Chalynne Cowan

During 2013-2022, I had the privilege of teaching art abroad in South Korea and China. I have been constantly inspired by the students, colleagues, and artists I work with. Exploring cultures within Asia has given me new perspectives on my home culture and much of my art reflects my contemplation about home, nature and social structures.

These are a series of artworks made between 2019-2022.

Civilizations: water and transportation is a layering of metro maps of places I've lived, road maps, drawn images of plumbing and water vessels, and gold leaf abstractions of rivers. As I travel, I marvel at how we move and develop cities and infrastructure.

Values - features the twelve social values promoted within mainland China, the hand gestures for numbers 1-12, and the guides used when learning calligraphy.

Marsh, Beaver, Moose, Northern Interior, and Vancouver Island combine familiar Canadian animals with the Hudson's Bay Company's long-established corporate symbol. I am privileged to have grown up on Vancouver Island in the Cowichan Valley; the traditional unceded land of the Quw'utsun, Malahat, Ts'uubaa-asatx, Halalt, Penelakut, Stz'uminus, & Lyackson Peoples. I am thankful to be connected to a place with diverse histories, stories, and perspectives and a vastness that humbles and focuses the soul.

Antler, Reach, and Flow address cycles of autumn.

Fungi paintings and digital designs are a response to ongoing research into their diverse hidden forms, fruits, and communication methods. I am learning so much from how they move, build, and consume.

Species is a booklet inspired by my time at TRU and visiting family on Vancouver Island. It uses graphite, BC maps, gold leaf, and coloured pencils. I included abstracted patterns from pine beetles on one side and tree stumps with seeds and leaves of common trees on Vancouver Island and southern BC.

The Self-Portraits are examples from my high school art classes from 2019-2022. We explored identity, value, power, and narratives, using the grid method to improve our accuracy with either ink or graphite.