Artist Statement

My paintings investigate the limits of a human-centred ecological imagination. Combining representational and surreal imagery, I question why humanity finds it so difficult to envision a world in which it is not central. Through imagined encounters and altered relationships, I invite viewers to reconsider the human perspective itself.

My work grows from a close connection to British Columbia’s coastal forests and concern for their ecological health. I draw inspiration from Emily Carr’s Scorned as Timber, Beloved of the Sky (1935), an expressive response to forest clearcutting, and writer Amitav Ghosh’s call to reimagine our relationship with the nonhuman world.

Working primarily in oil and acrylic on canvas, I walk the trails of British Columbia’s coastal forests, photographing the textures, forms, and inhabitants that later inform my paintings. Layered colour creates atmosphere as forest inhabitants enter unexpected relationships with human figures and spaces. From the forest floor to larger animals and trees, I invite attention to the lives and relationships that exist beyond human concerns.

Biography

Cee is a visual artist based in North Vancouver, British Columbia, working primarily in oil and acrylic painting. Shaped by a deep connection to coastal forests, her work moves between landscape, wildlife, and increasingly surreal compositions, exploring relationships between human and nonhuman life.

Drawn to the atmosphere and intricate life of the forest, she finds inspiration in its often-overlooked inhabitants. Through close observation and imagination, her paintings challenge familiar ways of seeing the natural world.

Cee holds a Certificate in Painting from Emily Carr University of Art + Design. Her work has been exhibited in British Columbia, including through the Federation of Canadian Artists.