, ink, wood, and oil and water-based clays.
Her work has been included in exhibitions such as Figurativas 2017 in Barcelona, FACE21018 in London, and Back to My Roots in Fredericton in 2019.
This year’s theme is “Choose to Challenge”. Please answer the following question: “How will you help forge a gender-equal world through art?”
As an art educator, I believe that fostering gender-inclusive classroom spaces creates an environment where artists can feel valued and empowered for expressing themselves through their ideas, creativity, and curiosity regardless of their gender. Teaching them that expressing their thoughts and observations can challenge societal notions and defy limited patterns of belief, in hopes that the focus for future generations will be the message and execution of the artwork instead of the gender of the artist.
Artwork: ‘Shy Owl’ / ceramic and Bird’s Eye Maple wood / Approx. 11″ x 9″ x 6″
Instagram: @m.kennedy.art
Artist Biography
Karen Knight is an Artist Potter and juried member of Craft NB. She has participated in six local Art Exhibitions and is represented by the Spicer Merrifield Gallery.
Karen studied Fine Art in the late 1980’s at the Dundas Valley School of Art. She coordinated the City of Guelph’s pottery program, and taught its hand building and sculpture classes from 1997 – 2003.
In 2004, Karen established her pottery business “Soul Impression Handbuilt Claywork and Fine Sculpture,” in Saint John, New Brunswick. This past August, she launched her Shopify store, “Ocean Echoes Seaglass Jewellery.”
Karen continues to pursue her love of teaching through classes offered at the Saint John Arts Centre; by participating in Artist-in-Residency and ArtsSmarts programs in public schools; and most recently, by serving as an Instructor in the Art4Life Seniors Research Project at the University of New Brunswick. Karen loves working with clay as her medium because it provides endless ways to give expression to her artistic vision.
This year’s theme is “Choose to Challenge”. Please answer the following question: “How will you help forge a gender-equal world through art?”
I must confess: In my thirty years as an artist, I have never set out to intentionally create a gender-equal world through art. I just express from my heart – from my personal values and beliefs. But I am a woman; and that reality inevitably inspires my artistic vision. My hope, therefore, is that this is what people see and sense in my artwork, and in doing so, celebrate the essential role women play in the human story. The world is richer for our stories; and art is how we express them.
Artwork: ‘The Dancer’ / stonework clay / 13″ x 5″ x 6″
Website: soulimpression.com
Instagram: @soulimpression63
Facebook: @soulimpression
Artist Biography
Theresa Macknight is a native Saint “Johner” who now lives in St. Andrews, N.B. She studied visual art at Mount Allison University and Nova Scotia College of Art and Design.
Macknight’s work is driven by a deep sense of place and the constant desire to experiment in order to create authentic images that resonate.
This year’s theme is “Choose to Challenge”. Please answer the following question: “How will you help forge a gender-equal world through art?”
I don’t feel that my current work specifically speaks to issues of gender, although there was a time when it did. I have always lived, made art, taught young people and raised sons from a feminist stance.
I will continue my commitment to my beliefs in equality and to my artistic practice. This is the job of all mothers who are also artists.
I am happy to report that, in my experience, the belief in equality is alive and well in the young people of our world.
Artwork: ‘Dug from the Night’ / oil on wood / 14″ diameter
Website: theresamacknight.com
Instagram: @theresamacknight
Facebook: @theresamacknightfineart
Artist Biography
Fabiola Martínez Rodriguez was born in Mexico City and grew up in the City of Santiago de Querétaro.
She is an Architect from the Instituto Tecnologico de Querétaro and she moved to Saint John New Brunswick several years ago, considering Mexico and Canada as her home. Fabiola’s work has been exhibited in art centers, galleries, and universities in Canada, The New Brunswick Museum, The Lancaster Museum of Art and History in California, The New Brunswick Museum and Lotton Gallery in Chicago and Mexico.
Fabiola is passionate about community and art education, was named by the YMCA of Greater Saint John as a Community Champion 2018. She has been the recipient of several grants by the prestigious artsnb and the Department of Tourism and Cultural Heritage of New Brunswick.
