Join four outstanding Parallel Art Show (PAS) 2025 finalists – Cheryl Long, Leo Chan, Karen Selk, and Melanie Thompson – for an afternoon of conversation exploring the ways materials and methods shape meaning in contemporary art.

Through their diverse practices – spanning fibre art, assemblage, mixed media, and painting – these artists will explore how material and process are not just tools of making, but integral voices in the conversation. Their talks will highlight the ways in which medium itself communicates meaning, shapes stories, and opens new perspectives on contemporary art.

Serving as moderator is Anna Gustafson, whose experience and insight will lend depth and direction to the exchange.

This event is presented as part of the 2025 Parallel Art Show, held in collaboration with the Salt Spring National Art Prize (SSNAP).

Anna Gustafson

Anna Gustafson was conceived in Guatemala to an Italian/Guatemalan mother and Swedish father, born in Sweden and raised in Vancouver, Canada. Gustafson’s long view has benefited from being nurtured in a multi-cultural family within an immigrant perspective. An important premise of her work is that we best remember information and events through our senses and associated emotions. With a strong sensory component, her work is a catalyst for deep emotion and conversation, that encourages each viewer absorb and retain their experience. Anna has shown in public galleries since 1974. Anna acknowledges the support of the Canada Council for the Arts.