Chris Cowan
Artist
Chris Cowan is a multidisciplinary Canadian artist, living in the Ottawa Valley. She holds a MFA in Oil Painting from Kyoto City University of Arts, Japan, a BFA from NSCAD University, and the Kwame Nkrumah University College of Art in Ghana. Chris was a recipient of The Monbukagakusho Scholarship - a four year research grant issued by the Government of Japan to study Fine Arts in Japan. Chris has exhibited internationally, is a member of the German-based Women in AI & Robotics. In 2024, she was an artist in residence at the Rockland Woods Residency in Bremerton, Washington.
As a mother to a seven year old son, Chris’ maternal experiences are central to her art practice. Her works aims to subvert historical depictions of motherhood as they present in Western art, as she explores the narratives of fertility, reproduction, pregnancy, and women’s health. She produces highly detailed paintings and short animations with the help of AI image generating software. Her work serves as a contemporary iteration of the Surrealist art movement, building upon visual traditions of dream-like imagery and continuing the movement's exploration of the unconscious.
