Juan Ramirez (he/him) was born in Caqueta in the Amazonas region of Colombia in 1988. When he was 14 years old, his family immigrated to Canada as political refugees.

He has lived in Victoria for the past 16 years and is a software developer, graphic designer and musician. He combines his different skills and interests to create digital collages.

His artwork often explores the relationship between people and the digital world we have created around us, how it affects us and how we perceive it.

All of his works are created digitally using a combination of graphic design techniques and his own technique of pixel sampling.

@JuanOfThese

Laura-Beth (she/her) is a project manager and visual artist living on the Lekwungen Territory in Victoria, B.C.

She is a multimedia artist and creative professional specializing in community-focused art. As a neurodivergent person, LB is interested in using art and creativity as a way to bring disparate groups together and find connection in a world that doesn’t often make sense to her.

She is the founder of the Esquimalt Community Arts Hub and currently working for Creative Coast BC and an artist collective exploring the future of the Trackside Art Gallery. She is the more anxious half of art.Biin.

@LBKArtStuff

I wanted to join the program because I am fascinated by the ephemeral: in life and in my artist practice.

Phyllis Schwartz is a multi-disciplinary artist and curator who works in photography, ceramics, and publishing. She is an Emily Carr University of Art + Design graduate with a concentration in photography and the recipient of the Canon Photography Award. Her photography has been installed, exhibited and published locally, across Canada and internationally; her works are in corporate, public and private collections. Schwartz is a contemporary artist making images using the lumen print process. These unique hybrid prints are made by a contact-printing process that leaves traces and shadows on photosensitive surfaces that are digitized.

@QueenOfMidnight

I wanted to join the program because I want to learn about the NFT world and it's pros and cons, to discuss the philosophical aspect of transitioning into this kind of art and the way it is presented, sold, re-sold, etc. An important feature of this program is that unlike many others, this is a hands on where we get to do our own NFTs and live the whole process of putting them out for sale, while working as a group of artists, exchanging ideas, work and reflections.

@DiegoNarvaezh

Tori is a free-range bipedal art student you can find wandering the University of Victoria campus and surrounding environs as they enact “letting go with the eyes." Tori is interested in the potential for digital media and post internet art to offer new perspectives on the human condition and means of connection.

I am the Noise. I am a conceptual and visual artist. I am at my core a cultural provocateur. I believe in the free and uncensored nature of art and artistic expression in the larger scope of a free and just society. I work anonymously for objectivity, privacy, and artistic freedom, independence.

By pointing a mirror back at the art establishment and it’s influence both good and bad on creativity I hope to use the lens of culture to focus my viewers on the subtlety and grandiose nature of life. I use any medium at my disposal to try to disrupt the common understanding and spark a dialogue for open and honest conversation.

I am THE NOISE, and welcome to the show.

I was taught in the Waldorf School System and Studied at Vancouver Film School.

dea is grateful to live and paint on the unceded and ancestral territories of the Songhees, WSANEC and Esquimalt peoples as an uninvited but tolerated guest. She shares a small but robust home with her partner, their two children and a reasonable number of animals. Always having had a deep need to do art things, dea primarily likes to paint large, bright images that are generously peppered with dark lines and slightly skewed perspectives. However, dea is also keen to turn her labour-of-love comic strip into a reality, and bask in the enjoyment of ink and smudgy graphite.

Why NFT?:
There are so many great possibilities for getting your work out there and into the hands of others, and NFTs seem like a pretty solid way to track and generate some funds... so much to learn still! However, starting off with a group of other creative individuals made getting over the first learning curve a little easier.

Website: deakearns.com

I wanted to join the program to better understand NFT’s and digital art as well as connecting with other artists in my community.

After studying Visual Communications at the Alberta University of the Arts, I moved to Victoria and became a full-time graphic designer working mainly for technology companies and startups.

I have always had a love of visual arts and have begun to investigate incorporating an artistic practice into my life.

@skotdesign

Rose Cowles is an interdisciplinary artist who practices illustration, graphic design and fine art in beautiful Victoria, BC. She has won many awards for both illustration and design as well earned a Governor General Award nomination.

"I've been around for a while and things have certainly changed since I set out on this creative journey over 35 yrs ago. I am no stranger to having to learn new tricks along the way. This brave new world of NFT's in my opinion is unique and I'm pleased that I get to discover some new skills in an otherwise (to me) mysterious discipline."

@RoseCowlesArt

My biggest inspiration as an artist is giving a physical representation to the tangible energies that surround us. My practice encompasses many physical mediums, from drawing to welding sculptures and everything in between. I love to combine mediums together and keep a whimsical sense of play in my process.

I hold a Visual Arts Diploma (honours) from Camosun College and a Bachelor of Commerce in Entrepreneurial Management from Royal Roads University. I love to be active in the local art community with group shows and public art installations. In 2021 I was selected as an official BC Culture Days Ambassador, and I have multiple public installations upcoming, including with the City of Langford.

In my practice I have used digital media as a tool for making sketches and mock-ups and for graphic design work, but I have not yet tried creating art work that is intended for a digital landscape. I am really eager to learn how to create NFTs so that my work can exist in another platform/way of viewing and connecting with the audience.

@LauraRechwan.Art

Katherine Babcock is a painter influenced by the sea and sky to create bold, bright and beautiful west coast art. She lives on Vancouver Island with her husband and four children.

I joined the program because I was interested in exploring this new artistic avenue one that moves, lives and travels through the internet.

Edward Peck studied photography, fine arts, conceptual art, historical techniques, film, and literature at the University of British Columbia. He then went on to work under a number of artists to develop his technical skills in photography, film, etching, watercolour, performance art and drawing. This has led him to work in many mediums over the years. Currently, he is working with digital photographic processes and has shown his work in both group and solo exhibitions. Peck works collaboratively with other visual artists, exhibiting locally and internationally. His work is held in private, corporate and public collections. Peck also edited and produced anthologies of Canadian Literature as well as assisted in the editing of a Canadian literary journal. This has led to his editing and production of artist books and exhibition catalogues.

@sassamatt

www.sassamatt.com

I’m excited to be part of this program to learn & explore the evolution of how we’ll interact (react) as a society moving from the tangible to a more digitally asset based world - and how this affects artists.

Matt Somerville (he/him) is a visual media artist who uses artwork as a way to try to understand the world and his place within it.

He currently uses photography & film as his preferred mediums to communicate ideas, concerns & hopes for the future and to let his audience know that they are not alone.

Influenced by his professional and personal life experiences, Matt’s goal is to bring awareness to everything he sees, feels and hears whether focusing on the beautiful, the ugly or the overlooked.

His work often addresses societal and environmental pressures felt by local and wider communities.

@shhhhorts
mattsomerville.com

Chantal Solomon is a Visual Artist who practices screen printing, painting, film and sculpture. Her creative drive is influenced by her work with the plant relatives, listening to the stories of her communities and her commitment to a regenerative lifestyle. In showcasing various aspects of her experiences on the land she hopes to highlight the beauty that is naturally present. While creating a reflective space for how we engage with the land as modern humans.

Chantal began to explore art as a therapeutic practice in her teens to calm symptoms of PTSD. She now believes creativity is the most important asset one can develop and that it is our collective responsibility to create with the notion that our ripples will carry forward to generations beyond our lifetime. Her artwork has been exhibited at the Comox Valley Art Gallery, the Richmond Museum and The Courtenay District Museum & Archives. Chantal is currently based in "Victoria BC". Where she is inspired to host opportunities to mend, vision & create through community Herbalism & Art. Her solo artwork portfolio is available via chantalsolo.com