Visiting Artist in Residence: Micah Goldstein at the Kasahara Gabriola Trust
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Deb Chaney and Micah Goldstein at Deb’s studio — Gabriola Island.
There are many extraordinary things about living on Gabriola Island, affectionately known as the Isle of the Arts.
For me, this place truly feels like home. I moved here during the pandemic, seeking a landscape where nature, community, and creativity could coexist in a meaningful way. Gabriola offered exactly that—beautiful beaches for hiking, the ocean always nearby, and an incredibly vibrant community of artists.
Sometimes, though, the island offers even more than you could think to ask for.
Kasahara Gabriola Trust Artist Residency
A few years ago, I learned about the Kasahara Gabriola Trust Artist Residency, hosted by the Gabriola Arts Council. The program welcomes artists from around the world to live and work on Gabriola Island, sharing their creative practices and ideas with the community while developing their own work in a quiet and inspiring setting. You can learn more about the residency at the Gabriola Arts Council.
Last year, I had the honour of joining the residency committee as a volunteer. What struck me most was the extraordinary generosity behind the program. Many members of the committee offer their time simply because they believe in the importance of supporting artists and cultural exchange.
Artists are welcomed with a small gathering when they arrive, and during their stay they share their work with the community through workshops, talks, and an exhibition at the Gabriola Arts & Heritage Centre.
The Legacy Behind the Residency
The residency exists because of the remarkable vision of Toshiko Kasahara.
More than fifty years ago, Toshiko came to Gabriola Island almost by accident. She later built a beautiful oceanfront home here at the age of eighty. She loved the island deeply—the ocean, the people, and especially the arts.
Her spirit was adventurous and bold. She loved music, conversation, and connection. The home she built now serves as the Kasahara House, where visiting artists stay during their residency.
Today, her gift continues to bring creative voices from around the world to Gabriola, enriching the island’s artistic community.
Current Artist in Residence: Micah Goldstein
Visiting from Montreal, Micah W. Goldstein is the current artist in residence.
Micah’s interdisciplinary practice explores the intersection of printmaking, animation, memory, and place. Her work often focuses on intimate, reflective moments—hands interacting with objects, feet touching the ground, or the quiet awareness of moving through a space.
By placing the viewer very close to the subject, she transforms even small objects into entire worlds.
Her artistic process is deeply tactile and meditative. Micah experiments with ways of recreating digital effects through entirely analogue techniques—using tracing paper, lightboxes, layered transparencies, and shadow shapes to mimic movements such as pans or crossfades.
These ritualistic methods emphasize the act of making. Through layering, repetition, and careful attention to process, she builds dense visual environments that invite viewers to slow down and experience a moment of presence — what she describes as the feeling of being “here”.
Micah also recently shared the creative process behind one of her short films during an artist talk on Gabriola Island. The film has so far been shown in Ontario and Montreal through a student festival, and she continues submitting it to festivals internationally.
Her ability to explain both the conceptual and technical aspects of her work was incredibly illuminating—particularly for those of us without a background in film or animation.
Workshop with the Gabriola Community
Micah presenting the fundamentals of animation and frame sequencing during her community workshop.
During her residency, Micah also led a hands-on workshop for the Gabriola community, sharing techniques from her animation and printmaking practice.
Participants learned how animation is built frame by frame and how careful sequencing creates the illusion of movement.
The workshop allowed artists and community members to experiment with the same careful processes Micah uses in her own practice.
Inside the Creative Process
Micah’s process involves layering images, experimenting with transparency, and building motion frame by frame.
Her studio setup during the residency included a camera rig positioned above the work surface, allowing each drawing or paper layer to be captured precisely.
The result is a slow, attentive workflow — one that values presence and physical interaction with materials.
A Personal Studio Visit
Recently, Micah visited my studio here on Gabriola Island. We shared tea and cookies while talking about our practices, artist residencies around the world, and the evolving landscape of contemporary art.
Our conversation ranged from the Vienna Biennale (which she may be participating in), to creative process, to the personal journeys that shape an artist’s work.
It was one of those beautiful exchanges that reminds you why artistic community matters.
Micah is a thoughtful and courageous young artist — someone who is clearly stepping into the world with curiosity, intelligence, and heart. I feel incredibly grateful that our paths crossed.
Gratitude
Programs like the Kasahara Gabriola Trust Artist Residency remind us how powerful artistic exchange can be. Artists arrive from different places and disciplines, bringing with them new ideas, perspectives, and conversations that enrich the entire community.
Micah, thank you for sharing your work, your curiosity, and your presence with our island. It has been a privilege to meet you, and I look forward to following your journey and everything you create in the years ahead.
For those who missed her residency exhibition, here is a look at the Expanded Overlays showcase:
Expanded overlays was an exploration of works relating to animation, printmaking, and time created during the Kasahara Gabriola Trust Artist Residency. Artist-in-residence Micah Goldstein shared some of the work she's been developing while on the island, as well as a short under-camera animation demonstration using paint on glass. Micah's work was displayed both as individual frames and as full animated sequences.
Learn More
Visit Micah Goldstein’s Website to explore more of her animation and printmaking projects.
The Kasahara Gabriola Trust Artist Residency–learn more about the residency program and past visiting artists on the Gabriola Arts Council website.
Follow Micah on Instagram for behind-the-scenes look at her latest analogue explorations.