Artists & Performers - Vancouver Outsider Arts Festival

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Visual Artists

A. Cisneros

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A. Cisneros

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A. Cisneros is an artist living and studying on the unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) peoples. Their practice is multidisciplinary, spanning from painting and drawing to textiles and sculpture, although it is ever growing and evolving. Often using found fabrics, patchwork is used as a visual language in this work. Mexican heritage and the intersection of cultural identities play a crucial role in the creation of both the artist and their work.

Amal Ishaque

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Amal Ishaque

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Amal Ishaque is a Pushcart nominated poet, multidisciplinary artist and award-winning educator. Their writing has appeared in various literary journals and international anthologies. Their hybrid essay about queer, disabled Muslim healing modalities appears in Queer and Muslim: On Faith, Family and Healing, a new anthology published by University of Regina Press. Amal recently completed a three-year arts residency focused on shifting narratives about housing injustice. Their latest public art piece, a collaborative, large scale, kinetic installation combining archival images of racialized communities, textiles and visual art was on display at Clayton Community Centre for the past year. Amal has received fellowships from VONA - Voices of Our Nations, the Banff Centre and others. Over the years, they have facilitated numerous art workshops and curated various interdisciplinary creative events for racialized communities. Amal’s art practice moves across and beyond disciplines, unearthing disappeared narratives, decolonizing the archives and visioning liberatory, speculative futures.

Charlie Sandeman

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Charlie Sandeman

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Charlie Sandeman is a multi-disciplinary artist primarily working in ceramics and sculpture. His work usually explores his life experiences as a queer trans person living with mental illnesses. Whether it's exploring his gender identity and what that means to him, or reflecting on experiences navigating society as transgender and bipolar, clay allows Charlie to play with the constant push of trying to live as authentically as he can and feeling the need to conform to society’s expectations of his experience. Using form and vessels to explore the relationship between the "inner" and the "outer" expression of an experience or moment caught in time through clay.

Infinite Artistry

Thea/ Tia or Hey

Infinite Artistry

Thea/ Tia or Hey

Althea Adams is a visual artist who rediscovered herself spiritual and mental wellness, that led to her natural abilities and talents in drawing, painting, pottery, prints, poetry, crafts and more. After trying her hand at few mediums, acrylic pouring and acrylic painting is what she uses today for her paintings. Also, these days, drawing fantasy drawings, using ink with Indian/carbon ink, acrylic ink, water colours. July/22 Althea participated in painting of mural on wooden 4 x 4 board and chose to showcase her natural skills with the use of spray paints, and created an innovating, spiritual, skilled piece of art work. Innovative, creative visual artist expressing her art as a spirit, aspects of reflection of her and her journey and social issues that may be expressed through art. Her visions that are now seen visually as an expressive art form shown through her eyes. Participating in art exhibitions around Vancouver who are inclusive of all, such as the VOAF show & Touring show 2021 and now 2025; Vancouver Mural Festival 2022/Kickstart Disability Arts & Culture; BCNPHA Art show 2022-2024; PEBCelebrates Live 2022; 2023 JCC Community Longing and Belonging 2023 & Wings and Roots 2025; Amplified Voices online Gallery 2023; Pancake and Booze Art Show 2024 and Solastalgia Zine Volume 3 Launch and Meet The Artists 2025. Also showcasing on online international shows such as Art Impact International, part of the Youth for Human Rights Virtual Art Exhibit “War or Peace” 2022; Teravarna Art Gallery online Competitions –she won a few awards and prize award 2025. Seeking to showcase her talent in Vancouver Community and around the world and bring light.

Jessica Hood

she/her/hers, they/them/theirs

Jessica Hood

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Jessica Hood (she/they) is a queer, disabled theatre and animation artist. Recent animation credits include: Grain (a short film by Ilana Zackon and Katherine Stefanska), Eye Blink Projection (BLINK: An Evening of 60-second Performances), and they just completed their short mixed-media animated film, BEE. Guided by compassion, collaboration, and creativity, Jessica’s artistic practice is a fluid integration of theatre and animation, telling stories that are femme, queer, and disability focused and climate conscious.

