Ava P Christl was born on Vancouver Island, on Canada’s west coast, grew up in the rainforests of northwestern BC, and has lived more than 25 years in Canada’s far north, in the boreal forests of the Northwest Territories and Yukon. Ava holds a BFA (painting) from NSCAD University in Halifax and a Certificate in Adult Education from University of Victoria.

Ava’s work lies at the intersection of art and ecology, nature and spirit. She makes paintings about the land, about nature and place, about nature as healer, about the vast wilderness, and about our human relationship to the living land. Her work addresses landscape and memory; grief, loss and recovery; longing and belonging; relationship to place; and the cycles of life, growth and death.

Recent bodies of work include a series of oil paintings on canvas about the river where Ava grew up and a series of oil paintings on paper that explore the forests, wetlands and roadside flora found near her recent Artist Residency in the rainforests of southern BC.

Ava has lived in Yukon since 2021, where she is making new images on the subject of the boreal forest. These drawings and paintings encompass trees, flowers, wetlands, the forest floor and understory, as well as the surrounding and supporting terrain. They show the importance of this northern forest in terms of providing habitat for millions of animals, birds and insects, the promotion of diversity such as grasslands, forests, creeks and rivers, swamps and wetlands, and home to plants and vegetation such as mosses and lichen. This new work aims to look at the flora of the forest, point to its significance as habitat for wildlife and moderator of climate change. As well, Ava aspires to portray the Boreal forest as a place of beauty and rich cultural and spiritual significance.