Annie Beach

Vi Houssin is a transgender beadwork artist and drag performer. Her family is of white settler and Red River Métis ancestry. Her Métis family names are Ritchot, Poitras, Larence and Plante, and her ancestors held scrip in St. Vital and St. Boniface. She is a proud member of the Two-Spirit Michif Local and a citizen of the Manitoba Metis Federation. Vi works and lives in Winnipeg, Canada on Treaty 1 territory where she was born and raised.

Her work has been supported by the Canada Council for the Arts.

I have an eclectic mix of interests reflected both in my personality and work. From Japanese pop culture and history, folklore, gaming, to gothic/cute street fashion and more! If I find it engaging and fun, I want a piece of it; I want my creative practices to be centered on joy!

I was raised on books and visual arts in all their myriad forms. So, of course, that's where my creative outlets flourished! From as early as grade one I was writing and illustrating, surprisingly tragic and dramatic, stories to share with my classmates and teachers.

I have one novel self-published, with more on the way, and several small pieces published in local libraries and such. My inspiration derives from whatever emerges from my head, be it in the form of dreams, random thoughts, or unexpected eureka moments.

Raised for the most part in Quebec, Jan Jenkins worked in Alberta’s energy industry until she moved to Manitoba where she now creates original art for smaller spaces and wearable art for that unique look.  Her work is influenced by the meditative art form of zendoodling along with intricate repeating patterns found in textiles, decorative tiling and nature.  Most memorable for Jan are having two of her designs selected by the town of Russell, MB to adorn their decorative main street steel arches, having her In The Wind artworks included in Manitoba Art Network’s touring exhibition program, and participating in a Manitoba Arts Network digital collaboration videography project with musician Raine Hamilton.  She is a member of the Manitoba Society of Artists, The Drawn Together Collective, the Art Gallery of Soutwestern Manitoba, Wasagaming Community Arts and Arts West Council.  For more information about Jan and her art please visit www.janjenkins.art