Faculty

Patrik Andersson specializes in art history and curatorial studies with a strong focus on contemporary art and ideas. He has extensive experience curating exhibitions at institutions and under the independent moniker of Trapp Projects. He holds a PhD in Art History from the University of British Columbia with a dissertation on the post-war reception of Marcel Duchamp’s work.

Ruth Beer is a Vancouver-based artist and researcher whose interdisciplinary work includes sculpture, video, photography and tapestry projects that have been exhibited nationally and internationally. She is a Professor in the Faculty of Art (Sculpture and Interdisciplinary Visual Art) and in the Faculty of Graduate Studies teaching undergraduate students as well as teaching and supervising graduate students.

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.

Sara-Jeanne Bourget is a visual artist originally from Quebec. Her practice focuses on the relationship between drawing and printmaking and engages with processes and materials in an intertwined manner. In 2020, she co-founded Patio Press, a collaborative printmaking project with ECU faculty Mark Johnsen. She is a co-organizer alongside her colleagues of The Drawing Marathon, an event that centres on drawing as a direct, collaborative and intensive learning experience.

Annie Briard’s photography has been the object of exhibitions at Royale Projects (Los Angeles), AC Institute (New York), the Quebec Biennale, Burrard Arts Foundation (Vancouver), MKG127 (Toronto) and Joyce Yahouda Gallery (Montreal). Group exhibitions have spanned The Three Shadows Photography Centre (Beijing), the Lincoln Film Centre (New York), the Switzerland Architecture Museum (Basel), the Canada Council for the Arts and the Vancouver Art Gallery. Her 2024 artist book The Glow of 100 Moons is distributed in Canada and the US.

Colleen Brown is an interdisciplinary artist who uses objects, text and performance to describe and interrogate social relationships and institutions. She has recently participated in exhibitions and events at the Ranger Station Gallery, Burrard Foundation, Morris and Helen Belkin Gallery, Cooper Cole and Vancouver Art Gallery. Colleen’s first book, If you lie down in a field, she will find you there was published in 2023 by Radiant. Colleen is a committed teacher. She teaches students of all ages, working with young children in schools, teens in the gallery and seniors as part of community-based work.

Peter Bussigel is a composer and sound artist working on the unceded lands of the Coast Salish People. Peter builds sound systems that become instruments, performances, sculptures and videos. His research focuses on ways that electronic technologies shape and shift how we communicate, and specifically, how we listen. Peter also performs live with brass instruments and electronics and holds a PhD in Electronic Music Experiments from Brown University.

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.

Randy Lee Cutler is an interdisciplinary artist, writer and educator. She has a PhD in Cultural History from the Royal College of Art and an MA in the History of Art from the University of Toronto. Her work has shown nationally and internationally including Gallery 881 in Vancouver, Spring Art Show on Salt Spring Island, Into Nature Biennale in the Netherlands, Wil Aballe Art Projects in Vancouver and the Sydney Biennale NIRIN 2020.

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.

Kyla Gilbert is a visual artist based in Vancouver on the unceded territory of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. She has a BFA in performance from Concordia University and spent two years touring as a puppeteer with DJ Kid Koala. Her current practice revolves around intuitive encounter with materials. As a former puppeteer and performer, she approaches her process as an improvisation that results in the creation of objects full of discrepancy, juxtaposition, awkwardness and joy.

Jim’s practice consists of drawing, ink-painting, artists’ books, zines, comics and room-sized installations. Drawing has been the centre of his work for 25 years and continues to be a near-daily activity and essential mode of nonverbal thinking. Drawing is his way of contemplating the tensions between the real and unreal, human and nonhuman, travel and transformation, invisible and speculative worlds. Though the content ranges from the biological to the phantasmagorical, there’s an enduring interest in human challenges and capacities to fathom deep time, and to empathize across species. Jim has also orchestrated collaborative projects, sometimes involving hundreds of people drawing together.