Klara Leppo

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Klara Leppo

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Many lives. ‘White washed' by adoption: fawning, ashamed I couldn't do things in the 'normal' way, letting that define me. Survived abuse. Then I did Grad School, seven years overseas. I finally looked ‘impressive’, even ‘elite’ in a settler way but it wasn’t me. I saw wonders: travelled the world, did ethnography, published, built a vast archive of melodies, stories, patterns from many cultures. Finally, I broke the toxic family entanglements and wound up homeless. Over time (with so much help): secure(ish) housing. Turns out the work never needed to be good; it needed to live, be itself. The materials I find, the places they come from, even pigments - all have their own agency and speak through the work. I use vivid, otherworldly colours. I’m not painting ‘reality’ but a memory that lives outside time. I’m here in life to explore, feel and share the medicine that takes root.

Michael Serroul

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Michael Serroul

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Kalhwá7acw Mimxat nskwatsitsa, T’it’qet St’at’imc meckan. My sám7a name is Michael Serroul, my St’at’imc name is Mimxat which means little bear. My great grandma is Doreen Copeland, my grandma is Helen Copeland, my mom is Bobbilee Copeland, and I am from the T’it’qet band on the St’at’imc Nation. I’m currently living on the traditional territory of Taleil-Waututha and Squamish nations.

I have been making art basically my whole life, this has included several murals, and many commissions for various purposes. My main mediums are painting, and drawing, both physical and digital. However throughout my career I’ve experimented with wood burning, printmaking, film and music. My style is made up of many elements of different traditional Indigenous art across all of turtle island; as well as elements of graffiti, and street art. My family is from the frog clan, meaning we can adapt to any situation, I believe this is shown in the ethos of my style. I wouldn’t consider it traditional, it’s a modern and urban Indigenous perspective on our art, an evolution. I have had many mentors over the years to help shape my style. including people from my home community, people of Métis descent, and people who are trained in traditional coast Salish as well as Haida art. I’ve learned a lot from street art and graffiti, and in contrast I’ve also learned a lot from classical art and general art history.

Mohammad Shahidi

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Mohammad Shahidi

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Mohammad Shahidi is a Vancouver-based multimedia artist and self-taught photographer. Originally from Iran, he is currently studying Supply chI management Management in Canada while actively pursuing his passion for the visual arts.

His work explores social and psychological themes such as migration, inequality, loneliness, and the silent struggles of everyday life. Using photography and mixed media, Mohammad creates emotionally resonant pieces that invite reflection and dialogue.

By combining different media, he transforms ordinary moments into layered narratives, highlighting unseen perspectives and marginalized voices.

Ramneet Kaur

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Ramneet Kaur

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Ramneet Kaur is a visual artist from Punjab, India, currently based in Vancouver, BC. Her primary mediums include drawing, textile, and installation. Her practice delves into the interconnections of the human and nonhuman world, reflecting on the relationship of micro and macro, environment and personal identity through an engagement with the natural world. She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) degree from Government College of Art, Chandigarh in 2019, and Master of Fine Arts (MFA) from The University of British Columbia, Vancouver in 2023. Kaur has showcased her work at prominent venues such as the Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery and the AHVA Gallery at UBC, as well as in numerous group exhibitions in India.

Ronan Nanning-Watson

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Ronan Nanning-Watson

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Ronan Nanning-Watson [he/they] is an interdisciplinary artist, writer, and educator who lives and works on unceded Coast Salish territory, Vancouver, B.C. He creates portals to connect viewers to worlds that he has experienced through severe brain injuries and neurodivergence. His work is grounded in the practical constraints of living with a disability in a rigged/brutal/beautiful world but always reaches for the sublime and transcendent. His work is inseparable from self-accommodation, community building, learning and healing.

Sarah Chapelas

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Sarah Chapelas

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“Art should comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable” resonates with Sarah deeply. This perspective reflects her aim to create art that provides solace while also challenging and provoking thought, inviting viewers to engage in a dialogue with the pieces.

Sarah is an emerging, primarily self-taught, multidisciplinary artist, born, raised, and currently residing on the unceded traditional lands of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. Her creative explorations include collage, painting, mixed media, drawing, embroidery, and, most recently, ceramics. Art has remained a steady source of comfort and therapy for her, especially as she navigated significant personal losses, including the loss of a parent.

