1990's Art

Artist Statement, 1990's (My 20s)

In my twenties, I was at the Ontario College of Art and Design, finding my voice during a turbulent time. My abstract work was all about bold, experimental forms mixed with minimalist compositions - kind of like the push and pull of figuring out who I was as an artist. The world felt unstable: the Gulf War, the devastating mass shooting at École Polytechnique that shook Canada, and the heated debates about male-centered artwork that followed. Living through the tension around Quebec’s 1995 referendum added another layer. All of this found its way into my paintings as I worked through themes of division, violence, gender, and national identity. Even then, I was drawn to simplification - a way to bring order to chaos, to make sense of a difficult world through deliberate, distilled forms.