BOILING POINT 2021
Visual Arts
Featured Artists
Kianna Austin
I am an emerging visual artist currently living in Victoria, B.C. My practice is primarily focused on photography, though I am also interested in printmaking, ceramics, and paint. Each work I create stems from an idea or concept that is intensely intimate to me; every detail is rigorously considered and holds particular personal meaning. In this way, my work is very self-indulgent, however, my intention is to utilize these intimate details in ways that do not make them overtly apparent within the finished work. My hope in creating work is that it will incite viewers to contemplate their own personal experiences. I feel that it is often easy to become stuck holding onto a set of ingrained paradigms about ourselves, and to continue operating under an established definition, forgetting that we are not static beings. An underlying current in my practice is the notion of transience. I am continually asking myself “Who am I in this moment? And how does that differ from who I was before now?” My work is my persistent attempts to capture a reality that has always overwhelmed me. In it, I consider themes of identity construction, perceived and presenting selves, the reliability and implications of memory, and presence.
A short time ago I learned about aphantasia, which is the inability to generate visual mental imagery, and realized that I likely have it. This made me see my work and my practice in a new light. Because there is no visual component to my thinking, my experience of the world is not built around visuals but is instead more heavily centered around my other senses. As a result, my work has a strong emphasis on attempting to evoke sensations. For me, creating work is a process of translating non-visual sensory feelings and information into visuals.
Danita Barbosa
I am an artist and visual artist student based out of Victoria, BC. I was born in South Africa in 1998 until my family and I Immigrated over to Canada when I was 18 months. Being a first-generation immigrant as a white citizen, the hardships we faced as a family are extremely dismissed. My parents had to work exceptionally hard their entire lives to get my brother and I to this point in our lives; A point in which we are able to live comfortably and attend school without stress. This sense of persistence that I grew up around is what allows me to create the work that I do.
Through my work, I attempt to reconstruct reality by attaining fragments from the world and rearranging them. The themes that are most present in my work are the human body, nature, and objective drawing. Through the Visual Arts program at Camosun College, I have gotten the opportunity to experiment with all sorts of mediums. Through this experience, I have found my strong suits and my weaknesses, and as a result I have developed a more secure sense of my own personality. By using minimalist line work along with a focus of medium specificity, I am able to place our confusion society into a more comprehensible lens. In addition, I aim to create a visible juxtaposition through my work, which in turn offers a route to deepen our subjective view of the world around us.
Jake Duncan
I was born in rural Scotland and grew up on a farm, in a village, in the middle of the highlands. I was raised Jewish, culturally not religiously. I moved to the territories of the Songhees and Esquimalt peoples when I was 9 years old. I attended Victoria High School, an arts focused school, and I am currently completing the Camosun College Visual Arts Diploma program.
I like to work with the visual material provided by my local environment whether that be the ecological or urban landscape. I use a lot of repetition within my artwork whether that be collecting images, re-using motifs or themes in many different works, or creating pattern and texture through repeating shapes and colours. My style leans towards illustrative.
I feel drawn to artwork with folk origins. I have been exploring the folk art of Eastern Europe and Russia, specifically the Jewish communities, and Scotland. It is important to me that I learn about my own cultural background and find resources and inspiration within those histories, rather than taking from other cultures as is the colonial norm.
My work is process based. I do not necessarily start with a specific material or idea in mind, I like to leave it open for experimentation as I work through a project. I like the process of creation, from idea to image or object. I gravitate towards hands-on, tactile materials such as clay, fabric, paint, graphite, and film photography. As of now I work wherever possible. This does affect the size and scope of my projects to a certain degree, and I look forward to the day I can create a dedicated studio space for myself and create work without constriction.
Raiza Duque
I am a Venezuelan designer who had the great opportunity to come to Canada seeking a better future; my background in design lead me to choose the Visual Arts program at Camosun College as my starting point of this new chapter of my life. During this program I have explored different mediums and techniques such as photography, sculpture, video, painting, printmaking, and ceramics; my perception of art has changed and also my interests and artistic plans. I call myself a perfectionist, and in the “design” world I feel like having more control over my work; this journey through Visual Arts took me out of my comfort zone by exploring myself in different ways.
Being away from home and my loved ones became my inspiration for almost all my artwork; I use my art to somehow feel close to my family and my home, and I dedicate most of my artworks to my daughter and my country. I enjoy using bright colors in my work, I take it as a good way to contrast all the pain and sadness behind being an immigrant; this journey is not easy, and I like to cheer myself up thinking that at the end it will be worth it.
During this academic exploration I fell in love with two mediums that I did not have the chance to use before, those are Printmaking and Ceramics
Andrew Fryer
I create from a need to see a representation of ideals that takes the time to show quiet energy. Even if it is visually dramatic there is an element careful consideration that results in lending a sense of calmness. Often involving the fantastic, the images I create stem from an interest in drawing. Drawing then becomes the bases for other mediums to grown from in order to help realize an ideal, be it an illustration in ink or a photograph. The noise of fast paced consumer media compels me to slow down and contradict its demands. I then approach the creative prosses in a way that allows for space to reflect and move forward on instinct in a meaningful way.
Chiaralida Haji Karimian
I am emerging artist who was born and raised in Italy and moved five years ago to Victoria BC land of the
traditional territories of Lekwungen and W̱SÁNEĆ nations. I am currently completing my diploma in
Visual Arts at Camosun College (2021). My studio Practice is influenced by my Italian cultural heritage
and my work is considered an ongoing investigation of the experiences and changes of cultural identity
within the context of memory and time.
My journey of learning a new culture creates tension between remembering and forgetting. I realized
how much identity was impacted, as for me when I moved to a new country, and for my parents
struggling with a new language and culture. My artwork focuses on the notion of linking past and
present and the constant re-writing.
