I am an emerging artist with a mature dedication to expressing intimate and sociocultural realities. My portfolio is intentionally diverse as my creative practice is informed by clinical training and history of advocacy and support work. In all my art I aim to engage my social world and convey my immediate experience with sincerity, precision and stewardship of the inner landscape.
Education
2024: Postgraduate Diploma in Art Therapy (DKATI) – Kutenai Art Therapy Institute.
- Capstone Thesis Self-Inquiry Film and Essay: Five Spirals – A Collection of Creative Inquiries and Unravelings (2024).
- Student Representative to the Kutenai Art Therapy Institute Board (2023).
2022: Bachelor of Global and International Studies Honours with High Distinction (BGInS), specializing in Globalization, Culture, and Power (Anthropology) – Carleton University.
- Capstone Thesis Ethnographic Film and Essay: Modern Movement Culture: Holistic Bodies and the Physical Education Revolution (2021).
Professional Creative Experience and Gallery Shows
2026: Self-Published CRUSH and other comics.
- Available for purchase at Legends Comics (Victoria, BC).
2025: Artist in Residence, Flux Media Gallery (Victoria, BC)
- Discussed theory and praxis of artmaking, learned how to operate film cameras, completed a personal archival photography project.
- Offering ongoing workshop series on storytelling (2026-).
2025: Displays at The Ministry of Casual Living (Victoria, BC)
- Self Portrait Group Show: Displayed Self Mask (plaster mask sculpture) and Love (oil pigment on canvas).
- Of Body Group Show: Displayed this flesh (multimedia on canvas); Grief Unexpected (multimedia on stretched pillow case); Vocal Resonance performance/recording.
- Small Warts Group Show: Displayed Forbidden Alien Lovergirl; Thank You, I Remember; Mother’s Gleam (all oil pigment on canvas).
2025: Workshop facilitator, Momentum Festival (Victoria, BC)
- Facilitated a Vocal Resonance workshop for over 50 participants.
2024: Personal Case Study, Kutenai Art Therapy Institute (Nelson, BC)
- Curated selection of two years of art practice, visual and audio works.
2018-2020: Graphics Editor – The Charlatan Independent Inc. (Ottawa, ON)
- Created weekly original graphic art for student paper and delegated work to volunteer artists, worked closely with writers and other editors in a fast-paced environment.
2019: Congrego: Prepense at SAW Gallery, (Ottawa, ON)
- Sacrament; Untitled 1; Untitled 2 (all oil pigment on canvas).
Clinical and Community-Based Work
2026 – Current: Founder and Owner of Free Bird Art Therapy & Somatics
- Offering community-based art therapy.
2026: Artist Facilitator at Family Art Explorations – Britannia Community Centre (Vancouver, BC).
- Monthly organizing and facilitation of artmaking for a small group of young families.
2025: Community Support Worker – Fernwood Neighbourhood House (Victoria, BC)
- Designed and co-facilitated arts-based programs; co-facilitated Best Babies perinatal programming for young families; led the weekly community dinners and practiced a culture of food access with dignity.
- Consistently attended to clients in crisis and connected community members with networks of support.
2024-2025: Volunteer Youth Health and Culture Ambassador (YHCA) – Vancouver Island Counselling Centre for Immigrants and Refugees (Victoria, BC)
- Completed 16-hour training on the welcoming and support of newcomers (immigrants and refugees), designed and co-facilitated psychoeducation groups for young newcomers (teens and young adults).
2022-2024: Art Therapy Intern – Kutenai Art Therapy Institute (Nelson, BC)
- Experience with clinical documentation, 700 hours of practicum, and 200 hours of professional supervision.
- Applied relational, neurodevelopmental, anti-oppressive, trauma-informed, and feminist frameworks with clients and their families.
- Facilitated and co-facilitated art therapy for individuals, dyads, clinical groups, and community groups of adults, adolescents, and children.
- Gained familiarity with crisis intervention, ethical conduct, and accessing local support resources.
2015-2019: Youth/YA Staff – Unitarian Universalist Association (BC, WA, OR, CA, CO)
- Developed cross-cultural competency models and critical race theory curriculums for youth and adults and co-founded the Pacific North-West Multicultural Team. Hosted workshops, presentations, identity caucusing and guided community building/conflict resolution.
2017: Volunteer T’ikary Youth Program Fellow/Admin – Mosqoy (Cusco, Peru)
- Lived and worked in-house with Indigenous post-secondary students transitioning from a rural to urban setting. Responsibilities included administrative tasks, house organization, and participating in out trips to rural communities.
Additional Certifications and Trainings
- Sensorimotor Psychotherapy Level I for the Treatment of Trauma (2026).
- Birth Art Training facilitated by Birthing From Within (2025).
- Newcomer support training with the Vancouver Island Counselling Center for Immigrants and Refugees (2024).
- Psychedelics and Art Therapy: Preparation and Integration with Charmaine Husum and Rebecca Wilkinson (2024).
- Dreamwork and Art Therapy with Monica Carpendale (2024).
- Standard First Aid, CPR Level C (2024).
- ASIST Suicide Intervention First Aid facilitated by Métis Nation British Columbia (2024).
