An artists’ tour of Been there twice, haven’t got there yet (the space behind a thin screen, and prying eyes) with painters Russna Kaur and Azadeh Elmizadeh as they discuss their shared approaches to exploring abstraction, pattern, and personal memory.
Meet the Artists
Azadeh Elmizadeh (b. 1987) is a Toronto-based, Iranian-Canadian painter whose works shift between figuration and abstraction, reflecting movements and techniques that span formal and historical precedents, from colour field painting to Persian miniatures. Elmizadeh holds a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Guelph (2020), a Bachelor of Fine Arts from OCAD University (2016), and a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Design from Tehran University (2010) and has exhibited both nationally and internationally.
Russna Kaur (b. 1991, Brampton, Ontario) is a painter currently living and working in Vancouver, British Columbia. Kaur completed a Bachelor of Arts at the University of Waterloo (2013) and a Master of Fine Arts at Emily Carr University of Art + Design (2019). She is the recipient of the Takao Tanabe Painting Prize (2020) and the IDEA Art Award (2020).
She has exhibited works nationally at institutions including the Kamloops Art Gallery (2021), Remai Modern in Saskatoon, SK (2023), Vancouver Art Gallery (2024), Audain Art Museum in Whistler, BC (2024), College Art Galleries at the University of Saskatchewan (2025) and internationally at Galerie Isa in Mumbai, India (2023) and Gajah Gallery in Yogyakarta, Indonesia (2024).
Kaur has been an artist-in-residence at the Burrard Arts Foundation (2020) in Vancouver, the Centrum Emerging Artist Residency (2020) in Port Townsend, Washington, an Independent Artist Residency in Los Angeles, California (2024) and the Wassaic Project in New York (2025), and the Annandale Artist Residency on Prince Edward Island (2025).
Kaur was commissioned to create public artwork for the Translink Art Columns in the City of Richmond, BC (2018), Boren Banner Series at the Frye Art Museum, Seattle, WA (2021), Peel Art Gallery, Museum and Archives in Brampton, ON (2022) and Square Nine Developments in Burnaby, BC (2026).
Kaur’s work is held in numerous private, corporate, and institutional collections including the TD Bank Collection, RBC Art Collection, Audain Art Museum, the Vancouver Art Gallery, the Surrey Art Gallery, and the Gordon Smith Gallery of Canadian Art.