Art for me is unconfined to one form or medium, it is always changing and transforming and I use my
art to highlight the notion of how memory shapes my present and future.
Mayuka Miki
I was born in Japan and is currently living in is a Victoria, B.C, Canada. I went to public school in Japan until high school and came to Canada to study when I was 18, and studied art at Camosun College. I’m a second-year visual arts student and primarily works animation, painting, printmaking and sculpture.
I’m an emerging artist exploring the uniqueness of the human and animal body, especially the human face. My field of expertise is sculpture and special effects makeup. What inspired me to become interested in the human face was the history textbooks I had when I was in junior high school. There are a lot of faces of historical figures, and I thought that so many different faces would be completed even if the parts that everyone had, such as eyes and nose, were the same. At the same time, I realized that the face is the individuality of the person, the character, and the feeling, so the possibility of expression is high. I like to make three-dimensional objects instead of two-dimensional, and the process of changing the shape by fabricating and shaving with my own hands is satisfying.
Previous works have proposed ideas that have evolved one more step based on the human body, and in the process point out the possibility of expression hidden in the human body that everyone has not yet noticed. I watched Hollywood movies and found that our faces are special and can be freely deformed. The objects I make are placed in the norms of art in the hope that a new perspective on the bodies of humans and animals that are usually overlooked will be visible.
Dayton Olafson
As an artist, one of my goals is to bring my work to life, visually and emotionally. For myself, I believe that Pop Art, Illustrations, and Cartooning can visually enhance specific characteristics of a particular subject. I want to show the audience that fun, colorful, weird art can create an environment of joy and liveliness. The use of bright colors, bold linework, and exaggerated facial expressions can dramatically turn an ordinary subject into a recognizable icon. When I look at cartoon-like art, there is a sense of nostalgia, and it often reminds me of the time as a child frequently watching cartoons and not having to worry about issues surrounding me. As a young adult, I often reminisce of those simpler times, so I feel like a child again when creating cartoon-like art. I have been inspired by the works of Frank Kozik, Jon Burgerman, and Joe Ledbetter, artists who are known for their illustrations and cartoons. Art does not always need to be serious or sad. Art can relieve people of sadness through fun, creative and exaggerated imagery, which can equally be powerful.
Alana Rogers
I am BC based emerging artist exploring born and raised on Vancouver Island, I am currently a student at Camosun college attending the Visual Arts Program in which my art has been shown at The Out of the Grey show at Camosun College in 2019. I like to work with the idea of the selfexploring my mental with fetish and humor like in my sculptural “Brief Head case” which I made out of pile wood textiles, foam, wire and embroidery, I wanted it to feel chaotic silly, I also touching on feminism with my Self Portrait and ode to Savanna Ogburn a mixed medium artist with my mixed media piece called “PoppyBEE” , the Occult like in my Dry point “Goats Dream” raining down dead and soon to be dead bodies. My influences artist, Ralph Steadman with their grotesque cartoon themes and Savannah Ogburn with photography and themes of feminist, campy and parody. In my art I likes to mix mediums like collage, using costume and cartoonish drawing and or paint stylings because its feel less confining than just one medium allowing for exploration and giving a 3d effect. My motivations are to use art to explore myself, the world and let go of some inner turmoil to go and gaining a new understanding of life. And on Occasion to make something just because I find it pretty.
Riho Shimizu
Combination drawing and painting is my area of curiosity. I have focused on creating flat works with acrylics, colour pencils, and a pen since I started studying at Camosun College. I use different types of materials such as watercolor papers and cardboard. The size varies from 26”x20” to 5.5”x6”.
I draw based on experiences when I lived in Japan, or fictitious characters and things which I imagine in my brain. I don't usually design characters before. Once I start drawing, I come up with ideas one after another. In my drawings, I use dots and complicated patterns such as zentangle. I use dots as a background because dots create motion and complicatedness. Also dots hide the object's background. Dots have a message that something looks okay on the surface, but it actually might not be at the back.
I had experiences that I couldn’t express myself, or tell my true feelings in front of people. Drawing makes it possible to do it. I believe that art has the power to change society and people. I want to make a weird world which people do not see in the real world, and make art that touches people in some way.
Gabe Thompson
My name is Gabriel Thompson and I am an emerging visual artist. I was born and raised on Vancouver Island and I make my art on this beautiful land of the Lkwungen and W̱SÁNEĆ peoples. I am currently attending a two year diploma program at Camosun College. And afterwards I will pursue a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree at Uvic.
Ever since I was little I was always making some form of art. For me it is a way to navigate and explore my creativity. I love to learn new things, and I try to incorporate what I learn into my work and practice. It's something I love and something I hope to do forever. I am always aiming to improve and perfect my technique and art process. I would say my favourite thing about creating art would be the endless possibilities that can come from it. I find my passion and mediums of choice are photography, printmaking and drawing. Art making is part of who I am and I am glad that I am able to create and share my ideas.
I am really interested in popular culture, and find that it is something I reference in my work. As a kid I was really into things like Star Wars, Superheroes, Lord of the Rings, Video Games, etc. And I still am! So I look to those types of things as inspiration for my work, and basically anything that shaped my mind and imagination growing up. I am fascinated by character design, world building, and storytelling. And a distant dream of mine is to one day create a world of my own, full of interesting characters and locations.
Piper Wren
With my Art I am focused on how our Bodies and Identities are constructed and influence the way in which we interact with the world. The basis for many of my works is based on my own experiences as an openly Queer Transgender Woman. Additionally I try to take an anti-colonialist and anti-capitalist stance in everything I do.