What We Hold Close is an exhibition exploring the physical and symbolic spaces of domestic life. From textiles to tortillas, twenty artists explore the notion of home – being remembered, being celebrated, the act of leaving, and everything in-between.
Kirsten Basilan is Filipina second-generation immigrant in Canada. She’s an emerging visual artist from Coquitlam British Columbia, on the unceded traditional territory of the kʷikʷəƛ̓əm First Nation, (Kwikwetlem), within the shared territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Qayqayt (qiqéyt), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh), and Sto’lō Nations. Growing up with her parents, she has always had a place and time for art since she was a child. She began drawing for as long as she could remember but began taking her art seriously by the time she was twelve. Mastering the art of transcribing, she created photorealistic drawings only working with pencil crayons. By the time she got to high school, she expanded her practice towards acrylic and oil painting as well as multimedia drawing. She is currently in her third year at an art institution, exploring nostalgia and her cultural identity through personal narratives by depicting candid moments of the figure. Her past work has been featured in the Coquitlam Centre SD43 Student Art Showcase as well as in the Foundation Show at Emily Carr thus far.
Thompson Brennan is a concept-based artist currently working primarily in paint and drawing. He believes in the power of art to “challenge, enrich and transport our imaginations.”
Madeleine Chaffee is a multidisciplinary artist and designer based in East Vancouver. Working under the name MaddlesMade, she creates playful, nostalgic works that explore the creativity and comfort found in everyday domestic life. Her practice often revisits the fabric based crafts and soft furnishings that previous generations made to furnish their homes. She is fascnitated with these objects people created and the care they invested into objects to curate a sense of warmth in their homes.
My art practice is grounded in our human connection to the earth on an individual and a larger societal level, questioning the human condition, the environment and how (we) art can foster connection and community. My art explores my/our emotional response and reaction to situations in society, entangled with history of place and then tries to transform that into a tangible artifact, a physical manifestation of our emotional landscape. I see each project as an opportunity to engage people on both intellectual and visceral planes, bringing others into contact with their environment in a new and unexpected way.
Bangladeshi-born artist Faria Firoz is an interdisciplinary artist, educator, and designer whose art practice explores globalization, cultural diaspora and displacement, with a focus on identity and cultural hybridization. Through pattern-making and material exploration, her work investigates the evolution of traditional textiles in the context of migration. Faria has showcased her work in numerous art galleries in countries including Canada, Bangladesh, and Australia, with art pieces that are part of the permanent collection of Coquitlam Heritage Museum and the Reach Gallery & Museum. Alongside her exhibitions, she conducts workshops and cultural outreach initiatives. Her dedication to social advocacy has been recognized with the prestigious Lieutenant Governor’s Medal for Inclusion, Democracy and Reconciliation. Faria completed her MFA from Emily Carr University of Art & Design and has a BFA in Visual Arts and Graphic Design from University of the Fraser Valley where she received the Outstanding Achievement award.
Jen Frederickson is a Lower Mainland-based multidisciplinary artist working primarily in textiles, writing, and mixed media. Her work explores how our surroundings, geography, society, and objects shape our experiences of belonging, memory, and identity. She invites viewers to examine connections between the spaces they use, and the diverse ways they move through and make meaning of them.
Carrie Hull is a British/Canadian oil painter living in Vancouver, Canada. She bounces around different subjects with enthusiasm and curiosity, although her love of interior spaces fuels most of her work. Her paintings play with light, colour and mood. She hopes to give the viewer a place to land and belong even for a brief time. Carrie work has found homes across Canada and internationally.
Yanxiao Li is a visual artist, photographer, tattoo artist from Guangzhou, China. Currently based in Vancouver. She graduated from Emily Carr University of Art + Design 2023. She enjoys experimenting with different mediums. She believed that art with positive content can receive long-lasting attention. Through her work, she hopes to convey warmth and healing emotions to the audiences.
Kristi Poole-Adler is an interdisciplinary artist from Whistler BC, Canada. She holds a BFA with honours from the University of Alberta and an MFA in the Interdisciplinary Master’s in Art Media and Design program from OCAD University. Her work has been exhibited in Canada and internationally. Kristi has been a resident at Artscape Gibraltar place (Toronto, Canada), The Icelandic Textile Center (Blönduós, Iceland), Kunstkollektivet 8B (Nykøbing, Denmark), Praxis Fiber Workshop (Cleveland OH), and Studio H Canada International Artist Residency (Victoria BC). She holds grants from the Elizabeth Greenshields foundation in 2017 and Canada Council for the Arts in 2023 and 2024.
Nicole Sylvia is an American-Canadian artist born in California and currently practicing in Vancouver. Her work focuses on narratives exploring the ever-entangled relationships between people and their natural and built environments. The themes and aesthetic of her work are strongly influenced by her formal education in and professional practice of architecture. She works predominantly in acrylic, collage, and digital mediums. She has taught several university courses and workshops on visual representation and design in the United States and Canada.
Jinfei Wang is a Vancouver-based multidisciplinary artist originally from Hebei, China. I explore the intersection of human consciousness, transcendent wisdom, and cultural memory. For this exhibition, my work turns inward toward the idea of home. As a Chinese immigrant, I often feel a quiet disconnection from my cultural roots. The lanterns and lotus flowers that appear in my paintings are drawn from both memory and my encounters in Vancouver’s public spaces. Their light and delicacy evoke my childhood—festivals, warmth, and the comfort of familiar rituals—while also illuminating my journey of rebuilding belonging in a new land.
