I first met New York-based when she was about 11 years old, and I accompanied my dad on one of his semi-regular trips to Salt Spring Island. The daughter of a friend of a friend, Danica was bright-eyed, competitive, feisty and a driven soccer player always sporting a bruised knee or two. But her creative talents shone through like a beacon even then.

Fast forward 15 years, and the 26-year-old artist has a Master of Fine Arts from the and is a 2017/18 Chubb Fellow 香蕉视频直播� the highest honour the school can bestow upon its graduates 香蕉视频直播� and she is selling art and making a living as an artist in one of the world香蕉视频直播檚 major arts centres. In February, she had a solo show of her ballpoint pen drawings in New York, while a month-long solo show of her paintings opened March 1 in Milan, Italy. In August, she香蕉视频直播檒l be exhibiting back home on Salt Spring at Steffich Fine Art.

These accomplishments are not surprising to anyone who香蕉视频直播檚 ever been introduced to the artist. But as we sit and chat now, she says it all still seems a little surreal to her.

香蕉视频直播淕etting into the school was a huge accomplishment,香蕉视频直播� she says, shaking her head. 香蕉视频直播淚 couldn香蕉视频直播檛 even dream of it for a while. It felt closer to Hollywood, just a fantasy 香蕉视频直播� That place is full of people I admire.香蕉视频直播�

The April before her program started, Danica, along with a few other students, was invited to the school香蕉视频直播檚 prestigious Tribeca Ball, where she spent the evening surrounded by the glitz of celebrity and fashion and art. In New York for several days, she remembers finding herself in a tiny alley, watching a handful of leaves caught in the chaos of a ceaseless whirlwind.

香蕉视频直播淭here was this parallel feeling inside.香蕉视频直播�

Once the masters program began, however, she was grounded, fast and hard.

香蕉视频直播淵our first year is boot camp,香蕉视频直播� she says. 香蕉视频直播淵ou香蕉视频直播檙e in classes from nine to six, work until midnight, then you go home and work some more.香蕉视频直播� She smiles and a shrugs. 香蕉视频直播淚t香蕉视频直播檚 stressful.香蕉视频直播�

The summer between first and second years, she was chosen for a residency at the Leipzig International Art Programme, where she spent two months living and working on art in an old, repurposed cotton mill, before returning to school with a new sense of urgency.

香蕉视频直播淏eing in New York, it香蕉视频直播檚 such an invigorating, visceral place. You can香蕉视频直播檛 not be propelled by that.香蕉视频直播�

Work on her thesis continued in earnest, as Danica laboured on painting after painting, as well as an eight-foot-wide ballpoint pen drawing.

Danica香蕉视频直播檚 hands fly in front of her as she tries to explain why she loves what she does, what she sees, how her work changed while in New York. She stopped painting from life and photographs, turning instead to the depths of her imagination, learned how to focus and 香蕉视频直播渉ow to squish the spectrum of light into the spectrum of paint.香蕉视频直播�

Her pieces explore the complexities of adolescence, of connection, of that feeling of being an outsider, those 香蕉视频直播減ainful, awkward moments that we all pivot off of.香蕉视频直播�

香蕉视频直播淚 love how in painting something can be two things at once,香蕉视频直播� she says. 香蕉视频直播淚t can fill you up. It can empty you. I don香蕉视频直播檛 necessarily paint things I like.香蕉视频直播�

Rather, she香蕉视频直播檚 pulled to give a voice to things that hurt, or are jarring.

Magnificent in their complexity, her canvases hold no playful poppies or soothing seashores to be displayed in a hotel lobby. Her work is visceral, complicated, physical, uncomfortable. She walks a line of contradictions with every stroke of colour: the sublime and the grotesque; intimacy pressed against voyeurism.

香蕉视频直播淭hat dichotomy between repulsion and attraction is so important to me,香蕉视频直播� she says. 香蕉视频直播淚 walk that line constantly. I want the viewer to feel uncomfortable, to wonder if maybe she shouldn香蕉视频直播檛 be looking.香蕉视频直播�

Now as a Chubb Fellow at the school, Danica has the time and studio space to further explore those relationships and continue unearthing her own voice while mentoring incoming students.

The latest development in Danica香蕉视频直播檚 artistic evolution was her Italian debut at the in Milan, Italy, which ran until April 6. The solo show, 香蕉视频直播淭he Ghost I Made You Be,香蕉视频直播� includes a significant number of her most recent works, the majority of which were created specifically for the exhibit.

香蕉视频直播淭he title香蕉视频直播�comes from a Leonard Cohen lyric from a song called 香蕉视频直播楾reaty香蕉视频直播� off his final album before he died last year,香蕉视频直播� she says. 香蕉视频直播淭he full line is 香蕉视频直播業香蕉视频直播檓 sorry for the ghost I made you be/only one of us was real and that was me.香蕉视频直播� Leonard, a fellow Canadian, has occupied a spot close to my heart for a long time. I think he was an exceptional poet who spent his whole life clawing at what it means to be human.香蕉视频直播�

香蕉视频直播淭his line struck me as incredibly poignant,香蕉视频直播� she continues. 香蕉视频直播淭o me, it relates to the power structures built in the space between people, and the slow unfolding of oneself into another person, and back. I think it relates to the work I香蕉视频直播檓 doing right now.香蕉视频直播�

The gallery 香蕉视频直播� which has purchased two of Danica香蕉视频直播檚 pieces already 香蕉视频直播� describes the work succinctly, as representing all of us: 香蕉视频直播渦ncertain and fluctuating identities suspended between amusement and latent violence, pleasure and abuses, freedom and surveillance, frustration and unexpected poetical impulses, individualism and communion.香蕉视频直播�

香蕉视频直播淚 am grateful for their confidence in my work, and very much looking forward to this show,香蕉视频直播� adds Danica.

Though still at the beginning of what is surely meant to become a significant and impactful artistic career, Danica has already honed in on a delicate balance of contradictions in her work, and she香蕉视频直播檚 done it through endless hours of practice.

香蕉视频直播淢y process is probably brutal. I香蕉视频直播檓 scrappy, like I am in sports,香蕉视频直播� she laughs, and I香蕉视频直播檓 reminded of her 香蕉视频直播淏ruise Bank,香蕉视频直播� a photographic collection of her battered body post-soccer games, which she ended up felting into 香蕉视频直播渇uzzy badges.香蕉视频直播�

Possessed of an incredible talent, kind-hearted, gorgeous, Danica has an otherworldly quality that shines through until it seems as though sparks should fly from her fingers as she talks about her passions. But there香蕉视频直播檚 no mistaking, this woman has a core of iron.

香蕉视频直播淚t香蕉视频直播檚 a bit of a battlefield,香蕉视频直播� she says of the art world, with an offhand smile. 香蕉视频直播淏ut I香蕉视频直播檝e always been able to make it with drive and determination and work ethic.香蕉视频直播�

- Story by Angela Cowan Photography by Lia Crowe

Story courtesy of , a Black Press Media publication
Like Boulevard Magazine on and follow them on