Janet Wang

June 2024

Janet Wang is a visual artist and educator working within a traditional painting practice, integrated with sculptural installation practices and digital media. A second-generation settler of Chinese heritage, she is based in Vancouver, Canada, the unceded territories of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. The artist received her Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of British Columbia and her Master of Arts in Studio Practice from the University of Leeds in England. She is an Associate Professor and Assistant Dean for the Foundation Department at Emily Carr University of Art and Design. Her work explores the construction of identity through the appropriation and disruption of social patterns and familiar gestures. The artist pays homage to the canons and traditions of history, both the artistic and the quotidian, in order to use the familiar as a meeting point with the viewer.

Image: Janet Wang

My time at Similkameen was incredibly restful and productive, allowing for time and space to generate ideas and experiment with new materials and techniques. I was able to play around with producing natural pigments, created a new augmented reality work with objects gathered from around the residency and my fellow residents, catch up on reading, and to complete design on an ongoing large scale project. My fellow residents were fantastic studiomates - I enjoyed our studio visits and fireside chats. Grateful for the opportunity to be at Similkameen Artist Residency!

Janet Wang, Testimonial