Cornelia van Voorst is a visual artist and theopoetic practitioner with a studio practice in Victoria, BC, Canada on the traditional lands of the lək̓ʷəŋən (Lekwungen) peoples, the Esquimalt and Songhees Nations. Her practice honours stories of endurance and compassion in the face of both personal and collective adversity. Living with a complex form of PTSD influences van Voorst’s engagement with intergenerational grief and trauma. Subjects such as roses from her own neighbourhood, portraits, and architecture from historical photographs become source material for work that is a form of remembrance for stories of resilience and resistance. In all of her work, allusive, lyrical images hover between literal and metaphorical depictions, negotiating the space between lived experience and dominant narrative. Her work is an empathetic integration of the personal with the historical that resonates within our contemporary context.
Cornelia van Voorst 