How Artist Larissa Maxwell Bridges Story, Identity, and Landscape in her Art

In this interview for our Arts to Hearts Project website, we sit down with artist Larissa Maxwell, an abstract acrylic and encaustic painter from Canada’s Pacific West Coast. In it, she shares the inspiration behind her immersive art, her Italian Nonna’s lasting influence, and how her creative process is rooted in community, land, and healing.

Through her thoughtful words, Larissa opens up about how memory, resilience, and connection shape her work, down to the beeswax and salt she uses. We also gain insight into her ongoing Phd in ethical storytelling and how she is utilising her art to spark conversations about reconciliation, climate change, and collective care. This isn’t just an artist’s story—it’s an invitation to reflect, remember, and reimagine what art can do in the world.

And guess what? Larissa Maxwell is one of the featured artists in our magazine, Issue#8, alongside many talented artists worldwide. Want a sneak peek? Grab your copy now from our shop and enjoy the fantastic artwork created by this global Community.

https://shop.artstoheartsproject.com/products/the-creative-process-book

I am an acrylic and encaustic abstract artist from the Pacific West Coast of Canada/Turtle Island. I specialise in creating large-scale, public, immersive experiences that invite viewers to pause, reflect, and delve into the complex layers of unspoken stories. Grounded in place-based storytelling, my work explores the delicate intersections of joy, human connection, and ecological interaction, uncovering hidden truths beneath the surface. Each piece reflects our personal, collective, and natural complexities. Through my art, I challenge the viewer to engage with the silence between words, explore the emotional landscapes of memory and resilience, and uncover the stories often left untold. My work is a dynamic fusion of technique, curiosity, and the restless pursuit of meaning in the spaces between abstraction and narrative.

1. You create in memory of your Nonna, who gave you your first studio. How has her influence shaped your art and journey?  

My Nonna’s (Italian Grandmother) influence has been central to my art and journey, grounding me in her legacy of strength, love, and storytelling. Italian communities are matriarchal, and she was a mighty pillar in our lives, embodying the values of generosity, service, directness, and fierce love. We lovingly called her “Grand Central Station” because everything in the family went through her. In a relationship with her, I found a reflection of my personality and a deeper understanding of myself. Her support of my art, alongside that of my mother and extended family, provided me with the foundation to build my work.

I still feel her presence in the studio, where she would sit behind me, watching every brushstroke I made, offering her quiet and sometimes loud encouragement. This connection inspired my 2022 exhibition, Over My Shoulder, a public storytelling project commemorating her passing and launching a family scholarship fund in her honour. To date, the fund has granted over $15,000 to Survivors of human trafficking to access entry-level education support. Through her gaze and the wisdom she shared, I learned how to weave my own story into the fabric of my art, grounding my work in the courage she embodied.

Through her gaze and the wisdom she shared, I learned how to weave my own story into the fabric of my art, grounding my work in the courage she embodied.

2.  Your work blends technical mastery with storytelling—how did your creative curiosity evolve into this distinct creative voice?  

Early on, I grappled with the notion that sharing every story could feel exploitative, like I owed my collectors more than just the work itself. I watched pieces of myself walk out the door with every purchase. Over time, I evolved to build a conceptual research foundation for my collections that goes beyond simply telling my own stories. I aim to create work that invites viewers into a shared experience, transcending the transactional exchange of art to one where meaning and narrative are co-created.

In my 2024 Amore de la Terra (Love of the Land) exhibition sponsored by Oxford Properties, viewers were invited to identify significant landscapes and talkback sessions with Indigenous storyteller and artist Nicole Mandryk and me. Together, we explored their relationship to land in the context of climate change. This process allowed for a deeper, collaborative engagement that extends beyond the art, leaving the studio—it becomes a shared journey of connection, reflection, and transformation.

3.    Your use of materials like beeswax, shellac, and salt is unique—what draws you to these experimental techniques?  

My studio is a wild, messy place that allows for total expression, which is essential to my process as an abstract artist. I relish in the unknown and the uncontrolled—introducing materials like salt, beeswax, and shellac brings a joyful unpredictability that fuels my work. Salt, for example, acts as both an unpredictable element and a constraint, pushing me to explore new possibilities. I also love collecting materials like broken twigs, salt from the Salish Sea, and mesh from a bag of oranges, integrating these found objects into or imprinting them on my work to add mark-making, meaning, and texture layers.

4. Living and working on Squamish territory, how do reconciliation and land stewardship influence your creative process?  

Living and working on the unceded Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (The Squamish First Nation) territory challenges me to unlearn and decolonise my practice and how I engage with the land. Storytelling is central to this process—art engages with the oral traditions passed down through generations. I collaborate with and have relationships with Indigenous Nations and artists, listening and learning about land-based practices, histories, and values. I’m committed to taking only what I need from the land, including encaustic techniques that utilise beeswax, sap, and wood. Reconciliation, for me, is a process of reconciling the heart, recognising and speaking the truth about the past and present treatment of Indigenous people in this country, while ensuring my presence and work contribute to healing and transformation for future generations to come.

Art, when aligned with purpose, has the power to disrupt, provoke, and inspire change—whether in individuals or society as a whole.

Larissa Maxwell

5.   You’re pursuing a PhD in ethical storytelling. How does that academic lens intersect with your art practice?  

I’ve always been a lover of great stories, and I’ve also seen previous stories be maligned, co-opted, and stolen. My Phd work at the University of British Columbia aims to develop a framework for more effective and ethical storytelling that benefits both people and the planet, and my art serves as a visual representation of the stories I carry—stories that are often layered, complex, and difficult to express in words. Through my paintings and exhibitions, I explore untold narratives, focusing on the emotional and spiritual truths beneath the surface, and create space for reflection and dialogue.

The academic lens of ethical storytelling challenges me to think critically about the power dynamics in art and narrative. It guides me to create work that is not only personal but also socially engaged and responsive to the stories of others, creating opportunities for my viewers to co-create with me. It’s a constant reminder that art and storytelling are powerful tools for change, connection, and healing and are sacred.

6.    From scholarships to ecological restoration, your art supports meaningful causes—why is community impact essential to you?  

Community impact is essential because I live my life purposefully, driven by a commitment to service and stewardship. I use art as a tool for social and environmental change, helping to initiate difficult conversations about issues such as climate change, loss, and the challenges we have faced in recent years. When aligned with purpose, art can disrupt, provoke, and inspire change, whether in individuals or society. As Cesar A. Cruz said, “Art should comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable.” This drives me to create work that challenges the status quo while offering a space for reflection and healing. By connecting my art to causes that matter, I aim to foster transformation both within the art world and in the broader community.

Larissa Maxwell’s art is more than just visual—it’s an emotional, layered journey that bridges memory, place, and community. Through her use of encaustic, acrylic, salt, and found materials, she brings together the physical and the spiritual, the personal and the collective. Her work invites us to pause and reflect on the unspoken stories we all carry—about land, identity, loss, and resilience. From honouring her Nonna’s strength to advocating for healing through ethical storytelling, Larissa’s journey teaches us how art can become a space for transformation, connection, and purpose. We walk away from her story and are reminded that when rooted in truth and service, creativity can heal both self and society.

To learn more about Larissa, click the following links to visit her profile.

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