Platforms: The Teachers Among Us invited emerging and mid-career artists to nominate senior artists who have mentored, taught, or profoundly influenced their artistic journey. Following a citywide nomination and adjudication process, 20 senior artists were selected to create new works to be showcases across civic art platforms. These pieces reflect the importance of mentorship and the intergenerational relationships that helped shape Vancouver’s vibrant art scene.

Ino and Melicertes Tumbling into the Sea, Hermit playing the violin, Pool in the Riesengebirge, Expulsion from the garden of Eden. The ‘Ego Tunnels’ are named for philosopher of mind Thomas Metzinger’s theories that describe human consciousness as a ‘phenomenal tunnel' - a low-fi projection by which we drill our way through an inconceivably rich and complex reality. I’m interested in how this speaks to the hallucinatory nature of human consciousness in it’s often fraught relationship to reality. And in particular how the Romantic’s invented ‘nature’ in the face of unprecedented extraction and commodification.