Having graduated in 2009 holding a BFA from the Ontario College of Art and Design (OCAD), Jacub Gagnon is one of Toronto’s great emerging contemporary artists. Jacub is known for his curious backgrounds of void space and whimsical representations of naive fauna, which are placed at bizarre odds with human objects.

Through the use of meticulous blending, layers, and remarkable detail, Jacub tells the story of a world that is sweet as well as disturbing, a showcase of how humans manipulate and borrow from nature. Using small brushes and handling them as he would a pencil, Jacub is able to achieve an illustrative quality that edges into the peculiar world of Pop Surrealism. This colourful, almost child-like fantasy renders the troubling issues that face the habitats and species of our time into otherworldly depictions that capture the imagination.

Several issues are at play. The challenges confronting our oceans are intertwined and overlapping, which makes them even more difficult to address and places additional strain on marine species and habitats.