Justine Skahan (she/her) was born in Montreal, where she currently lives. She obtained her BFA in Studio Arts with Distinction from Concordia University in 2010 and her MFA from the University of Ottawa in 2016. In 2015, she received the Stonecroft Foundation Venice Scholarship, and in 2016 she received the René Payant Award from the University of Ottawa. She has participated in numerous exhibitions throughout Canada and internationally and was a finalist in the 2016 RBC Canadian Painting Competition. She has participated in artist residencies at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, the Klondike Institute for Art and Culture (KIAC) in Dawson City, Yukon, and SÍM residency in Reykjavík. In Spring of 2022, she participated in a residency through Occurrence artist-run centre in Montreal and Admare in Îles-de-la-Madeleine, during which she traveled from Montreal to les Îles and back, further exploring the ideas and themes of home that inform much of her recent work. In 2022, she exhibited at the McClure Gallery in Montreal, and a catalog was published based on the exhibition. In 2023, she received a grant from the Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation. Recent projects include an exhibition at articule (Montreal) in March 2024, a residency at Galerie Stewart Hall (Pointe-Claire, QC), and an artist residency at Daïmon in Gatineau, Quebec. This fall/winter, she will participate in a residency and exhibition at Agrégat artist-run centre in Longueuil, Quebec.
Justine Skahan (elle) est née à Montréal, où elle réside actuellement. Elle a obtenu son baccalauréat en arts visuels avec distinction à l’Université Concordia en 2010 et sa maîtrise en arts visuels à l’Université d’Ottawa. Elle a participé à plusieurs résidences dont le Centre Banff en Alberta, le Klondike Institute for Art and Culture à Dawson City au Yukon, et la résidence SIM à Reykjavík en Islande. En 2015, Skahan a reçu l’inaugurale bourse de Venise de la fondation Stonecroft de l’Université d’Ottawa et, en 2016, a reçu le prix René Payant de l’Université d’Ottawa. Elle a participé à de nombreuses expositions à travers le Canada et à l’étranger, et en 2016, elle a été finaliste au Concours de peinture canadienne RBC. Au printemps 2022, Skahan a participé à une résidence en collaboration avec les centres d’artistes Occurrence à Montréal et Admare aux Îles-de-la-Madeleine, au cours de laquelle elle a voyagé de Montréal aux Îles, explorant davantage les idées et les thèmes du domicile qui sont le focus de son travail des dernières années. En 2022, elle a exposé à la galerie McClure à Montréal, et un catalogue de l’exposition a été publié. En 2023, elle a été récipiendaire d’une bourse de la Fondation Elizabeth Greenshields. Ses projets récents incluent une exposition à articule (Montréal) en mars 2024, une résidence à la Galerie Stewart Hall (Pointe-Claire, QC), et une résidence d’artiste à Daïmon à Gatineau, Québec. Cet automne/hiver, elle participera à une résidence et une exposition au centre d’artistes Agrégat à Longueuil, Québec.
My work has long revolved around the idea of home. I have always been interested in the idea of the house as a metaphor for human relationships: both need continuous upkeep and will begin to deteriorate if left unattended. My interest in the subject of home extends to the idea of shelter more broadly, including improvised structures, tents, and elements of the residential landscape.
In my recent paintings set in the almost-dark, I hope to capture a feeling of tenuousness and a sense of disappearing. Some paintings are based on pictures I have taken during the hour or two after sundown, while others are based on screen captures from thriller or true crime TV shows, media which often depict the landscape as an atmosphere of ambient danger for anyone not presenting as a cis man. I am looking to engage with historical depictions of the landscape as Sublime, and ask how it can be experienced as someone who is not, for example, the confident figure in Wanderer Over the Sea of Fog.
My work is sometimes driven by an attempt to work out subjects that elicit anxiety in me, such as housing insecurity in recent drawings. I am also interested in the implications of using the screen as a source of content, something I do regularly. The slowing-down of a digital image through painting – its deconstruction and reconstruction, allows me to reflect thoroughly on a particular subject. This process, usually carried out in small-medium scale paintings, is an antidote to the overwhelming visual saturation of digital culture – a way to slow down a split-second, distilling it into something more significant.
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