Meet the May 2019 Learning Lab Artists
Hannamari Jalovaara
Hannamari Jalovaara is a Vancouver-based visual artist and independent curator. She holds an MFA from Emily Carr University of Art + Design, a double Master’s degree in Aesthetics and Art Education, as well as a degree in Art Therapy. Her print media works have been exhibited internationally in numerous juried and touring shows, and are included in both public and private collections. As an artist employing traditional and emerging printmaking technologies, she is interested in projects that provide opportunities for further investigation and dialogue between artists whose artistic output, materially and conceptually, is shaped in part by new technologies.
ilvs strauss
ilvs strauss is slowly making her way up the West Coast: born in Southern California in 1979, she moved to Portland with her family in 1989. She took a slight detour and earned a degree in Chemistry from OSU, before returning to Portland. Fast forward to 2005: Seattle. ilvs enters the world of Technical Theater. She learns about lights, sound and video. Concurrently, she writes, creates performance presentations, plays music, eventually tries and likes dance. Skip to the present: ilvs finds herself pursuing her MFA at SFU. Here she stumbles upon the idea of Digital Scenography, her people. Here she actively explores and creates subtle spectacles of temporal collage that challenge traditional notions of theater and performance thru the use of technology, corporeality, and ephemerality.
Karen Garry
Illustrator, Fibers Artist and Writer, Karen Garry, founded Heart Shaped Rawk in 2016 with the mandate to create cute collectibles that are environmentally sound and to tell compassionate stories that warm the heart of every “kidult.” Full of critical thought, philosophical musings and colourful masterpieces, Heart Shaped Rawk Books allow the reader to escapade in a locally printed and lovingly painted world where needle felted and watercolour illustrated characters set out to prove that anything is possible if you just follow your heart. Heart Shaped Rawk is shaping the world of tomorrow into a peaceful and bountiful wonderland, today.
Kung Jaadee
Kung Jaadee is a Haida storyteller, singer, drummer and writer. She has published two children's books, and has just finished writing her third. She performs Yaahl/Raven Trickster legends, of how Yaahl created the world. She accompanies herself on her hand drum; singing traditional Haida songs in between legends. She also performs using her language: Xaad Kil, Haida language, teaching her audiences as she performs. She has been performing since 1992.
Kevan Cameron
Kevan Anthony Cameron is a writer, performer, creator and spoken word artist. Born in Edmonton Alberta to Jamaican parents, Kevan Cameron was a scholar-athlete and professional soccer player before writing and performing spoken word poetry for film, television, commercials, new media and literary performance as SCRUFFMOUTH. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree of General Studies and Certificate in Liberal Arts from Simon Fraser University. Kevan "Scruffmouth" Cameron is founder and director of Black Dot Roots and Culture Collective (BDRCC), and produced Hogan’s Alley Poetry Festival in Vancouver, British Columbia and programmed Canadian poets for Jamaica Poetry Festival 2016 with gracious assistance for both projects from Canada Council for the Arts, as well as for his audiovisual spoken word poetry project SCRUFFMOUTH: SPOKEN NOTEBOOK.
Shanna Cheng
Shanna Cheng is a printmaker and an aspiring curator based in Vancouver, BC. Her practice seamlessly blends in themes of utopia and dreams with silkscreen print media and projection installation. She received her BFA from Emily Carr University of Art and Design (ECUAD). Shanna was awarded the STMC Artist Prize in 2012 for her accomplishments in fine arts. She has held group exhibitions with the 2014 Langara Grad Show, the Spring 2016 ACAD Print Exchange and Exhibition, and the 2016 ECUAD The Show, as well as curated Unexplored Minds exhibition at Malaspina Printmakers and Curitus: The Exhibition. She has also been given the ArtStarts Community Art Star for her dedication to the arts and community. She is a strong advocate for arts accessibility and engagement.
Tracy-Lynn Chernaske
Tracy-Lynn Chernaske strives to challenge herself in finding new work using various processes and techniques. Tracy-Lynn typically works with bold strokes and in multiple, quick-fire, intense time periods which makes for fascinating, multilayer pieces that lull the viewer into visualizing an artificial simplicity. Her paintings are heavily influenced by her diverse background of experience, the majority comes from theatrical scenic painting. Recently she has taken up body painting and photography. Latest work is a series of abstract paintings using 100% recycled materials from Metro Theatre. The paintings are available for sale with the majority of the funds going to Metro. She also has worked on a series of female nudes that focused on embracing the concept that body and mind are continually shifting and changing.
Veronique West
Veronique West is a theatre creator, dramaturg and educator of Polish descent, based on unceded Coast Salish territories. Her work is informed by her lived experience of mental health issues, combined with her interest in the intersections of mental health and social justice. Her plays include: Intrusion (winner of Tarragon Theatre’s 20/20 Playwriting Competition), Marrow (Resounding Scream Theatre/Alley Theatre) and Where the Devil Can’t Go (in development with Playwrights Theatre Centre). As a dramaturg, she has worked for the Arts Club Theatre Company, Playwrights Theatre Centre, Neworld Theatre, South Asian Arts Society, Alley Theatre, Resounding Scream Theatre, rEvolver festival and festivALT. In addition to her artistic practice, she provides peer support to people navigating eating disorders through the Looking Glass Foundation’s Hand in Hand program.
Yunuen Perez Vertti
Originally from Mexico City, filmmaker and digital media artist Yunuen Perez Vertti, moved to Vancouver 5 years ago after been based in Houston for 15 years. Her international background is well represented in her work as a filmmaker and digital media artist. She has over 15 years of experience in the film and television industry. She has worked in various roles and projects and produced films for many public, private and non-profit organizations. Her short documentary "Aparajita" (The undefeated) was successfully screened at Tasveer Seattle South Asian Film Festival, Topanga Film Festival, and Gulf Coast Film & Video Festival. She is passionate about education through the arts and the importance of arts as a fundamental tool for education. She believes teaching and introducing kids to all art disciplines, as early as possible, is essential to a healthy society.
808 Richards Street, Vancouver, BC, V6B 3A7, Canada
Copyright © 2024, All rights reserved