Statement
Gausden’s paintings explore the tension between the familiar landscapes of her life and the altered environments shaped by climate change. Her scenes often exist in the glowing ambiguity of dawn or dusk, where light becomes both cinematic and disquieting. Working from watercolour studies, she reverse-engineers larger oil paintings layered with intuition, abstraction, and colour palettes drawn from pop culture and filtered memory.
These narratives place viewers inside the forest, immersed rather than observing from a safe distance; prompting reflection on how deeply we are already entwined with the climate emergency. While the imagery can feel eerie or foreboding, Gausden’s work ultimately leans toward hope. Each painting is both a tribute to what remains and a reminder of what is still worth protecting.
Mel Gausden is a contemporary painter whose work blends narrative, memory, and environmental consciousness. She creates composite landscapes that merge personal experience with imagined futures, using storytelling as a way to examine our evolving relationship with the natural world. Gausden holds a Bachelor of Arts from the Ontario College of Art and Design (2009), received a grant from the Georgian Bay Land Trust in 2016, and was a finalist for the CIBC Square Building project. Her work can be found in numerous collections, including the Government of Canada. She is represented by Bau-Xi Gallery in Toronto and Vancouver.
C.V.
Education
BFA 2009 Ontario College of Art and Design
Grants and Awards
2016 King Family Bursary, Georgian Bay Land Trust
2019 Finalist for CIBC Square Building Commission
Solo Exhibitions
2025 Future Museums II, Bau-Xi Gallery (Vancouver, BC)
2024 Future Museums, Bau-Xi Gallery (Toronto, ON)
2022 A Fairytale for the End of the World, Bau-Xi Gallery (Vancouver, BC)
2021 Campfire Stories, Bau-Xi Gallery (Toronto, ON)
2018 Short Stories, Bau-Xi Gallery (Toronto, ON)
Girls Gone Wild, Bau-Xi Gallery (Vancouver, BC)
2016 Background Check, Capacity 3 Gallery (Guelph, ON)
Selected Group Exhibitions
2025 Art Auction for Old Growth, Canada-wide online auction, benefitting NBSF
Currents, Bau-Xi Gallery (Vancouver, BC)
Arts Effect: Glow Auction, Anndore House (Toronto, ON)
Art Gems Auction, Liberty Grand (Toronto, ON)
2024 Holiday Show, Bau-Xi Gallery (Vancouver, BC)
Art Auction for Old Growth, Canada-wide online auction, benefitting NBSF
Arts Effect: X Auction, Broadview Hotel (Toronto, ON)
Art Gems Auction, (Toronto, ON)
2023 Art Auction for Old Growth, Canada-wide online auction, benefitting NBSF
2022 Method V, Bau-Xi Gallery (Toronto, Ontario)
2019 Art With Heart Auction, Casey House, (Toronto, Ontario)
Art for Life Auction, (Vancouver, BC)
Art Gems Auction (Live), Berkeley Church (Toronto, Ontario)
Mixed Media, Bau-Xi Gallery (Toronto, Ontario)
2018 Holiday Show, Bau-Xi Gallery (Vancouver, British Columbia)
Art With Heart Auction (Live), Casey House (Toronto, Ontario)
Art Toronto, Bau-Xi Gallery (Toronto, Ontario)
Method, Bau-Xi Gallery (Toronto, Ontario)
Deeper Shade of Blue, Bau-Xi Gallery (Vancouver, British Columbia)
2017 Group Show, Bau-Xi Gallery (Toronto, Ontario)
Art Toronto, Bau-Xi (Toronto, Ontario)
The Artist Project, Direct Energy Center (Toronto, Ontario)
Art Gems Auction, Berkeley Church (Toronto, Ontario)
2016 WTFDYP 2016, The Gladstone (Toronto, Ontario)
Between Land and Sky, Olga Korper Gallery (Toronto, Ontario)
2014 Art With Heart Auction, Casey House (Toronto, Ontario)
Spring Show, AGH Design Annex (Hamilton, Ontario)
2013 iSeamonster Female Collaborative, Hashtag Gallery (Toronto, Ontario)
Toronto “Rouge” Timeraiser, Fifth Social Club (Toronto, Ontario)
2012 iSeamonster Female Collaborative, Gladstone Hotel (Toronto, Ontario)
The Canadian Landscape, Gallery 1313 (Toronto, Ontario)
2009 Discover OCAD+ Grad Exhibition, OCAD (Toronto, Ontario)
Gems, OCAD (Toronto, Ontario)
WhoDunnit, OCAD (Toronto, Ontario)
Publications
2023 Create! Magazine, Issue #38
2019 Art Gems, Creative Works Studio
2018 Essential Vancouver, Where Vancouver Magazine
Art With Heart, Casey House
2017 Art Gems, Creative Works Studio
2016 WTFDYP: Go Figure, The Gladstone
2013 Burlington Art Auction, Art Gallery of Burlington
Related Press
2025 “Mel Gausden’s First Drafts are Superb”, Canadian Art Junkie, June 20
2019 “Mel Gausden: Freshened Landscapes”, Canadian Art Junkie, August 23
2018 Galleries West. “Mel Gausden: Girls Gone Wild”, www.gallerieswest.ca, January 2018
Creators Vancouver. “People: Mel Gausden”, www.creatorsvancouver.com, January 2018
2016 Guelph Today Staff. “Nothing is Passive”, GuelphToday.com, July