Ashleigh Vaillancourt is an award-winning filmmaker and multimedia artist based in Vancouver, British Columbia. Her films and multimedia works have been exhibited internationally in film festivals, public media screens, and galleries.

Working across film, animation, and painting, Ashleigh explores isolation, resilience, intimacy, queer identity, and the complexities of human connection.

ARTIST’S STATEMENT

My paintings explore intimacy, identity, and psychological tension through dark, restrained compositions. I work primarily in oil and acrylic on hand-dyed burlap, using the fabric as an active part of the image rather than a neutral support. Paint seeps into the open weave, pooling in some areas while leaving the threads exposed in others. I build and scrape layers of thick and thin paint, allowing passages of translucency, texture, and sheen to emerge across the surface.

I am drawn to the tension between the physical weight of paint and the delicacy of the burlap beneath it. Working within a restricted range of values, I push small shifts in darkness, light, and surface to make figures and environments emerge almost from the material itself.

The imagery draws from childhood experiences in the forests of Vancouver Island, as well as an ongoing exploration of intimacy, gender, beauty, and identity through a queer perspective. The resulting paintings sit between obscurity and recognition, inviting the viewer to look closely and gradually discover what is held within the surface.