05/28/2026
Award news!
We are delighted to announce the recipient of the 2026 Vancouver Biennale “Art Attack” Award of Excellence in Visual Art at Emily Carr University of Art + Design in Vancouver:
Hailey Hyeonji Park, BFA: THE BREATH MOON JAR (3D printed ceramic, breath sensor, real-time sound and visual, Arduino-based sound sensor)
Hailey’s artwork is a “techno-mystical interactive installation that reinterprets the traditional Korean Moon Jar as a sacred vessel for human breath. Where the original Moon Jar was a vessel for moonlight, this work transforms the act of breathing into a generative field of light and sound. When a participant exhales into the dark interior of the jar, the stillness awakens: breath becomes vibration, vibration scatters into light, and light unfolds across the room like a cosmos being born.” — Hailey Hyeonji Park
The Degree Exhibition Jury also awarded an honourable mention to Hyewon Lee, BFA, for WALTZ OF THE WIND (wood, metal, acrylic rod, paper, thread, wire, DC motors, motor speed controller modules).
It was a pleasure for some of our team to meet Hailey and Hyewon at Emily Carr University’s THE SHOW, an exhibition that presented the work of more than 450 graduating students researching, experimenting, innovating, and creating across multiple disciplines—painting, sculpture, performance, interaction design, animation, film, and sound.
While the Vancouver Biennale extends congratulations to all the 2026 graduates and best wishes to Emily Carr University on its momentous centenary, we reiterate our elation in being one of the community supporters of the next generation of artists as they embark on the next chapter of their artistic journey.
In 2014, Kirsten Larsen created the Vancouver Art Attack Award for Excellence in Visual Art at Emily Carr University. In 2024, in appreciation of Kirsten’s support of community arts programming, her founding of the Vancouver Biennale Young Ambassadors group, and her ongoing support of the Vancouver Biennale’s mandate where public art is a catalyst for dialogue, community engagement, and social action, the Vancouver Biennale established a new iteration of the award to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the “Art Attack” Award and the hundredth anniversary of Emily Carr University.
