Vanessa Yanow

I am building a visual lexicon of shapes, patterns and illustrations that transmit collective and personal narratives as they relate to the politics of care. I examine how the use of various materials, found objects, and textures can deepen the visual experience and invite touch into the dialogue. I am interested in designing and building abstract forms that convey aspects of the human condition through their structure. This work signals a shift from individualism to the ethics of interconnection and shared vulnerability. Queer joy is at the fore of this project; it reframes care as expansive, communal, and resistant to oppression—where joy itself becomes a practice of survival, solidarity, and relational flourishing.

Vanessa Yanow is a visual artist from Tiohtiá:ke/Mooniyang/Montreal. She works with digital embroidery, textile collage, artifacts, hot glass, drawing, and assemblage. Yanow enriches her intuitive and tactile artmaking practice with research whose diversity includes issues of queer sexualities and gender expressions, community care, climate change and parasitology. Vanessa has produced several large bodies of work and has exhibited nationally and internationally. Her sculptures are part of the city of Montreal’s permanent collection, the Musée des Métiers d’art du Québec, and Le Musée National des Beaux-Arts du Québec. She was the co-founder and coordinator of the non-profit organisation, The Long Haul – a 10 000 sq.ft studio and gallery space that was located in Parc Extension from 2001-2025.

Profile image: Vanessa Yanow. Passing through Nature to Eternity. Photo credit: John Tinholt 

vanessayanow.com

Work by Vanessa Yanow. Image credit: Danika Zandboer.

Image: Vanessa Yanow. Image credit: Danika Zandboer