artist profile Archives - Queen's Journal

Artists during lockdown: Visual artist Clanny Mugabe talks pandemic’s impact on practice

Written on April 8, 2021. Posted in Arts.

Clanny Mugabe, Art Sci ’23, is a second-year student who explores themes of decolonization, mythology, and speculative fiction in her artwork. Like many artists, Mugabe has struggled to continue creating art as quarantine and lockdowns continue in Canada. “COVID-19 has affected me for the worse,”...

Queen’s Creative Writing alum Liselle Sambury talks debut novel 'Blood Like Magic'

Written on April 8, 2021. Posted in Arts.

Carolyn Smart’s Advanced Creative Writing class was the first time Liselle Sambury, ArtSci ’13, had her work published, but it won’t be the last. Sambury will publish her first novel, Blood Like Magic, in June. According to her, it wouldn’t have been possible without the mentorship of Queen’s creative...

William Carroll talks Side-Ways Artist Residency at Union Gallery

Written on April 2, 2021. Posted in Arts.

William Carroll is a visual artist whose recent works include home-grown crystals and a giant spray foam cherry pie. Carroll is on the autism spectrum and identifies as non-binary. They’re currently completing the Side-Ways Artist Residency with Union Gallery while living in an apartment in Kingston...

Retrofuturism: Danika Watson discusses sci-fi artwork

Written on April 2, 2021. Posted in Arts.

Danika Watson, ArtSci ’21, integrates her passion for science and chemistry into her artistic practices. Recently featured as one of the finalists for the Undergraduate Review’s cover art contest, Watson’s artwork has an otherworldly, cosmic feel to it—engaging spectators on and offline. “A lot of...

‘Just let it arrive’: Poet, mentor Bruce Kauffman talks career

Written on April 2, 2021. Posted in Arts.

Bruce Kauffman has been opening doors for artists for 12 years. In 2009, Kauffman started an open mic night at The Artel, an arts venue formerly located on Sydenham Road. A year later, he started a radio show on CFRC called Finding a Voice. With both projects, Kauffman’s goal was to create more opportunities...

Commerce alum KIRPAL talks two latest singles

Written on March 12, 2021. Posted in Arts.

For musician Ryan O’Driscoll, Comm ‘17, if you’re not willing to be weird and different with your sound, there’s no point. O’Driscoll, who goes by KIRPAL, got his first guitar when he was seven or eight and has been experimenting with his sound ever since. His two latest singles, ‘Again and Again’...

Francisco Corbett: The Artist to Watch

Written on March 9, 2021. Posted in Arts.

Over the past eight months, Francisco Corbett has dedicated himself to being a full-time artist and, as a result, Kingston isn’t boring anymore. With his distinctly bold and bright graffiti-style masterpieces marking territory inside Princess Street shopfronts, upscale cafés, downtown billboards,...

Steven Kostanski’s horror-comedy ‘Psycho Goreman’ filmed in St. Catharines

Written on March 5, 2021. Posted in Arts.

In the film Psycho Goreman, the titular monster was born on the planet Gigax, millions of lightyears from Earth. The movie was shot somewhere a little closer to home: St. Catharines, Ontario. Canadian director Steven Kostanski of Raven Banner Entertainment spoke to The Journal about the making of...

Danielle Hope Edwards: gospel-inspired sound and the healing power of music

Written on February 26, 2021. Posted in Arts.

Edwards’ two recent singles are infused with love. Her songs “Love Stands” and “Your Truth” are filled with stripped down lyrics and the musical influences of soul, gospel, and R&B—giving her a unique voice as an emerging Canadian artist. “Whether you are willing or not to act in love, love...

Author Steven Heighton releases Cohenesque single

Written on February 5, 2021. Posted in Arts.

Eleven years ago, award-winning author and Queen’s alum Steven Heighton almost lost the ability to speak. Now, he’s releasing an album. It might seem surprising that the author of 17 books would suddenly decide to make music, but Heighton is simply returning to his roots. He’s been an aspiring singer-songwriter...

‘You don’t want your baby to be ugly’: Sam Kaiser on success of new EP

Written on February 5, 2021. Posted in Arts.

Sam Kaiser, ArtSci ’22, released a single last November called “Good Things,” an apt title considering it skyrocketed to three times more streams on Spotify than his next most popular song. “Good Things” was the first track Kaiser ever wrote while a publicist represented him, and the first of his...

Justin Nozuka talks dreamy, psilocybin-inspired single

Written on January 29, 2021. Posted in Arts.

“I see no reason / to hold back these feelings,” sings R&B artist Justin Nozuka in his latest track, “summer night o8,” written and performed under the psychedelic influence of psilocybin. The track might never have happened if not for a rainy summer day in Toronto two years ago, Nozuka told The...

Riley Michaels talks new single ‘Turn Off the Lights’

Written on January 15, 2021. Posted in Arts.

Before the pandemic, Riley Michaels could often be found playing in bars, soaking up the energy from people having a drink and dancing after a long week. Now he realizes it’s easy to get caught up in work and forget to spend time with the people who matter most. Michaels is a Niagara-based musician,...

The Journal talks to an animator on Pixar’s 'Soul'

Written on November 26, 2020. Posted in Arts.

Inspired by her late grandfather, Emilie Goulet wanted to be an animator since early childhood, which makes her work on Pixar’s Soul, a film that explores themes of celebrating life and embracing death, feel like a culmination of the ambitions he nurtured in her. In an interview with The Journal,...

Queen’s teaching fellow discusses role of urban art in Indigenous communities

Written on November 20, 2020. Posted in Arts.

Camille Georgeson-Usher thinks a lot about how street art can foster a sense of belonging in Indigenous communities living in colonial urban spaces. In an interview with The Journal, Georgeson-Usher, a teaching fellow and PhD candidate in Queen’s Languages, Literatures and Cultures program, discussed...

