Bria Fernandes is an emerging artist that specializes in figurative painting. She uses silences and omissions in her work to open a space for discourse. Silence, omissions, and exclusion are tools that can characterize oppression or vulnerability and be depicted in her imagery.
Fernandes's figures are often painted in a pause of self-reflection, somber with no expression. They may look like they are waiting in a non-place enforced to sit or stand, sometimes engaged in a manic movement that seems staged or in odd positions. She paints what she believes is the voice of silence, what it feels like to be silenced or invisible as a Black person.
Born in Ottawa, Ontario, she lives in Winnipeg, Manitoba. She recently completed her BFA at Alberta University of the Arts, Calgary. She was also enrolled at the University of Manitoba’s School of Fine Art in Winnipeg.