“My work is instinctual. When I paint I do not sketch, I simply begin. I am inspired by the stories of others, and my own as well as by my process. The drum of ink dancing across a fresh stretch of canvas. A slow kaleidoscope bleeding into the weave. Each stroke of my brush is an experience and the building up and burning/cutting/and scraping away of layers is an event. Wandering the topography of my work reunites me with my young curious self. Making art is a devotional practice for me, that brings me into a deeper connection with the whispers of my heart, that call me out beyond the boundaries of my mind. Letting go of the safe shoreline of familiar ideas, just long enough to grasp onto new insights…is a kind of humbling madness that holds the pearly hope of new wisdom. I paint to let go, and in the letting go there I am.

Life makes more sense to me when I am making art.” 

- Deseré Pressey

 

Deseré lives and creates in Calgary alongside her three Children. 

Her work is collected locally and internationally. Her training in death midwifery and art therapy helped her to better understand her own healing experiences of the arts, and inform her as a guide for others to heal through art making. Deseré has a passion for learning, and finds nature and all her seasons to be her greatest teacher.

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Deseré had the privilege of being awarded a month long residency and scholarship prize to the Chateaux Orqueveaux in France. Her work has the distinction of being included in the Imago Mundi, Biennale di Venezia collection, The Fairmont Banff Springs private collection, and continues to be favourably reviewed by internationally acclaimed art critics.

 

Creating immersive multi sensory art experiences for small and large scale gatherings is a passion, that she's brought into spaces such as Telus Spark, and Contemporary Calgary.

 

As a frequency artist, and meditation guide at Rejuvalize Spa, she builds custom rituals and soundscapes using crystal bowls, spoken word poetry and curated music. She calls these bespoke experiences Sound+SOMA.