Meet the Signal Fire Artists
We are honoured to feature local artists from the Twillingate area alongside other Canadian artists.
Please visit the gallery in person to view the work included in this curated exhibition.
Trizzy Trunk
Vancouver, BC
Trizzy Trunk is a visionary artist and filmmaker, driven by motion, consciousness, and technology. His/Their work bridges the analog and digital worlds, creating a unique connection between the metaverse and human emotion. He has worked with leading brands in the snowboard industry, such as North Face, Red Bull, and Vans. "The Uninvited," was a trailblazing 2016 film uplifting female snowboarders that were not invited in a male-dominated industry, earning multiple awards and recognition. In 2018, he received a nomination for Snowboard Film of the Year.
Trizzy is much more than a videographer; over the past 12 years they have dedicated their time to craft a unique digital art style in the glitch community that they coined “Digital Decay.” Their work, and an influence of its style, has been exhibited in major cities around the world, including New York, Tokyo, LA, Rome, Lisbon and Vancouver among many others.
Trizzy continues to reside in Vancouver, BC, where they continuously push the boundaries of digital art and filmmaking, creating work that resonates on both emotional and technological levels.
Victoria West
Burton, NB
Victoria West is a multi-talented artist from Burton, New Brunswick, whose work reflects her deep-seated passion for activism and storytelling. With a painterly aesthetic, she meticulously crafts every aspect of her photography and digital art, from composition and lighting to post-production editing. Victoria made history by winning the Portrait Photographer of the Year award for three years in a row (2019, 2020, 2021) from the Professional Photographers of Canada. Her work has also received international recognition with top finishes in the WPPI and WPE competitions, as well as a Bronze Medal in the 2019 World Photographic Cup. Victoria also holds the designation of Masters of Photographic Arts through the Professional Photographers of Canada.
Victoria's work has been exhibited in galleries and installations all over the world, including New York City, Paris, London, Ghent, Bali, Miami, Rome, Oslo, Australia, Barcelona, as well as the Albuquerque Museum.
Vessela Brakalova
St. Philip's, NL
Vessela Brakalova was born in communist Europe during the Cold War and began her formal education in figurative art in Sofia, Bulgaria. In 1985, she received her MFA from Sofia’s National Academy of Fine Arts. After graduation, Vessela worked in book publishing before moving to Newfoundland and Labrador as a political refugee in 1990.
Brakalova’s work can be found in the City of St. John’s, The Rooms Provincial Art Gallery collections, Christina Parker Gallery, and private collections in Canada and Europe. Brakalova has received widespread recognition for her work including a gold medals at the ICE Awards in Halifax in 2012, and 2005.
She has works at the St. John’s International Airport, plus major exhibitions at home and abroad, notably in International Art and Contemporary Mosaic MUSIWA15, Florence, Italy, Bonavista Biennale2021, Christina Parker Gallery in St. John’s, and public art in Quidi Vidi.
Currently, Vessela is finishing a 3D interior sculpture public art commission for the new Adult Mental Health & Addiction Facility in St. John’s.
Marcus Gosse
Stephenville, NL
Marcus Gosse (ᒪᕒᐠᑲᐢ ᐧᑲᐢ) is a Newfoundland Mi'kmaq Artist, and a member of the Qalipu First Nation Band. He creates digital paintings on his iPad using the Procreate App, and also paints large scale acrylic paintings and murals. Marcus’ Mi’kmaq name is Ala’suinu which means “Traveler”, and his clans are the eagle (Benoit) and squirrel (Young). Marcus incorporates the ancient Mi'kmaq star, Mi'kmaq petroglyphs, hieroglyphs, and various double curve designs his paintings.
His work has been exhibited and collected by the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia and The Rooms Provincial Art Gallery. In 2017, Marcus was invited to participate, and exhibit 11 art pieces, in the Canada 150 Art Show at the Macaya Gallery in Miami, Florida.
In August 2023, Marcus became the first Newfoundland Mi'kmaq Artist to design a coin for the Royal Canadian Mint, and it features the Mi'kmaq Creation Story. His mural decals adorn Marine Atlantic Ala’suinu Ferry. Marcus has participated in several art shows in Atlantic Canada, and his pieces have been sold to art collectors around the world.
Nina Elliott
Twillingate, NL
Nina Elliott is a self-taught fibre artist who goes by the name Rock Vandal. She started making street art from yarn in 2015. Nina grew up in Hamilton, Ontario, earned a BA in Kinesiology, and a MSc in Occupational Therapy prior to making Newfoundland her home.
Nina believes that art should be accessible and that it has the power to create happier and healthier communities. As a result, her installations promote optimism and inspiration through associations with well-being and positive psychology. She shares her work for free on Twillingate’s Main Street with the simple goal of uplifting those who pass by. She has been featured on national radio and tv, received grants from ArtsNL and WeaveEast, and completed commissions for brands such as Shorefast Foundations, Robins Donuts and CB Nuit. She has been invited to festivals across the island of Newfoundland and has contributed to the International Yarnbombing Festival in Italy. In 2021 she represented Canada at the World Heavy Metal Knitting Championships in Finland !
Toby White
Twillingate, NL
Toby White is a lens-based contemporary artist from Twillingate, Newfoundland and Labrador. He has lived, worked, and photographed across Canada and around the world. In 2020 he returned home to Twillingate, off Ktaqmkuk, the traditional territory of the Beothuk and the Mi'kmaq.
Toby studied at the School of the Photographic Arts in Ottawa, and his work had been featured in print magazines, vernissages, and artistic promotional material. Notably his work has been published several times—including a cover feature—in Do It For The Grain, a Canadian contemporary film photography magazine.
Toby uses a hybrid analog/digital approach to creating his art, which allows him to examine the tension between nature and the built environment and to explore the unseen beauty of natural and urban geographies.
John Elliott
Ottawa, ON and Hillgrade, NL
John Elliott has been making pictures since grade school. After a career as an electrical engineer John returned to college and received an honours diploma in photojournalism. John now works as a freelance photographer, sells prints and art cards, and leads photo workshops.
He also creates time-lapse videos and shoots some video to augment his photography. Since 2014 he has been photographing night skies in the Twillingate area.
John describes his passion for creating art. “I truly enjoy telling a story with pictures and documenting life. After a few years working as a freelance photojournalist I began shooting for more artistic purposes. There is beauty in everyday things that many of us just don't see. I want to capture this beauty to feed my own soul and to share it with others. I am constantly reminded that there are many ways of looking at things, and not only through the lens.”
Our Team
Wilma Hartmann
Grow Twillingate
Board Member - Chair
Suzanne White
Grow Twillingate
Board Member
Maggie Langer
Unscripted Twillingate
Program Coordinator
Krystal Blackler
Unscripted Twillingate
Assistant Coordinator
Brandon Dove
Unscripted Twillingate
Summer Student