Gwen van Schaik

Gwen van Schaik was born on the isle of Java, Indonesia.  Her early years were spent in war upheaval and concentration camps with her mother.  At age four, both went to Holland, where Gwen lived until her twenties.  She then moved to Montreal, worked in the publishing industry in N.Y.C., completed university in Toronto, traveled widely, and eventually settled in Victoria, B.C.

In Victoria Gwen began exploration into her creative side.  She taught herself to paint on silk in old European tradition and techniques.  Presently, printmaking is her focus and passion.

Gwen’s silks and prints are symbolic, metaphorical, and whimsical in nature.  Her imagery is inspired by Carl Jung’s  archetypes, her work with people afflicted with mental illness, and a search to bring light into her own shadow self.