Sarah draws inspiration from a diverse range of sources. Found objects add unique textures and stories to her work. Music influences the mood and rhythm of the pieces. The charm of interior design and the beauty of architecture shape a sense of space and form. History provides endless themes, while antiques and vintage items add a nostalgic touch. Ephemera captures everyday moments that she weaves into her art. Nature grounds her work and continuously inspires her. Her childhood love of I-Spy books is reflected in her collage work, inviting viewers to engage deeply and discover the many layered intricacies throughout each piece. A playful and sometimes dark sense of humor is woven into her work, offering contrast and balance to its deeper themes.

Sarah attended Emily Carr University of Art + Design, where she studied visual art for two years. Her work has been featured in a variety of spaces, including local independent galleries, public spaces, and the Burnaby Art Gallery. In 2023, she began showcasing her work at curated markets, starting with the Weirdos Market. Since then, she has participated in events such as the Postcard Art Exhibit (formerly known as the Twitter Art Exhibit), The Eastside Flea, The Pancakes & Booze Art Show, and group exhibitions at Slice of Life Art Gallery. In 2024, she was selected as a participating visual artist in the Vancouver Outsider Arts Festival and is pleased to be returning to the festival in 2025.

Sepideh

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Sepideh

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Sepideh Habibnattaj is a visual artist currently based in Vancouver, BC, where she works from her cozy home studio. Originally from Iran, her journey as an artist began in childhood, fueled by an early fascination with painting. She studied graphic design in high school, followed by a Bachelor of Arts in Painting at university of Guilan, where she first explored academic realism before gradually discovering her own expressive style.

Deeply influenced by Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama, Sepideh’s work merges personal emotion with cultural symbolism. Her early pieces depicted self-portraits—long hair covering her face— set against intricate Persian patterns, a quiet rebellion against the hijab she was forced to wear in Iran. Over time, her work evolved into more symbolic compositions, including a series called Chimera, where human forms merge with animal heads, exploring the shared instincts and emotions between humans and animals.

Another key theme in Sepideh’s work is memory—particularly how it fades. In a university illustration class, she began creating imaginary fish, intrigued by their fleeting memory span. This became the foundation for The Fish Memory collection, where she uses cardboard, wood, and ink to portray emotional fragility and the transient nature of thought.

Sepideh has held multiple exhibitions across Iran and has sold artworks to cafes, restaurants, and private collectors who resonate with her unique voice. Today, she continues to develop Chimera and The Fish Memory as parallel collections, each reflecting her ongoing exploration of identity, resistance, and the subconscious.

Sofia Yu

she/her/hers, they/them/theirs

Sofia Yu

she/her/hers, they/them/theirs

Sofia Yu is an artist, creative, and maker currently working between New York and her hometown of Vancouver. She is a current student pursuing a Bachelors of Fine Art in Integrated Design at Parsons School of Design. The work she creates is an extension of herself, exploring themes of love, intimacy, and growing up through an ever-changing multimedia practice.

Combining the realms of engineering, sculpture and textiles, she pursues her practice through the lens of feminine vulnerability. She aims to use these mediums, with their traditionally gendered associations, to break barriers surrounding what can be possible with art and as art. Often using salvaged materials, recycled textiles, and electronics, she utilizes intentional and slow processes as a way to give voice to the experiences that have shaped her identity. Her work hopes to be a vulnerable display of the beauty that can be found in fear.

Svitlana Tetokina

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Svitlana Tetokina

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Svitlana is an artist with a diverse background, having worked as an animator, illustrator, graphic designer, interior designer, and bookseller before pursuing a career in art. These varied experiences have shaped her artistic style and given her a unique perspective on the world. Since childhood, Svitlana has been painting scenes inspired by her favorite fairy tales—a passion that continues to influence her work. She grew up in Kyiv, Ukraine, during a time of societal change, and spent summers in her grandmother's village in the south, where she developed a deep love for nature and magical stories. These early impressions continue to inform the mood and themes of her art. As an urban sketcher, Svitlana uses drawing as a way to observe the world with heightened attention. After moving to Vancouver in 2016, she developed a new hobby—birdwatching—which also influences her artistic process. Like spotting a bird, creating art often requires the ability to notice the smallest things. Birds and animals—especially cats—now frequently appear in her visual narratives. While oil painting remains her favorite medium, she also enjoys working with gouache and watercolor. One of her greatest inspirations is filmmaker David Lynch, whose surreal, dreamlike imagery resonates deeply with her own creative vision. Through her art, Svitlana aims to evoke a sense of connection and inspire others to look at the world through the lens of wonder. Svitlana’s works are held in private collections in Canada, the United States, Germany, the Netherlands, and Ukraine.

