About Elaine.

Elaine Chan-Dow is a Chinese Canadian transdisciplinary artist, researcher and educator whose work explores the entanglements between land, culture, and ecology. Her current artwork is grounded in sustainable and site-responsive practices, her installations often emerge from foraged, repurposed, or cultivated materials that reflect the diasporic experience and the ecological politics of place. Working at the intersection of plants, memory, migration, and environment, Elaine’s projects incorporate participatory methods and storytelling through both visual and sensory forms. Her ongoing research, supported by the Ontario Graduate Scholarship and the SSHRC Fellowship, focuses on plant histories, herbal knowledge, and the embodied transmission of culture through food and land-based practices. 

Elaine is also the co-founder of Edgeland Collective, a creative initiative dedicated to transforming urban wilds into spaces for ecological and cultural regeneration in the east end of Toronto and was the Chair of Modern Fuel Artist-Run Centre in Kingston Ontario.

Her recent exhibitions include Union Gallery, Agnes Art Centre, and ArtLab, Western University. Elaine is currently developing permaculture experiments and eco-art residency at her farm in Prince Edward County. She will also be participating in Nuit Blanche 2025 in Toronto. 

Elaine is currently also a researcher at Queen's University in Kingston, Canada and is completing her PhD in Culture Studies. Previously Elaine attained a BA from University of Toronto, BFA from Toronto Metropolitan University and an MFA from York University.