By Phuong Nguyen, DVATI, RP (Qualifying)
Toronto, ON

Recently moving back home to Toronto, I’ve had a lot of time to reflect on my experiences working at a shelter in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside (DTES) community.  The DTES is British Columbia’s epicentre of the opioid epidemic, and it has been over the last several years.  My experience working in that community is something that I hold close to my heart. The pain and loneliness in that community is heavy and can often feel overwhelming. The “little things” that turned out to be not all that “little” often is what keeps hope alive in that community. Gestures of help and good faith do not go unnoticed and beauty is not overlooked. During my time working at the shelter I noticed that flowers often find themselves inside. Some flowers are found on the street and brought into the space, some are donations, and some are gifts from one community member to another. Regardless of where they came from, I’ve always seen them as an act of love. This small series of still life paintings of flowers and the objects around them come from a collection of photos I captured on my phone during my time at the shelter. The community has seen a lot of pain and trauma over the last decade alone—but if there are still flowers to be shared there is still hope.

Images of artwork below:
Bouquets, Roses, Tulips