Vancouver Outsider Arts Festival (VOAF) is returning for a seventh year from Oct. 12 to 17 — and a Coquitlam-based photographer's works are one to watch for.
The unique festival, which coins itself an "inclusive" event, raises the profile of artists who self-identify as "outsiders" — i.e., artists with committed art practices, but have faced physical, economical or social obstacles to showing their work in mainstream art spaces.
After a successful debut showcase at VOAF 2021, Andrew Woods is picking up his camera once again and displaying the world through his lens at the Roundhouse Community Arts and Recreation Centre.
Woods, in a conversation with Tri-City News said, photography for him started as a therapeutic outlet. With a history of mental health struggles, photography for Woods was a means of getting out in the world, out of isolation and seeing the world through a different lens.
"Photography would get me outside and I kind of engaged with the world around me," he said.
"It was an outlet to channel my focus and energy. At the time, it was kind of a challenge — something that I could work towards improving and learning more about that kind of art form. I very quickly developed a fascination with fine art photography and street photography."
Woods just photographed everything that caught his eye during his daily walk, and said he was really intrigued by the editing process that came after.
During the pandemic, he took drawing lessons and got into 2D illustrations, later branching out with 3D modelling and animation.
But his artistic career didn't begin with photography, he noted.
"When I was younger, I did a lot of creative writing — primarily as a therapeutic outlet, but also as a freelancer," Woods explained.
"By my mid-20s, I had developed a strong desire to become a full-time writer. However, I wanted to explore other artistic avenues and in my early 30s I discovered photography and digital art."
He explained the desire to learn about photography and the visual creative process stemmed from an ability to supplement his writing to increase the impact, but admitted he gradually fell in love with photography and pivoted.
"Photography later became one of my most effective therapies and enabled me to connect with various arts-oriented communities and organizations. In 2021, I exhibited at VOAF as a first-time exhibitor. Since then, I've done a couple of small local exhibitions, and I am very excited to be back at VOAF in 2023," he added.
Vancouver Outsiders Arts Festival 2023
Woods admitted, the first time he exhibited his artwork at VOAF, he applied to see if he could get in and what the experience would be like.
"And I definitely learned a lot through the first exhibit… and I kind of developed some new artwork and had gotten more focused on the digital art, [so with VOAF 2023] I wanted to exhibit those visual displays," he said.
"I draw inspiration from different different art forms around me like films, literature, music and whatever else is going on in the world around me… those inspire me to create something."
VOAF 2023 will showcase 56 performing and visual artists from across Metro Vancouver, like Woods.
The festival has now grown to a five-day event from a weekend event, providing more opportunities for connections between artists and the public.
Community members can also sign up for workshops to learn about handmade felt objects and Ikebana (Japanese flower arranging) or attend a workshop on Kathak Movement and collaborative character design through a partnership with Culture Days BC.
For more information, you can visit the VOAF website.
- When: Oct. 12 to 17
- Where: Roundhouse Community Arts and Recreation Centre, Vancouver
