Faculty

Rebecca (Becky) Bair is an interdisciplinary artist whose work is rooted in photography. Becky was an AICAD teaching fellow in 2022 at OCAD University, and a sessional faculty member at ECU since 2019. She joined the faculty of Culture and Community full-time in 2024. Becky teaches in Foundation, prioritizing diverse, diasporic, Black, interdisciplinary, and cultural methodologies, materials, and makers.

David Bergman is a life-long learner interested in many things including coding and robotics, interaction design, 3D modeling and prototyping, biomedical engineering, communication design, psychology, and saving the planet. His Bachelors degree, from SFU, is in Molecular and Cell Biology. He studied computer programming, including signal processing and game design at BCIT, and his Masters degree is from the School of Interactive Art and Technology at SFU in the field of information visualization: design, Gestalt theory, UX and mental map preservation.

Dr. Natasha Bissonauth has taught for the Visual Art and Art History department at York University in Toronto and was Assistant Professor of Gender and Sexuality Studies at the College of Wooster in Ohio. She is Reviews Editor for the peer-reviewed journal, Asian Diasporic Visual Cultures and the Americas.

Annie Canto is a visual artist and educator living on the unceded homelands of the hənqəminəm and Skwxwú7mesh speaking peoples in Burnaby, British Columbia. The underpinnings of Annie’s socially engaged art practice use critical race theory and women of colour feminist theories to question the complex systems that govern our relationships.

Xinwei Che creates site-responsive performance-installations with clay, water and medicinal herbs. She has received the National Arts Council of Singapore Overseas Art Scholarship and Young Talent Programme Prize. Xinwei has participated in residencies with the Vermont Studio Centre, Taipei Artist Village, National Art Gallery of Kuala Lumpur and Esplanade Singapore. With support from the National Arts Council of Singapore, Richmond Art Gallery and Shumka Centre, she has collaborated to create works that explore material memory, ecological history and tactile communication.

Dr. Mimi Gellman is a Métis artist and educator with knowledge of Indigenous studies, decolonial aesthetics and the pedagogy of place. She has a multi-disciplinary practice that includes works in drawing, textiles and installation. She has a PhD in Cultural Studies from Queen’s University and a Master of Visual Studies degree from the University of Toronto. She exhibits internationally and was included in “On Line, Drawing Through the 20th Century” at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Her work can be found in the collections of Price-Waterhouse, Kraft/General Foods Corp, the Toronto Transit Commission and Rogers Stadium.

Maria Goncharova was born in the USSR (for real) and raised in Türkiye. She loves the sun and sea, but not celery. She designs systems, experiences and resources to improve lives. She is Director of Strategy + Creative at Canvas Method and the OG Academy and senior associate of Design Thinking + Research at Bethink Solutions. She sometimes makes it to her studio to build colourful sculptural beings. She is perpetually hoping to spend half the year on a beach.

Lucas is a Vancouver-based animator and illustrator. A prairie boy turned west coast wanderer, Lucas collaborates with clients around the world to create striking, character-driven visuals for film, TV and print. He is the co-creator of the webcomic The Constant Star and illustrator of the award-winning graphic novel King Warrior. His work in film and TV includes the SyFy series Vagrant Queen and Astrid and Lilly Save the World, and Tubi Originals Z-Suite, Slay, Invasive and Invasive II: Getaway.

Sydney Hart has a PhD in Cultural Studies from Queen’s and an MA in Aesthetics and Art Theory from the Centre for Research in Modern European Philosophy (London, UK). Previously, he studied Fine Art at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design (London, UK) and Concordia University (Montréal, QC). Originally from Tiohtià:ke / Montréal, he is now based on the unceded territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations.

Alex Hass is a multi-disciplinary artist, designer and instructor. Her creative practice explores the tensions and overlaps that exist between nature and technology, visually amplifying the moments when this hybrid creates fresh insights and experiences for the viewer. Her design practice encompasses art direction, brand and book design and image creation. Alex studied illustration and art direction at the Alberta College of Art and Design, received her design degree in Visual Communication from Nova Scotia College of Art and Design University and her Masters in Applied Art, Media from ECU. She has taugh tdesign at ECU, SFU and BCIT.