Ann Kipling

Born in 1934 in Victoria, British Columbia, Kipling began attending the Vancouver School of Art (now Emily Carr University of Art and Design) in 1955, graduating with honours in 1960. Always a fiercely independent artist, she made drawing on paper the exclusive focus of her practice almost from the beginning, a choice she adhered to for the rest of her life. Reflecting on her identification with the medium of drawing, she once stated: “Drawing is exploratory. It defines and clarifies a visual idea. It is also the delight in mark making, the magical connection between things seen and described, the direct encounter.”

The artist also attended the Institute Allende in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. Kipling had numerous solo exhibitions, including a retrospective at the Vancouver Art Gallery in 1995. In 2004, she was the first recipient of the Audain Prize for Lifetime Achievement. Kipling’s drawings and prints are included in public and private collections in Canada and abroad, including those of the National Gallery of Canada, the Kamloops Art Gallery and the Vancouver Art Gallery. She died in late August 2023.