AT THIS YEAR’S Eastside Culture Crawl, over 500 artists are showcasing their works across the Eastside Arts District in what will be one of the annual event’s largest editions since its inception three decades ago.
Among those artists, several excel within traditional 2D practices like oil painting, snapshot photography, and printmaking. Others base their craftsmanship in three-dimensional realms, from sculpture and jewellery design to stained-glass fabrication and woodworking. But there is also a handful of women artists working across mediums in spectacular ways that defy categorization altogether—four of whom include Linda Suffidy, Tristesse Seeliger, Helen Alex Murray, and Aurora Caher.
Over at Parker Street Studios, Ottawa-born artist Suffidy is exploring the theme of timelessness in her mixed-media works that pull inspiration from fossils and artifacts. She draws on her training at the Emily Carr College of Art and Design (now the Emily Carr University of Art + Design) and formative years spent in St. Louis, Missouri to weave historical elements into tactile pieces.
Seeliger is an Emily Carr University of Art + Design–trained multidisciplinary artist whose practice encompasses painting, weaving, murals, and collage. She is also an arts educator for the Vancouver School Board. At the Arts Factory, she’ll offer new takes on perception and orientation through works that merge painting techniques with woven elements.
Murray, a fluid abstract artist who has spent time living in Toronto and Los Angeles, is based at East Side Studios. She layers bold acrylic colours and resin with metallic-foil and mother-of-pearl details in rippling odes to the West Coast.
Caher will be at Parker Street Studios with Suffidy. Originally from Spain, the mixed-media artist uses accessible tools like scissors, glue, and vintage magazines to craft extraordinary collages—and her most recent project involves placing them on over 600 miniature cubes.
Ahead of the Eastside Culture Crawl, we’ve highlighted a work below by each of these artists that exemplifies their ability to break the mold.
