Natasha Henderson | Fused Elements
Natasha Henderson
Fused Elements
FOCUS GALLERY
August 7 - 29, 2026
Opening Reception: August 7, 5-7pm
I work primarily as a painter. As a Canadian artist, my work has transformed over the years as I have moved to different places in the country. I spent my formative years on Vancouver Island, after finishing schooling at Emily Carr in Vancouver, BC. In those days I created interior/exterior landscapes: psychologically charged, imagined spaces. I also engaged with, and enjoyed being part of, the local community of artists.
When I moved to Montreal in the early 2000’s, my work was more focussed on abstraction, concept, and thoughts of what painting was all about. Eventually I ran a small, independent art gallery downtown from 2011-2014, called Fleurbain. I was the curator and resident artist there, meeting quite a few artists in downtown Montreal during this fruitful, community-oriented time.
Most recently I have moved up to Dawson City, Yukon in 2020. Travelling around the vast landscapes of the North has affected, again, a change in both my artwork and its creation methods. I have been using direct observation more than ever before and expressing my sense of place and experience in my artwork. I feel that the landscape itself has affected me. Both harsh and soft changes of colour, texture, contrast that I see in the landscape, are invigorated with the knowledge that the landscape itself is all edible, and medicinal, in so many ways. I acknowledge and thank the First Peoples of this land, especially for the knowledge and sharing of culture that is handed along to newcomers such as myself.
In recent months, I have introduced encaustic (wax and tree resin used as paint), and other non-toxic means of production into my work. Responsibility as a global citizen to not wreck the environment during my artistic production, and enjoying health benefits due to avoiding toxicity, can also be visually compelling. Mixed media, the layering of dry and loose pigments and then layering translucent or opaque paint, adds depth. I have recently discovered there is seemingly nothing so dense as a few layers of wax paint! Through the years though, I have upheld the notion that “layers of paint are layers of meaning”.
A theme I have been exploring most recently is based on a couple of questions: How do I relate to the place where I am living, and how does this relate back to the viewer of the artwork? I am certain that as my trajectory continues, I will see more changes, and more questions will come up, and different visual ways to address these questions will occur.
Past Exhibitions