Victoria Bonar

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Victoria Bonar

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Victoria Bonar is an emerging artist. Originally from Ottawa, Victoria has been living in the lower mainland for the past several years. Her abstract paintings are inspired by the flowing natural forms found in nature. Her process is rooted in experimentation, exploring a wide range of non-traditional techniques and materials. Victoria has an eclectic arts education, and utilizes a combination of self taught skills and formal design training to create her unique artwork. She has exhibited art with North Van Arts and the Federation of Canadian Artists. Victoria believes deeply in the ethos of outsider art. She seeks to reach audiences who are not typically interested in the art scene, and want to see something different.

Victoria Chirciu

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Victoria Chirciu

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Victoria Chirciu is a queer painter and filmmaker based in Vancouver, BC, originally from Romania. She is currently studying 2D Animation as part of the Bachelor of Media Arts program at Emily Carr University of Art + Design. Working primarily in oil paint, Victoria uses her art to process emotion and explore lived experience, creating visual narratives that feel intimate, layered, and reflective.

Alongside her personal art practice, she runs a small business called VixArts, where she sells original paintings, prints, and handmade items. Through VixArts, she shares her storytelling with a wider audience and builds community by taking part in local art markets and events.

Her work has been exhibited at the Emily Carr Foundation Show, and she currently teaches as an art instructor at a local studio. Blending fine art with film, her practice explores themes of identity, memory, and surrealism, always grounded in emotional depth. You can follow her journey on Instagram at @vvixarts.

Wake Darrah Cook-Kero

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Wake Darrah Cook-Kero

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Wake Darrah Cook-Kero (he/him/they/them) is a neurodiverse queer comic illustrator, writer, and character/creature designer. His family occupies the unceded territory of the Mi’kmaq people in New Brunswick, and he is a settler on the unceded territories of thexwməθkwəy̓ əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. He earned a BFA at Emily Carr University of Art & Design in 2020, and is currently enrolled in the Youth Justice diploma program at Douglas College to become a youth worker for 2SLGBTQIA+ children. His work centres the beauty of the trans body, and the connection between the visually monstrous and the socially marginalized in art and fiction, and hot babes with swords. Through Wildstar Press, Wake has published the body-horror comic Iris and was featured in the pirate-themed anthology Songs of the Sea. Other projects included the independently published zine T4T: A Transmasc Zine and Sex Ed for Trans Men, created alongside his husband, River Huckleberry Kero. Their current project is Starstruck, a queer romantic sci-fi graphic novel.

Li Wanting

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Li Wanting

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Li Wanting (she/her) is a painter and visual storyteller from China who enjoys picking up fragments of memory hidden in the folds of time and cracks of history. She studied Fine Art at Parsons School of Design in New York and is currently based in Vancouver. In 2025, she will begin her MA in Painting at the Royal College of Art in London.

Her work doesn't aim to "tell stories" in a conventional sense-it feels more like a silent prayer, or a gentle gaze into the shadows of forgotten civilizations. Pearls, foam, and flickering traces often appear in her surfaces, each mark a subtle tremor echoing through unseen worlds.

For her, art is both a form of spiritual practice and a way of deep listening. Her works have been shown in China and North America and continue to drift between the self and the world, seeking to make the invisible felt.

Zahra Ahmad Akhoundi

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Zahra Ahmad Akhoundi

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Zahra Ahmad Akhoundi is a Deaf and multimedia artist from Iran, currently living and working in Vancouver, Canada. She holds both a Bachelor's and a Master’s degree in Handicrafts and Ceramics from the University of Tehran. Her work spans ceramics, painting, and photography, exploring themes such as identity, silence, and lived experience. Zahra’s art combines diverse media with a deeply personal visual language. In some of her pieces, she also draws inspiration from Iranian culture and architecture.

Since immigrating to Canada in 2023, Zahra has continued her artistic practice and exhibited her work in local art shows. Through visual arts, she connects with Deaf and immigrant communities. Her work reflects an ongoing dialogue between cultural heritage and contemporary expression.

