Emerging Artists
Laura McCarthy
Artist / junior associate at sopafinearts
Laura is also an active local artist in the Okanagan, with her work exhibited in galleries across Kelowna and Vernon, including Sopa Fine Arts as well, and in several independent businesses throughout Kelowna.
Fredrik Thacker
Artist / 2nd recipiEnt of SopaFineArts bursary
His work has been exhibited at the Alternator Centre for Contemporary Art and the Vernon Public Art Gallery. Thacker was the recipient of the SOPA Fine Arts Emerging Artist Award in 2025 and the Frances Harris Prize in Fine Arts in 2024.
Jian
Suniga
Artist
The process of deconstruction
and reconstructions allows myself to find
meaning in disorder and clarity through
creation. Ultimately, my work serves as an
ongoing exploration of identity, memory, and
transformation, inviting others to encounter
fragments of their own experiences within its
layers.
Connor Mcleary
Artist
Connor McCleary is a 23 year old painter from Waco, Texas. He is a recent UBC graduate, with a bachelor’s degree in fine arts and a minor in art history. His practice revolves around his interest in the awkwardness of the mind and body. He enjoys the humour he can achieve through working with objects of everyday life; objects that may reflect our odd habits and histories. His practice focuses primarily on oil painting. Oftentimes, his paintings are very detail
oriented.
Taylor Carpenter
Artist / 1st recipiEnt of SopaFineArts bursary
Taylor Carpenter is a multi-media artist based in Kelowna, B.C. Her practice explores the
dialogue that emerges through juxtaposing detailed rendering and quick, gestural mark making. Carpenter spent much of her childhood in a mundane suburban home in Edmonton, Alberta.
Stevie Poling
Artist / 3rd Recipient of sopafinearts bursary
Stevie Poling is a queer multimedia artist working primarily with fibre and textile materials. She was born in the Kootenays and grew up in Melbourne, Australia. Stevie practices textile manipulation through an interdisciplinary feminist and queer lens, viewing the medium as an “inherently female and/or queer practice”. The connections made within sewing communities is manifested in the way fibres are woven and tangled together to form a garment or artwork.
Averi Boerboom
Artist
Averi Boerboom’s practice explores memory and nostalgia through printmaking and installation, drawing from her personal experience with her grandmother’s Alzheimer’s disease. As a child, she spent hours in her grandmother’s closet, draping herself in scarves, jewellery, and oversized heels. These moments created a strong sensory memory defined not only by appearance, but by texture, scent, and touch that continues to inform her work.
Carly Johnson
Artist
My body of work titled Something Happened Here is a reflection of my own experiences regarding mental health, mundane daily experiences, nostalgia, and light experimentation. During my fourth year attending UBCO, I chose to explore ways in which I could reminisce on the complexity of childhood locations throughout my hometown, juggling the duality of fond memories from childhood, and negative events that have taken place at these same locations later into my adult life. This has ultimately led to an emotionally charged set of works, while experimenting with a deepened contrast of lighting; a night scene lit by artificial, man made light sources.
CJ Ozee
Artist
My work begins with steel and the processes used to shape it. Through cutting,
welding, and hydroforming, I push rigid material into fluid form, working between control
and unpredictability. Each piece is carefully constructed, yet never fully predetermined.
The material leaves its own record.
Maya Taki
Artist
I am interested in how form, materiality, and different surfaces can impact the way a
painting is experienced. Primarily working with oil paints and steel, I find that blending these
mediums together allows me to show parts of Japanese culture in a different way. In my
recent works, I have incorporated the use of layering pieces of steel to increase
dimensionality and emphasize each individual part of my designs.
Peony Wong
Artist
Working primarily in painting, Peony explores abstraction as a means of expression that
moves beyond representation. Influenced by the spatial qualities of ancient Chinese scrolls,
her work often adopts a two-dimensional perspective that resists traditional depth and
realism. This flattened approach allows her to engage with colour and form more intuitively,
embracing a sense of childlike curiosity in her mark-making. Through the interplay of
gestural and controlled marks, she navigates a balance between spontaneity and structure.
Sierra Loewen
Artist
I am a multidisciplinary artist who specializes in photography, mixed media, and digital media.
My practice is based in observation, focusing on light, shadow, patterns, and textures.
Photography forms the foundation of my work, guiding how I see and compose, and informing
my approach to collage, painted photographs, and layered images.
Talia Gagnon
Artist
Talia Gagnon, is a sculptor and painter who uses her artwork to convey messages that she holds close. Growing up in New-Brunswick, she was surrounded by folk art, and she will often look there for inspiration. She aims to spread happiness with her work as she believes it is vital to our human experience but she also addresses the inhumane treatment of animals. By using humour, vibrant colours, and absurdity, Talia can make viewers laugh while simultaneously getting them to reflect on their relationship with animals.