Damian John

"Damian John identifies as a Rebel Farmer Artisan Poet. Part of his life’s work has been tracking down who he truly is. Through his life and art he strives to create space in which he can see himself and where we can begin to truly see one another.

Damian loves deep, saturated color and deep, saturated storytelling, which he always tries to reflect in his art. Mythic figures from a range of stories will pop up often in his drawings. Self-taught digital and acrylic painter with a lifelong penchant for creating. Damian has been working at his art as a career since 2012 and has been a full-time artist since 2014. Damian John has studied in universities, forests, deserts, and on lake shores with wise people from a small part of the vast variety of wisdom traditions of the world. Part of his current paradigm is a deep need to strive for a kinder and more curious world. With a love for all that he is ethnically, a Tl’azt’en German Irish Austrian Hungarian Canadian, he strives to create a space in which we can truly see one another better."

Damian was in residence with artist Edward Fu-Chen Juan to learn about the process of paper making and to collaborate with Juan on creating ink from foraged plant material and natural printmaking on paper they created. John was the recipient of the 2021 Wood Gundy/Nelson and District Arts Council residency with Juan.