Ali Bruce is a Vancouver-based muralist whose bold and playful visual language shaped by her background in tattooing transforms walls, public spaces and everyday objects into large-scale works that prioritize connection, community and honest self-expression.
Walking along the streets of East Vancouver, you may notice a vibrant array of colours and shapes that make up brilliant murals adorning the sides of buildings up and down streets, and even in back alleyways. Among these murals, and throughout Metro Vancouver, you will find the distinct and bold style of visual artist, Ali Bruce (BFA 2014). Her aesthetic is instantly recognizable for incorporating dynamic shapes, bright colours and playful compositions while also borrowing from the nostalgia of woodcut forms and vintage painted signs.
You will find Ali’s work not only on walls, posters and sandwich boards, but also on a wide array of goods such as Helly Hansen fleece pullovers, snowboards, bindings and outerwear through brand collaborations. Her work also lives on the bodies of body art enthusiasts from her previous career as a tattoo artist. Since retiring from tattooing, she’s still using the art form as a way of connecting with her audience.
“I’ve been trying to evolve my style in a way that’s related to and pays homage to my career as a tattoo artist,” says Ali. “I’m on a journey to figure out how to honestly express myself better, show a little more of my soul, my personality, and how I can develop that in order to connect with people in a similar way that I did with previous work and jobs.”
Although Ali has explored various media, including stained glass and clay to showcase her work, she continues to be drawn to the scale, strength and labour involved in creating large-scale works in the form of murals. Her love of the form began when she was still an undergrad here at Emily Carr University of Art + Design (ECU), where she participated in large-scale painting events before completing her first large-scale mural in 2016 as a part of the now-unfortunately-defunct Vancouver Mural Festival.
“Even at the end of my time at ECU, I was trying to paint on walls. I started on a smaller scale, just using black ink and painting on friends’ walls. And then a small gallery asked me if I wanted to do a mural in their entrance, so I did,” she says. “It broke that fear of painting out in public and painting a little bit on a larger scale.”
Despite being drawn to murals as part of her practice, other mediums she experimented with in the past still inform her approach to composition. The mural she finds most meaningful is still her first, located near Quebec and East Broadway, which features a pink-and-green design with black linework, but she recounts how each mural is special to her in its own way.
“I love them all and they’re very labour-intensive,” she says. “You pour everything you’ve got into them, your whole body, and they take over your mind-space, and you get this sort of sense of pride from being able to paint something so big with brushes and rollers.”
Currently, Ali is working with the City of Surrey on various public art projects, bringing colour to places like Newton’s Athletic Plaza or a splash park for kids to cool off in the heat of summer. For Ali, her murals serve as a way to connect more with people and communities, and her hope is that they can take her internationally to paint large-scale pieces in other cities across the world.
From the skin of your friends to the walls of your favourite nightlife spot, keep an eye out for Ali’s work across Vancouver. For students who are just starting to find their own path, she offers this wisdom:
“School is a great place for this practice run of what it’s going to be like in the future to be an artist. It’s almost like its own art world of its own,” says Ali. “Take that opportunity by doing something like curating your own group show, even if it’s in a bar or someone’s apartment and become a part of a larger artistic community.”
Follow Ali Bruce on Instagram.
100 Years of Creativity: The Stories that Shaped Us
As part of Emily Carr University’s centennial celebrations and our ‘100 Years of Creativity’ campaign, we are sharing stories that spotlight the creativity, resilience and impact of our community over the past 100 years. These stories feature the people, projects, places and ideas that have shaped ECU, reminding us of our shared legacy while inspiring the future. By revisiting past milestones and sharing new ones, we honour the many voices that built our institution and continue to guide its path forward.
For more information about ECU 100 centennial celebrations, upcoming events and stories, visit our webpage.
More About Visual Arts at ECU
For independent and fiercely creative students, ECU’s Visual Arts program offers exceptional freedom and choice. As you build your creative skills, you’ll develop a deep understanding of how various art forms and histories connect, intersect and inform today’s practices.
Your faculty members, practicing artists who define the Canadian creative landscape, will guide you as you refine your techniques and follow your curiosity. After graduating, you’ll have a mature and exceptional body of work to launch your career.
Visit our website to learn more.