Master of Fine Arts (MFA)

Heather Yip

Low-Residency Master of Fine Arts, 2020

Whisper Game, 2019
Mixed Media on Canvas and Floor Assemblage, 54″ x 45″
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Can I [play] too?

  • “Can I Play too?”, 2020
    Participatory Artwork
  • The audience is invited to create prints/drawings with the muddy toy tires
  • The large drawing behind the container with toys is a large-format mixed media piece(charcoal, ink & pencil) measuring 52″ x 42″
Can I [play] too? investigates how the audience can perform in cooperation with the artist to continue to make the work in participation with each other. This piece reminds the audience to be carefree [play] and make a mess while interacting with the mud (the audience also makes the mud by spraying water on the dirt in the large tray) and creating a physical memory of their play experience when they rub the muddy tires on a blank piece of paper. The large mixed media drawing that accompanies the work is approximately 52″ x 42″ and based on the artist’s observations of her son playing with his toys, as well as memories of her own childhood interactions with similar objects and the ontologies they carry with them.
Making a drawing with my son using his remote control car, this is play and work, work and play!

Heather was born in Saskatchewan and spent time living in a variety of places in Canada, mostly west of Montreal. She completed her undergraduate degree in Industrial Design at the University of Alberta in 1998. Upon graduating, she worked in the manufacturing industry in Calgary and was also an art instructor at Elements Mental Health Centre and the Wildflower Centre.

In 2012, Heather moved to Kelowna and has since lived in the BC interior with her partner and their two children. While she lived in Kelowna Heather held artist-in-residence studios at The Heart Studio and the Rotary Centre for the Arts. Recently, she was the curator at the Arts Council of the Central Okanagan until she moved north to Salmon Arm where she has a home-based studio art practice.

In 2020, during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic Heather ‘graduated’ from the Low-Res MFA program at ECUAD. Unfortunately, it felt and still feels unfinished, and she is not alone. Thankfully in January 2021, Heather was awarded a virtual artist residency at her local art gallery The Salmon Arm Art Centre. She is grateful for the opportunity as it has provided her with a way to knit together much of her work and research that remained unfinished during her final year in the MFALR program.

Heather Yip

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Heather was born in Saskatchewan and spent time living in a variety of places in Canada, mostly west of Montreal. She completed her undergraduate degree in Industrial Design at the University of Alberta in 1998. Upon graduating, she worked in the manufacturing industry in Calgary and was also an art instructor at Elements Mental Health Centre and the Wildflower Centre. In 2012, Heather moved to Kelowna and has since lived in the BC interior with her partner and their two children. While she lived in Kelowna Heather held artist-in-residence studios at The Heart Studio and the Rotary Centre for the Arts. Recently, she was the curator at the Arts Council of the Central Okanagan until she moved north to Salmon Arm where she has a home-based studio art practice. In 2020 during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic Heather 'graduated' from the Low-Res MFA program at ECUAD. Unfortunately, it felt and still feels unfinished, and she is not alone. Thankfully in January 2021, Heather was awarded a virtual artist residency at her local art gallery The Salmon Arm Art Centre. She is grateful for the opportunity as it has provided her with a way to knit together much of her work and research that remained unfinished during her final year in the MFALR program.
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