Sabrina Fielding discusses her portrayal of adolescence in ‘The Red Swimsuit’

Written on October 16, 2020. Posted in Arts.

On Oct. 8, Queen’s undergraduate student Sabrina Fielding was selected as the winner of The Journal’s 2020 Short Story Contest. Fielding spoke with The Journal’s Assistant Arts Editor, Alysha Mohamed, about her winning story The Red Swimsuit. What’s your year and program? Where are you from? “My name...

Daniel Green discusses his depiction of love in ‘She Must’

Written on October 16, 2020. Posted in Arts.

On Oct. 8, 2020, Queen’s undergraduate student Daniel Green was selected as the winner of The Journal’s 2020 Poetry Contest. Green spoke to The Journal’s Assistant Arts Editor, Alysha Mohamed, about his winning poem ‘She Must’. What’s your year and program? Where are you from? “My name is Daniel...

Chris Jackson and Friends keep Friday nights surprising

Written on February 13, 2020. Posted in Arts.

Chris Jackson’s Friday night gig at BLUMartini has become a neighbourhood staple. For the past three years, the part-time musician has been taking the stage at the downtown restaurant and bar every Friday from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. Before his next show this Valentine’s Day, Jackson spoke to The Journal...

BFA student's art speaks for itself

Written on January 14, 2020. Posted in Arts.

BFA student Johanna Schaly resists giving her artwork too much meaning. Instead, she lets it speak for itself. Schaly is pursuing Fine Arts through the concurrent education stream and is currently in her fourth year at Queen’s. She’ll graduate from her undergrad in the Bachelor of Fine Arts program...

Tim Baker talks life, music, and new album

Written on November 29, 2019. Posted in Arts.

Now in a new stage of his career, Tim Baker grounds himself by making truthful, raw music that he hopes will bring people together. Newfoundland’s Tim Baker of the band Hey Rosetta! came to Kingston’s Sydenham United Church on Nov. 27 to tour his debut solo album, Forever Overhead. The album, released...

Ada Yuewan Chen criticizes perceptions of beauty

Written on November 1, 2019. Posted in Arts.

Ada Yuewan Chen’s art is full of colour, spreading teal, orange, lavender, and pink across broad canvases to create smooth, blurred dreamscapes. The fourth-year BFA student seeks to question the idea of beauty through her painting. Originally from China, Chen’s early training prized realism as the...

Adrian Chalifour finds joy in life changes

Written on October 8, 2019. Posted in Arts.

Though Adrian Chalifour got his start in his local church, it was never where he saw himself long-term. Hailing from Victoria, BC, Chalifour is stopping into Kingston’s Musiikki on Oct. 9 at 5:00 p.m. as part of his Ontario tour. The artist’s youth was spent leading his worship team and singing, drumming,...

Breanna Gordon finds her passion in painting humanity’s downfall

Written on September 20, 2019. Posted in Arts.

What started as a passionless pursuit of technical art skills for Breanna Gordon (BFA ’20) has turned into a labour of love during her years at Queen’s. In her final year of the Bachelor of Fine Arts program, Gordon reflected on her time at Queen’s and what she’s learned in her studies, in an interview...

Tau Lewis nears end of campus residency

Written on September 25, 2018. Posted in Arts, Visual.

Tau Lewis, the artist-in-residence at the Agnes Etherington Art Centre, never planned on pursuing a career in art. While she valued sculpting as a child, she didn’t return to it until she dropped out of college. Her adult work was more for therapeutic coping, and, eventually, evolved into a successful...

Meet Kingston’s next homegrown talent

Written on September 28, 2017. Posted in Arts.

Julia Finnegan remembers her relationship with Kingston’s music scene beginning when she was a teenager and winning the Renaissance Music Song Writing Contest. Now working on her second EP, Finnegan hopes to make a career out of her passion. Finnegan, BFA ’20, has been surrounded by music her whole life...

From canvas to conservation

Written on May 29, 2017. Posted in Arts.

“The dream is to one day work in the Louvre and work on the restoration of the Mona Lisa.” Only halfway through her Fine Arts degree, Emily Joyce (Fine Arts ’19) is well on her way to reaching the big goals she has set for herself. Joyce is currently spending her summer in Venice, studying art history...

Part-time renowned artist, full-time 13-year-old

Written on March 31, 2017. Posted in Arts.

Evan Sharma has loved art his whole 13-year-old life, but he really started his signature style of using vibrant colours when he was “around nine or 10.” After being inspired by seeing the Mona Lisa on a trip to Paris when he was 10, Sharma was struck by the large impact a single painting could have...

The ladies behind Dad Hats 4Ever

Written on March 3, 2017. Posted in Arts.

Hat’s off to two student artists who’ve blended together fashion, art and business in an entrepreneurial enterprise unique to Queen’s. Kennedy Cassidy ’19 and Kiera Sitzer ’19 started Dad Hats 4Ever as a passion project. But their trendy, embroidered baseball hats, with simple designs like eyelashes...

Scenic sketching

Written on February 10, 2017. Posted in Arts.

Cameron Lawrence doesn’t just draw nature, his art comes from an attempt to internalize and come closer to the beauty of the Northern Ontario landscape he often encounters. While many students might argue that their notebook doodles approach the level of art, Lawrence’s sketches of scenes of nature...

Drama queen and comedy machine

Written on February 3, 2017. Posted in Arts.

“Nothing kills me more than when people make art that doesn’t really say anything. I’m just like ‘bye’,” Rachel Manson, ArtSci ’17, said in an interview with The Journal. Amen. The first three things you need to know about Manson are that first, she’s an improv master, second, she swears like a sailor,...

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