Taryn Goodwin (she/they), BFA, is a Queer, Neurodivergent, award-winning Canadian abstract artist, community organizer, and writer whose visual practice explores the intersection of care, participation, and materiality. Known for their joyful approach to art making through the use of color, fluid composition, and intuitive mark-making, Goodwin’s work invites intimate, sensory engagement through abstraction as a transformative and communicative language.
A graduate of Emily Carr University of Art + Design, with a BFA in Critical and Cultural Studies and a minor in Social Practice and Community Engagement, Goodwin’s work is deeply informed by their lived experience as a Queer and Disabled artist. Working across painting, drawing, and installation, their process balances spontaneity and control — layering washes, rhythmic lines, and bold color groupings to create dynamic, tactile compositions that resonate with feeling and movement.
In parallel with their studio practice, Goodwin is committed to education, access, and collective care. Their work often extends into community-engaged projects that center LGBTQ2S+ experiences and challenge systemic barriers in art and academic spaces. Through teaching, organizing, and advocacy, they reimagine learning environments that affirm all bodies and identities.
Goodwin is the recipient of multiple awards, including the 2022 Lieutenant Governor’s Medal for Inclusion & Democracy, ECU Alumni Association’s Graduate Award for Community Engagement, a 2022 BC Arts Council Community-Engaged Arts Scholarship, and a 2020 Sobey Art Award nomination.
They are currently leading a two-year community-research initiative through the Canada Council for the Arts’ Sector Innovation and Development Grant, focused on supporting artists receiving Persons with Disabilities (PWD) benefits and building long-term systemic change in the arts.
Based on the unceded traditional territory of the K’ómoks First Nation, Goodwin creates joy contributing to community-rooted, care-informed expressive arts spaces for all ages.
