Garvin Chinnia
Artist name: Garvin Chinnia (he/him)
Self-identify/cultural heritage/ethnic background: Trinidadian/Ukrainian
School credentials: BA in History and Classics from University of Alberta, BFA in Visual Arts from Emily Carr University of Art+Design
Type of Art/Artwork style: Visual Artist including Painting, Drawing, Mixed-Media, Sculpture, Aquaria and Terraria
Social Media handles:
@chinniart
www.garvinchinnia.com
Artist Biography Garvin Chinnia:
I am a visual artist of Trinidadian and Ukrainian heritage. I hold two degrees; a Bachelor of Arts in History and Classics from the University of Alberta; and a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Visual Arts from Emily Carr University of Art and Design. I am beginning my Masters in Bioart at University of Windsor this coming fall.
I have a multifaceted approach to my art practice. I began primarily in drawing and focussed my undergraduate studies in painting. I have always been interested in critters, due to summers spent growing up on my Baba and Dido’s farm north of Glendon Alberta, and many trips to my Granddaddy’s house in the village of Tortuga Trinidad. Insects, amphibians and reptiles were what I sought in all places; be it near the dugouts at the farm, or the gardens in the Granddaddy’s yard. My interest in biology and ecosystems began early, and it is a result of the time spent in these two very different places. Both were hotspots of biodiversity, and my desire to draw all the different organisms began early.
During both of my undergraduate degrees I began in earnest my studies of the human figure, contextualizing it within the world of painting. I then applied the skills gained from foundational drawing and painting of the human figure to the organisms I had grown up making art of, elevating my practice and approach in their renderings.
At Emily Carr University of Art and Design I was introduced to the concept of community arts and outreach. This eventually led to my work as a full time staff in a low barrier homeless shelter in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver BC. For three years after graduating, my art practice shifted, as energy was put into my harm-reduction job and into my terrarium and aquarium practice. Drawing and painting were put aside as my focus was elsewhere. In mid-2020, my friends from school, community of practice and colleagues Berlynn Beam and Chase Keetley approached me to participate in a Terrarium Workshop hosted by their organization, Black Arts Vancouver. BAV’s mandate is to serve the underserved Black Brown and Indigenous artists and their communities, myself very much included. Black Arts Vancouver in a very real way uplifted me, a Black artist, and allowed me to work professionally in the fields I was trained and educated in; namely those of History and Art.
Being a member of Black Arts Vancouver has also offered me the opportunities to research other artistic interests in a meaningful way. In my upcoming Ravine Megafauna project, I am currently building a to-scale light sculpture of the extinct ground sloth, Megalonyx jeffersonii. This project is my first professional foray into my palaeontological and palaeoart interests, where artists reconstruct extinct organisms and their ecosystems for the advancement of their research. This is intended to also be a community outreach project, as it will bring science communication out of museums and textbooks and into more easily accessible public spaces.
So, after many long struggles and hiatuses from my art practice, I was uplifted by members of my community, and now have the privilege of being part of an organization that helps to uplift other members of that community.
Questions and Answers (Q&A) for Artist Garvin Chinnia:
Q1) Despite challenges and barriers what motivates you to continue to persevere in the Art World? And why?
Community, community, and community. It’s because of my friends, my colleagues, my community of practice, that I have been able to continue in and persevere through the Art World. My friends Berlynn Beam and Chase Keetley, founders of Black Arts Vancouver, in a very real way supported and uplifted me through a tough couple of years. By welcoming me into the organization, I have been able to not only pursue my historical and art training, but also other interests of mine. Interests and practices including terrariums, and palaeoart. Through this grassroots organization, I am not only able to expand my practice, but teach other community members about these varied topics.
Q2) Outside of the Art world do you have any other hobbies/interests?
This is a difficult question to answer, due to the intersections and entanglements of my other interests into my art practice. But, if we are to differentiate from the “Art World”, I would say a couple of other interests as follow: I have a healthy interest in all things space related. I would love to be one of those first groups of pioneers to go out into the solar system and see what surprises the other planets in the Sol system have to offer. My interest really stems from the possibility of life beyond our own planet, and integrating my interests in biology and palaeontology with possible exoplanet exploration. If we manage to make it to Mars, we are that much closer to Jupiter, and the moons that compose the Jovian system. Europa is of special interest due to its subsurface ocean, and tantalizing markings on the surface, which one study postulates might be the evidence of bacterial existence there, due to similar spectrographic comparisons from those images to certain extremophile organisms here on Earth. And that’s just among a couple of popular planets! Venus is looking to be a more dynamic, and possibly even a life-hosting planet. These are exciting times for any sort of exoplanet study, and that’s not even bringing up the newly launched James Webb Space Telescope. Did I mention I like space? Living and growing up in Alberta has given me a unique access to palaeontology. I can’t walk along a sidewalk without noticing and collecting pieces of petrified wood. Working in earthworks construction gave me access to more of that, along with amber, and fossilized marine life. I have a spot not far from where I live that I collect fossilized clams when the weather makes it accessible. This is something I would like to pursue and explore for both its scientific merits as well as its inspiration for my artistic practice.
Q3) Any advice for upcoming/ or BIPOC artists venturing into the art world or wanting to showcase their work?
The existence of a stable community network cannot be understated. I was able to show my work and collaborate on shows, because of the relationships I had made with other black artists at school. What started out as school friendships became long lasting relationships with others seeking to oppose institutional barriers and opening up our own spaces in which to show and make work. By founding Black Arts Vancouver, my friends Berlynn Beam and Chase Keetley opened up space and opportunities for the community, myself included. We have power in numbers, and we seek to create more power and possibility by opening up spaces where we can work and use our skills gathered over years of hard work. At the end of the day, we are lifted when we lift each other.