Meet our 2023 Virtual Spring Market Featured Artists

This April, we are counting down the days to our Virtual Spring Market April 22-28 with 4 amazing Featured Artists! Tune in every Wednesday in April on our Instagram account @showandsale.yyc. to see cool behind-the-scenes clips of what it is like studying at AUArts and how our students find their niche!

Featured Artist: Interdisciplinary Artist Chelsey Jean Wickens

Wednesday April 5th - Virtual on @showandsale.yyc.

As an interdisciplinary graduating BFA Drawing major with a passion for eco-sustainability, Chelsey spends just as much time outside in the landscape as she does in the studio. Join us on Instagram for April 5th to learn about her unique practice, which includes making and using her own natural pigments made from rocks and plants in drawings, sculptures, and even glass! When the Virtual Spring Market opens April 22 at 10am be sure to check out Chelsey’s artwork: mixed media paintings, art cards, glass art, glass pendants and a variety of works made with artist-made earth pigments. 

FUN FACT: Chelsey’s well loved little rusty truck also doubles as her mobile art studio! Her trusty truck makes her onsite artwork accessible as well as provides a space to work on projects that aren't possible in her current home.

 

Chelsey Jean Wickens is graduating this year from AUArts. She is a 5th-year BFA, Drawing Major. Her work is an exploration of wilderness conservation and sustainability. As an interdisciplinary artist, the materials she uses reflect the context of her projects. Along with traditional media, she also uses found and handmade materials to create large-scale time-based installations exploring issues within the Canadian landscape.  

During a year long intermission to her BFA, she traveled around Alberta and BC working as a medic and wilderness first aid instructor. She was pursuing a specialization in backcountry EMS and aquatic rescue. While working in remote areas she became even more connected with wildlife and landscapes. Her time in the wilderness inspired her to return to AUArts as a mature student, reconnecting her with her passions for conservation and environmental activist art. Her work is currently featured in the 2022 Fire Season 2 Art Journal, available as an e-book or in print @ https://fireseason.org/ 

 

Featured Artist: Printmaker Extraordinaire Soup  Davis

Wednesday April 12th - Virtual on @showandsale.yyc.

As a 3rd year Print Major working in traditional techniques such as linocut, cyanotype, intaglio, and more, Soup is passionate about trans and disability activism… and having fun! While they pursue gallery shows and exhibitions, they also enjoy creating silly, colourful prints just for kicks. Join us on Instagram April 12th, where Soup will show us some secrets of working with traditional printing techniques and why self-care and accessibility matters for them as a disabled artist. Soup will be selling a limited selection of their traditional prints along with some custom digital prints and stickers at the Virtual Spring Market. These prints won’t last long so make sure to buy early and support a fantastic up and coming artist!

FUN FACT: Soup has a furry little studio buddy named Magnus! Magnus is a very chunky orange cat and is one of Soup’s favourite people…um we mean cats.

 

Hi, I’m Soup Davis!  I am currently a 3rd year print major at AUARTS. I love making stickers and prints involving silly and fantasy inspired things so I can share my love of color and art with people! I love making digital art, but traditional printmaking is one of my biggest loves! Most often I work with screen printing and linocut printing, but I’ve been learning a bunch of different other methods I want to share in the future as well. The silly art I make comes most often from doodling during classes (I know, I’m sorry I try not to!) and I end up developing these little sketches into more refined works of art for my stickers and prints. I already said I am a fan of color, but bright and saturated colors are my favorites. There's something about brights that I feel is so unique and can be utilized in so many ways. I hope you will enjoy all the diverse ways I’ve incorporated my personality and love of art into my products. 

Instagram Account: allsoupnospoons

 

Featured Artist: Illustrator and Storyteller Len Kurosaki

Wednesday April 19th - Virtual on @showandsale.yyc.

Len doesn’t just illustrate cool places, he builds worlds! As a 5th year graduating BDes Illustration major, he is passionate about sharing myths and tales from around the world with his designs. Join us on Instagram for April 19th, where Len will be giving us a peek into his world, where he builds characters and locations from scratch and animates them to give them life. This is your chance to learn more about how modern animation is accomplished and how much work it takes to bring you a looping animated short (hint hint, it’s a lot!). Interested in bringing home some of Len’s work? Grab yourself some of his beautiful postcards or prints that are sure to be conservation starters at your next family get-together.

FUN FACT: Len has a cat named Butter (his living organic alarm clock) that will do anything to get him out of the bed before noon. After all, the afternoon is Butter's exclusive time on the bed! 

 

Len Kurosaki is a Calgary based Illustrator working on comics, animation and illustrations. Currently completing the final year of his Bachelor of Design in Visual Communication Design with a minor in animation at the Alberta University of the Arts. He is inspired by stories that are born from the relation of places and the people that reside within it. A single anomaly or a spark of imagination is able to grow into stories and myths that get adopted into communities. The stories give life and identity to the environment and alter the way the people view and interact with the land. His work portrays the ordinary world but with a hidden mysterious twist. 

Most works are primarily done digitally for its versatility in exploring different visual designs. The ability to integrate stylistic strengths of traditional mediums with strengths of digital compositing such as motion and sound is a point of interest. Watercolour is the second favourite of the artist. The organic nature of the water is a completely different way of expression and tactile art making that digital can not replicate. The opposites of the use of organic and inorganic mediums plays into the thematic relationship of nature and man within their work. 

Instagram Account: @lenmenade

Website/Portfolio: www.lenkurosaki.com

 

Featured Artist: Ceramicist and Glass Artist Stephanie Arnot

Wednesday April 26th - Virtual on @showandsale.yyc.

With a background in geology, Stephanie’s artwork is heavily influenced by geologic and natural processes. Using custom made glazes and casting techniques she can mimic the texture of a seashore, a specific rock formation, or even a chewed up gummy bear! Join us on Instagram for Artist April 26th  to learn how this 3rd year BFA Ceramics major faithfully recreates natural forms in her ceramics and glass pieces through experimentation, tenacity, and a little bit of luck. Make sure you snatch up some of her beautiful jewelry, ceramic, or glass pieces in the Virtual Spring Market before they’re gone. 

FUN FACT: Stephanie loves to travel and find it very generative for her creative process. Her previous experience as a geologist led her to some amazing and beautiful places.

 

Working in clay is a natural extension of Stephanie’s enduring passion for rocks. A soft geologic deposit dug from the ground, formed by mind and hand and heated until it returns to stone. She is inspired by the textures and colours found in the earth and the way water interacts with the shore. She is boundlessly infatuated with crashing swells against boulders, tiny creature-filled tide pools, and gentle waves on the beach. Stephanie strives to impart these feelings into her ceramics. Using a combination of colour, granular minerals, and handmade aggregates to imbue the sensation of sand and stone into her objects and give greater depth to the clay surface. She also applies a combination of hand sculpting techniques and glaze chemistry to add life to her pieces.  

Creating in Glass and mixed media gives her the opportunity to explore joyful expressions of design. Collaborating with the playful properties of the materials, these works reflect light-hearted delight in fun and colour. The pieces celebrate the transformative nature of art, and the humorous pleasure that those transformations can give. As an artist, Stephanie is driven to explore the boundaries of material expression, whether that be the line between stone, clay body and glaze, or the translucent quality of glass. She aspires to create long-lasting pieces that subvert understanding of material, and celebrate this through fantastical well-made objects.

Instagram Account: @stephaniearnotart

Website/Portfolio: stephaniearnot.com 


 

 A very special thank you goes out to our supporters the Alberta University of the Arts and the RBC Foundation for helping us make Show + Sale possible!

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