Fabiola is on the Board of directors of the Canadian Craft Federation and Craft NB; she volunteers in Big Brothers Big Sisters of Saint John In-School Mentoring program.
This year’s theme is “Choose to Challenge”. Please answer the following question: “How will you help forge a gender-equal world through art?”
My commitment as an artist is to respect the essence of the human being. One challenge of today’s society is to recognize the diversity of gender and at the same time to guarantee equal opportunities, rights, and dignity for all. My artistic practice is inspired by a culture of peace based in compassion and empathy. As an artist and art educator I take responsibility to embrace harmony in my work, developing inclusive, egalitarian artistic projects where differences are appreciated.
Artwork: ‘Reflection II’ / cochineal and oil on canvas / 24″ x 24″
Website: fabiolamartinezart.com
Instagram: @fabiolamartinezartist
Facebook: @FabiolaMartinezArtist
Artist Biography
Joanna Pottle grew up in the village of Westfield. She studied Photography and Ceramics at the NB College of Craft & Design. She graduated in 2004 with a certificate in Ceramics. She has continued to create and teach in Saint John ever since.
This year’s theme is “Choose to Challenge”. Please answer the following question: “How will you help forge a gender-equal world through art?”
I believe most art has no gender, therefore all art should not be looked at through the lens of male or female but taken for what it is, in a perfect world. To leave the ego aside and create from the heart is my goal. To continue to create work and teach other women is a blessing and I am very grateful and humbled to be able to inspire others.
Artwork: ‘Stability’ / stonework ceramics / 16cm x 48cm
Website: joannapottlepottery.weebly.com
Instagram: @joannapottlepottery
Facebook: @joannapottlepottery
Artist Biography
The studio hums and vibrates as I Work my way through the seven veils, currently passing through 3 or 4 with deep everpresent gratitude.
This year’s theme is “Choose to Challenge”. Please answer the following question: “How will you help forge a gender-equal world through art?”
Gender remains a construct of societies. Art can move forward and back free of such boundaries.
Artwork: ‘Once and Future’ / Graphite on paper / 18″ x 24”
Artist Biography
I grew from a toddler to teenager on a country road outside the small village of Apohaqui, NB. Art was always a part of my life. Later as a teen, burying flat-50 cigarette tins in four places within my world to see if I could dig them up when I got old. (About 36 I thought at the time, my mother’s age.) Now I enjoy whatever medium I think an art project demands from thread to clay, from yesterday’s computer components to words. I attended “VOC” by the good graces of my high school home room teacher, Miss Crowe who saw that I was an artist and insisted to the principal of Sussex High that I be trained to become one. All my teachers have been my salvation including Kay Smith, poet, English teacher.
2020 spring exhibition was covid’ the night before it was to open, shown SJAC July and Aug. 2020.
Visual artist, potter, sculptor. My work is in the National Art Bank, NB Art Bank, McCain Collection, SJ City Hall, NB Library, four murals in NB schools, Figurehead on SJ City Market, Germain St entrance.
This year’s theme is “Choose to Challenge”. Please answer the following question: “How will you help forge a gender-equal world through art?”
As I have always done. Pretty much all my figurative work has been open to interpretation, open to being gender-equal. Besides our genitals and personal mind-set is no one’s business.
Artwork: ‘New Beginning’ / oil pastel ,graphite on brown cover paper / 48″ x 36″ (1986)
Website: rockshoreidyll.ca/caroltaylor/
Facebook: artyclayforever
Facebook (personal): carol-gerrytaylor
Artist Biography
Patricia Tingley is an artist based in Saint John, New Brunswick. She attended Mount Allison University and the New School of Art in Toronto. Over the course of her career she has been the regional artist for the Saint John Regional Library, created illustrations for Laubach Literacy Canada and UNB’s Early Childhood Centre, to name a few. Her work has been exhibited at the Saint John Arts Centre and Hooper Studios.
This year’s theme is “Choose to Challenge”. Please answer the following question: “How will you help forge a gender-equal world through art?”
