Who am I?
Jennifer Pereira
Portuguese/Canadian LGBTQ artist
Born in Toronto, ON. Lives & works in Cobalt, ON Canada
My name is Jennifer Pereira. I am an emerging artist returning to the art world after a having two children and travelling for a career in teaching. After teaching in the remote northern communities of Frenchmans Head, Lac Seul and Bear Island, Temagami my family settled in Cobalt Ontario.
At heart, I am a maker, artist and avid outdoor enthusiast who looks to capture the majesty of nature in large scale oil paintings, sketches and mural work. Living in small town Cobalt Ontario, I find inspiration in the surrounding natural landscapes as well from the people who call this place home. As of 2021 I have been a founding and active member of CAYAC (Cobalt & Area Young Artist Collective) which aims to support and inspire like minded artists to create!
My latest project ‘Dryads’ (which I am looking for funds to support), looks at the relationship between man and nature, more specifically trees. Dryads are tree spirits with shapeshifting abilities, possessing the form of a young woman. The nymph-like figures are found basking in natural settings, informing dynamic compositions within the landscape. These works challenge ideas of land and land ownership and humanity’s ever evolving relationship with mother nature (including ‘fads’ like Forest Bathing) and forests/trees as a natural resource vs. living ecosystem.
I recognise my normal everyday is some peoples “once in a lifetime”. When choosing to settle in the small town of Cobalt, I did so to be able to raise my family close to nature. On walks I can stumble upon pine martens, otters, eagles and loons and it is nothing out of the ordinary. My wife and I do avian rescue, specifically corvids (ravens and crows), but in the last year have worked with a Merlin, Trumpeter Swan cygnet, a Rock Dove, 2 Common Ravens and 2 American Crows. I have always loved animals and as an artist, feel that it is my job to immortalise them in my art. I hope that my art can help people appreciate the world we live in and help advocate for creatures and places which don’t have a voice of their own.
In my 2021/22 works featured in the show ‘Ecology’, I set off to depict a variety of animals(fish, birds and mammals) within their natural environment, highlighting local marsh, river and lake ecosystems.I have a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Queens University where I majored in oil painting and printmaking and have recently reconnected with some of my printmaking professors. I have shown works of a variety of mediums in group and juried shows at the La Cloche Art Show in Whitefish Falls, Agnes Etherington Art Centre in Kingston, Robert McLaughlin Gallery in Oshawa, Temiskaming Art Gallery in Haileybury and in online virtual exhibitions.
Jennifer Pereira Art 