February 08, 2022

ArtStarts on Saturdays: Art-making with Faune Ybarra

[Image Description: On a background of felt balls on a blue surface, text reads: "ArtStarts on Saturdays. A free art-making workshop with Faune Ybarra. Premieres on Facebook January 29 - February 25." To the right of the text is a picture of Faune in a circular frame; she wears a green vest and stands against a blue fence, smiling.]

This month’s ArtStarts on Saturday is hosted by Faune Ybarra. Faune is a diasporic artist and was an artist-in-residence at the ArtStarts Gallery in 2020. You can read more about her residency experience and art practice in our recent blog. Her workshop this month guides young learners in creating a grid map of the places familiar to them. We spoke with Faune about her art and this workshop:

Artstarts: How would you describe your artistic practice to someone who hasn’t experienced your work before?

Faune: My practice looks at the relationships among materials, people, and non-humans to articulate my experiences of migration and displacement. I work closely to materials available in the places I inhabit. For that reason I say I am a diasporic artist. Someone who centers the context in her work instead of the medium.

ArtStarts: How has your artistic practice shifted over time?

Faune: I defined my art as contextually rooted. Over the last couple of years, I can see how much the context of the pandemic (from supplies shortages to the slow burndown of living through uncertainty) has shaped my practice into a more adaptable endeavour. Now I seek to collaborate with materials passed down to me or common materials around me, like paper.

ArtStarts: Why do you think place-making is an important part of creating art for young learners?

Faune: I believe in looking around to understand who we are. That is, I think of humans as a result of their living conditions. In my case, I have moved to five different cities and lived in 14 different houses, that has affected my perception of time, space, and belonging. I believe in place-making as an essential step to adapt to new environment which otherwise would feel foreign.

ArtStarts: In what ways do you hope to expand young people's creative capacities through this workshop?

Faune: By encouraging them to look at their surroundings when they go on walks. I hope to spark curiosity for the ways in which we move when we are in nature and what that might say about our relationships to land.

Artstarts: How can people find you and your work?

Faune: I am on Instagram as @faunestanaccount and I have a website faune-ybarra.online

Be sure to join us on the ArtStarts Facebook page anytime until February 25 for Faune Ybarra’s workshop!