A gender-equal world will no longer adhere to the notion that art needs to be categorized before it can be recognized.
We can challenge the status quo by continuing to create and share our individual expressions of this world we live in. Conquering self-doubt is an important part of this.
Artwork: ‘Internal, External, Breathe’ / mixed media / 15.5″ x 23″
Instagram: @paatingley
Artist Biography
Julie Whitenect is a Printmaker working in Saint John, New Brunswick. Graduating from Mount Allison University in 2014, she has been busy growing her practice, working on commissions, exhibiting locally, nationally, and internationally as well as receiving project grants from the New Brunswick Arts Board and The Canada Council for the Arts. Julie is the Executive Director of ArtsLink NB, is very engaged in the local arts ecosystem.
Her work explores the relationship between natural and constructed environments, exposing the viewer to their dichotomy. She is interested in exploring industrial themes, creating a correspondence and resolving curiosity by examining what is left and what will be. Exploring the New Brunswick art discourse surrounding place and ideas of place making.
This year’s theme is “Choose to Challenge”. Please answer the following question: “How will you help forge a gender-equal world through art?”
I will push gender-equity through my work as a professional artist and an advocate for the arts. There are very real gender-based divisions in our sector, both in income and opportunities. We need to consider equity in everything we do. Equity has been hard-fought for by women, and I will continue its fight.
Artwork: ‘after-effects1’ / mixed media collage on board / 5″ x 5″
Instagram: @joolie_w
Facebook: juliewhitenectart
Artist Biography
Lynn Wigginton is a Saint John based artist engaged with the spaces and materiality of New Brunswick’s landscapes and built heritage. Trained as a printmaker and now working primarily as a painter, Wigginton’s paintings evoke a strong sense of place while thoughtfully considering the textures and materials of her immediate environment.
Lynn earned her BFA from Mount Allison in 1974, studying with David Silverberg, Lawren P. Harris, Colin Campbell, and George Thiessen. In 1995, she co-authored and provided paintings for the book On Earth As It is in Heaven- Gothic Revival Churches of Victorian New Brunswick (Goose Lane Editions).
Lynn Wigginton has exhibited extensively in solo and group shows in New Brunswick and across the country, and is represented locally by Buckland Merrifield Gallery and Fog Forest Gallery. A recipient of numerous honours and grants, her work can be found in public and private art collections throughout Canada and internationally.
This year’s theme is “Choose to Challenge”. Please answer the following question: “How will you help forge a gender-equal world through art?”
Art explains what we are unable to articulate with words. At its best, art is a universal, inclusive language that transcends boundaries, barriers and divisions. It is, by its nature, open to the interpretation of the viewer and the passage of time.
Artwork: ‘Split Rock Trail’ / oil and acrylic on canvas / 28″ x 36″
Website: lynnwigginton.com
Instagram: @lynn.wigginton
Artist Biography
Originally from China, Dan Xu immigrated to Canada in 2001. She graduated from Jingdezhen Ceramic Institute in 1992 and now uses the traditional Chinese technique of ink on Xuan paper. She has created many outdoor paintings along the Saint John River valley, the Bay of Fundy, multiple New Brunswick history sites, and the landscape of the Atlantic provinces; her pieces are both abstract and realistic. In 2020, she got the “Explore and Create” award from Canada Council and “Collapse – Gothic Arch Church 2020” was collected by collectionArtNB
This year’s theme is “Choose to Challenge”. Please answer the following question: “How will you help forge a gender-equal world through art?”
Art allows me to keep pursuing my dream, and has taught me to not compromise, to not give up, and has made me realize that I am not only a daughter, a wife, and a mother; it also reminds me I have my own life. Art allows me to think and participate in various artistic explorations and advancements. It has taught me that you don’t need to be a specific nationality, ethnicity, or gender to be an artist. You just need to follow your soul.
Artwork: ‘Collapse – Gothic Arch Church 2020’ / ink, Xuan paper / 91cm x 122cm / Photo credit: Rob Blanchard
Website: danxuart.weebly.com
Instagram: @danxuca
Facebook: @danxuca