Flavourcel is an animation collective formed in 2018 by ten artists based on the unceded, traditional, and ancestral xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səl̓ilw̓ətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) territories, also known as Vancouver. They work collaboratively to make short-form experimental animations such as GIFs, music videos, installations, and more, to extend the contemporary narrative of what animation is and what it can be. Collective decision-making, resource sharing, and a commitment to play is at the core of all that they do. Through this, Flavourcel aims to uplift its members, as well as the communities it belongs to.
For six-months, Flavourcel will use Western Front’s Grand Luxe Hall as a collective studio space. At punctuated moments across their residency, they will open the space to the public in order to introduce their practices, and to share their process and new work.
Thanks to curator Allison Collins for initiating this project.
About the Artists
Alia Hijaab is an artist, animator, and storyteller. In her practice Alia muses on the construction of memory and belonging, and draws from her experience as a mixed-race Syrian who grew up in the Arabian Gulf and immigrated to Canada by herself at 18. Combining food symbology, nostalgic colour scapes, and poetry, her animations and illustrations welcome the viewer in and ask them to stay a while.
Chhaya Naran is an artist whose practice includes animation, illustration, quilting, and zines. Their work is influenced by their love of food, family, friendship, and fantasy, as well as their experience as a brown, queer, autistic, trans person.
Chris Strickler is from West Lafayette, Indiana, USA, and graduated in 2018 with a BMA in Animation from Emily Carr University of Art + Design. He is an animator, installation artist, and live visual performer. His work in all disciplines leans towards the abstract, with a focus on graphic shapes and crunchy textures.
gil goletski is a multi-disciplinary artist living as a settler on the unceded traditional territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Squamish), and səl̓ilw̓ətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) people. they make animation, illustration, comics, print media, and music.
Harlo Martens is a professional art school dropout and settler of European descent on the stolen lands of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Squamish), and səl̓ilw̓ətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) people. As a trans/non-binary multimedia animator, they are attracted to repetition and how it bends time into different shapes. In the process of making, removing shame from fun and play has been crucial.
Josh Neu is an unkempt animator, writer, and sound designer who was born in Seoul, South Korea, and raised in Wichita, Kansas, USA, and educated at Emily Carr University of Art + Design. He is creatively drawn to the weird and experimental side of digestion. Josh likes loose glizzies.
Julia Song is an animator and artist from Seoul, Korea. Her work mostly focuses on storytelling through character animation, but also expands to experimental animation. She attempts to visually express the character’s experience and emotion through experimenting with the fluidity of animation.
Kat G Morris is a 2D animator from Northern BC. She graduated in 2018 with a BMA in Animation from Emily Carr University of Art + Design. Using hand-drawn digital animation, Kat explores the limits and possibilities of narrative storytelling through symbolism, soundscapes, and fluid, illustrative motions.
Lana Connors is a filmmaker and experimental stop motion animator from the Northwest Territories. They majored in film at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, where they fell in love with animation while working on a Steenbeck in the campus basement. They are now a settler on the unceded traditional territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Squamish), and səl̓ilw̓ətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) people. Whatever free time they have, they spend creating and animating clay bodies in their home studio. Everything they do digitally looks like MS Paint.
Laurel Pucker is a Vancouver based artist and animator. She graduated with a Bachelor of Media Arts from Emily Carr University of Art + Design in 2018, with a focus on 3D animation. Her work spans multiple mediums, with the only constant being a strong love for triangles and a desire to create things filled with joy wherever possible. She also loves dogs, send her pics.