Performing Artists

Calvin Jung

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Calvin Jung

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Calvin Jung is an electronic musician and 3D artist born in Burnaby, BC, Canada. His love for dance music and video game soundtracks from a young age has shaped every creative decision he has ever made. After graduating from Douglas College’s Music Technology Diploma and Applied Audio Certificate programs, he has released music on a multitude of outlets including several of Artbyform’s legendary All Nighter Compilation albums, Hyperpop Collective, Westwood X. He was at the inception of the Hit’em genre participating in the “Thank You, Dream Girl” album from Tabula Rasa. He also placed 2nd in Kucka’s “Messed Up” remix competition officially held by Ableton.

Calvin creates his audio works using Ableton Live and visuals through Magicavoxel & Unreal Engine.

Kandy Roar

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Kandy Roar

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KANDY ROAR (they/them) is an indigenous, Cree, non-binary musician, who is a proud member of Peguis First Nations. Their debut EP, Demon Blues, has been funded in part by Creative BC, the Province of British Columbia, FACTOR Canada, and Canada's Private Radio Broadcasters. The story of Demon Blues is inspired by the Faustian bargain, particularly Robert Johnson, blues legend rumoured to have sold his soul to the devil at the crossroads. As an advocate for mental health and disabilities awareness, Kandy Roar draws on their own struggles with mental illness, ableism, and oppressive systems for lyrical inspiration. They believe in breaking down the stigma surrounding these topics. Kandy Roar brings an old school rock band experience with influences from the early stages of blues and an affinity for the strange, infusing early 70s glam rock, for a sound that is both unique and nostalgic. Their performances are theatrical, embodying the likes of Evil Presley and Janis Joplin, offering a catalogue of originals as well as crowd pleasing covers of classic rock, blues, and folk - all with a psychedelic edge.

Kiran the Muse

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Kiran the Muse

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As a South Asian Canadian artist forged from the cracks of diaspora, the writing and performances curated centre around agency and self-determination. In exploring race, gender, and colonialism with raw humanity, Shoker’s art builds on empowerment and restoration of self. She currently writes with Maza Arts Collective and is working on her debut collection of poetry, titled Cardamom. Follow her journey at www.kiranthemuse.com or on Instagram at @kiran.the.muse

Primp - TBD

Stanza Lune

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Stanza Lune

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Stanza Lune is a synthy, sapphic, survivor songster making tunes for the moon. Much of their musical inspiration comes from video games & cartoons they grew up on, and that shines through in their unique melodies, poetic lyricism, and the dreamy, synthy sounds of their Suzuki Omnichord. For Stanza, music is a magical means of storytelling, and a celebration of joy and resilience.

Terreane Derrick

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Terreane Derrick

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Terreane Derrick is a community-minded creative. She sees the arts as an intricate part of sharing moments. Her art practice is life-driven expressions with capturing presence, breathing art into being, regardless of the situation. Terreane expresses herself by putting pen to the paper page through film, poetry, sketching, writing, storytelling, or simply for the enjoyment of it. Terreane currently lives and creates on the unceded Coast Salish territories. Her motivation is threaded through her upbringing and community engagement with disability in the arts, indigenous arts and culture, and self-governance as a literal way of being.

Art Groups

Connection Salon

Connection Salon

Founded in 2018, Connection Salon Artists Collective empowers underrepresented artists, especially those with lived experience of mental health challenges. As the only artist-run collective in Vancouver centering Mad-identifying artists, we work to dismantle stigma and systemic exclusion through inclusive programming, cultural celebration, and collective care. We see mental difference not as a deficit, but as a vital source of creativity, insight, and community strength.

MPA Society

We believe recovery is achievable through support, empowerment, autonomy, and responsibility.

In 1971 MPA was formed by a grass roots group of mental patients and like-minded individuals, and began offering housing alternatives and support to people facing the challenges of mental illness. MPA now facilitates housing and support for over 1,000 people in 13 municipalities in the GVRD and employs over 300 staff in 34 unique programs that offer a range of services including advocacy, community resources, homeless outreach, and a continuum of community, supported, enhanced, licensed and housing first programs.

Outsiders and Others

Outsiders and Others

Outsiders and Others is a non-profit art Society with a focus on bringing non-traditional artists to the forefront. These artists identify as outsider, self-taught, visionary, intuitive, folk, and artists who identify as living with a disability.

To learn more visit www.outsidersandothers.com

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