Seen from above, a painter in a wide straw hat leans over a ledge to brush teal paint onto the pavement below.

About.

I make public works of art shaped by the places they inhabit and the people who live with them. It is a practice of shared creativity, in service to the deeply human need to belong.

A man in a painted helmet and hooded scarf looks past the camera, a black-and-white lettered wall behind him.

Trust grows through shared action before shared belief.

In 2009, Tim Barnard and I founded EN MASSE in Montréal as an experimental collaborative drawing project. Over the years, bringing people together, sustaining trust, and creating the conditions in which artists can continue to support one another have become the materials of my practice. The project continues to evolve internationally, including through collaborations that take place independently of my involvement.

What does it mean to care for what artists make,
and for the conditions that allow them to make it?

I’m interested in how creative work helps us respond to the conditions we live in.
How we feed ourselves. How we care for places and one another.
How we make room for contributions whose value exceeds what they can earn.

These are responsibilities I want to understand well enough

to act on.

A man in a painted helmet and hooded scarf stands before a black-and-white mural lettered “Truth”.

Jason Botkin painting a mural on a city sidewalk while two young children watch and add their own marks to the wall.

A personal health crisis, alongside concerns about political instability and food security, led me to reorganize my life in 2021, when I began living on farms, learning how to better care for plants, animals, and myself.

I move nomadically, reducing fixed expenses to make room for learning, travel, and projects — especially those whose value may never become income.

Learning how to sustain life is part of my practice.
So is understanding what that life depends on,
and what I can contribute in return.

Learning how to sustain life is part of my practice. So is understanding what that life depends on, and what I can contribute in return.

Learning how to sustain life is part of my practice.
So is understanding what that life depends on,
and what I can contribute in return.

A few landmarks

Alberta College of Art + Design, Honours, 1997

Co-founder of EN MASSE, Montréal, 2009

More than 200 public art projects across Canada, France, Mexico, New Zealand, the United States, and beyond

Collaborations with municipalities, festivals, schools, cultural organizations, businesses, nonprofits, and grassroots initiatives

Guest artist, facilitator, and speaker with communities, cultural organizations, and educational institutions internationally

Begin a conversation

If you see a connection between this practice
and something you’re working toward,
I’d be glad to hear from you.

hello_

Contact ↗