Salt Spring Island Public Library | June 2026
 
Produced by SSNAP in partnership with the Salt Spring Island Public Library, with support from the Salt Spring Island Foundation.
 
This workshop introduced students to contemporary digital art practice through the work of local artist Leo Chan.
 
Leo Chan, whose practice bridges technology and contemporary art, opened the workshop by sharing his work and inviting students to experience Coalesce, installed in the Library’s Community Program Room for the evening. Created in collaboration with Matthew Robertson, the interactive piece invited viewers to slow down and take their time, with stillness gradually shaping the emergence of image and sound. Experiencing Coalesce offered students a firsthand introduction to interactive digital art before they began creating works of their own.
 
Students were asked to bring a personal object to the workshop. Using Scaniverse, they created 3D scans of these objects and then worked in TouchDesigner, a software platform central to Leo Chan’s practice, to transform their scans into animated digital artworks. Working from a shared framework, each student shaped the appearance, movement, and level of abstraction of their piece, resulting in distinct artworks.
 
Students were eager to continue developing their work beyond the sessions, including one participant who planned to compose an original soundtrack in GarageBand. Leo Chan noted that the workshop connected meaningfully to his own practice, observing that explaining interactive art to a new audience required him to frame his work in more accessible terms.
 
Leo Chan’s work An Evolving Portrait of Us was exhibited at the 2025 Parallel Art Show at ArtSpring. SSNAP is proud to offer workshops like this one, connecting students directly with the work of practicing contemporary artists.
 

Photos: @mollybeaton