No
New
Friends
Vancouver
?
No New Friends Vancouver ?
A study in challenging the idea of an allegedly unfriendly city through the portraits of its people, my friends and myself. “No New Friends Vancouver” was the first moniker I heard of the city in the first week I moved here in 2018. Honestly, as an extrovert who moved here all the way from Indonesia (arguably the country with the friendliest people on earth), that was the most daunting thing about this city. I couldn’t imagine a version of life without a big community of family and friends, the version I’ve drearily experienced in my first few years in Vancouver, all the more amplified by the COVID of it all.
The moniker rang the loudest through those who flaked on plans, those who needed scheduling a date approximately 76 business days in advance, and those who gave you false hope with the “omg we should do this again soon” and then ghosted you immediately. It seems the city already consists of fixed modules of friend groups, and it is inherently uncool to be the outsider wanting to be a part of it. Believe me, as a millennial, I know that being seen as a tryhard is my generation’s utmost fear.
At first, I accepted it, albeit begrudgingly. I often joked that I had given up a social life in exchange for a better air and water quality index, as well as a domestic life with my then-partner, whom I moved to Vancouver for. Even though I still firmly believe that I upgraded my air and water intake, the marriage didn’t work out. With my family and friends being half a world away, I realized my utmost fear is not being seen as a tryhard, it’s loneliness.
David (2026)
pencil, marker pen, acrylic & beads on canvas
Annisa (2026)
pencil, marker pen, acrylic & beads on canvas
Bri with Erwin & Kiki (2026)
pencil, marker pen, acrylic & beads on canvas
Adelyn (2026)
pencil, marker pen, acrylic & beads on canvas
Joyce (2026)
pencil, marker pen, acrylic & beads on canvas
Tokyo (2026)
pencil, marker pen, embroidery, acrylic & beads on canvas
Nikki (2026)
pencil, acrylic & beads on canvas
I started this series with a self-portrait. On one gloomy evening, when it was my ex’s turn to have the dog, I picked up a canvas for the first time in a decade and started drawing in front of a mirror - witnessing, studying, and capturing myself. Before I was even finished with my portrait, I already knew I wanted to do portraits of my friends. So it began, and I couldn’t stop painting - I painted late into the dawn, usually after a night out with the very same people I painted, and it felt like a bonus time I got to be with them.
“Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born.”
Suguru & Yasumi (2026)
pencil, acrylic & beads on canvas
Adelyn has the best, biggest, strongest smile in the world, practically bursting with sincerity and joy - even in the hardest of times, especially then.
I just want to be David when I grow up. From his self-assuredness, conviviality, body of work, and activism to his designer bag collection. I’m such a fan, and HE wants to be MY friend?! Shut up.
Tanu is a warm summer day personified. Everything about her, the way she talks, smiles and hugs, radiates blooms of warmth that are only specific to her.
No one in my life works as hard and as ambitiously as Terrence, so I really treasure the rare times when he’s able to relax and just enjoy life together, truly one of the best people to eat and drink with.
Tokyo is my soul dog. Even though she ONLY listens when there’s a promise of treats and took an impossibly too much space in bed for a small dog, she saved my life and still is the best decision I’ve ever made in my life. She’s still an ungrateful little freeloader, though.
Mary (2026)
pencil, marker pen, acrylic, chain & beads on canvas
Amy (2026)
pencil, marker pen, acrylic, chain & beads on canvas
Tanu (2026)
pencil, marker pen, acrylic & beads on canvas
Terrence (2026)
pencil, marker pen, acrylic & beads on canvas
Find someone who looks at you the way Jess looks at me when I bring her snacks, and who will also fight creepy men off when needed.
With her big backpack and multiple outfit changes, Maj is the definition of beautiful chaos and I am sat for it.
* No New Friends Vancouver? is currently an ongoing project. Stay tuned for additions to the series, and upcoming exhibition in 2027.
So, I put myself out there - hard. I committed myself to a quest to find kindred spirits to build connections and community with. From striking up a random drunken conversation with a stranger at a club, trying to charm my friend’s friends with my silly anecdotes, to meeting new people for coffee dates through friendship apps. Long story short, this series of artworks is of those kindred spirits I met and now have become a part of this big, beautiful, ever-growing community of friends in Vancouver. Now, I rarely feel lonely.
Jess (2026)
pencil, acrylic & beads on canvas
Bri is wonderfully quirky and a bit mischievous, and conversations with her often tickled my brain.
Yasumi and Suguru are two of the nicest, most hospitable people I know. They also do the best Japanese home cooking I’ve ever had.
The true girl’s girl. With Nikki in my corner, I always feel that anything I want to do and achieve is actually within reach.
The nicest thing a friend said about me is how they love the fact that my story always ends with something about my family and friends. So, I will conclude this artist statement with a bit about each of them.
Kristin is the colour of my life. Once, I drew an ideal best friend when I was a little girl, and somehow she manifested in Kristin. No one can bring the creativity, the playful and the whimsy out of me as she does.
I don’t think I’ve ever felt so connected so quickly, and on so many levels to someone, as I do with Mary. Especially when it comes to food and cooking, whenever I cook something good, she’s the first person I want to taste it.
Joyce is the most unflinchingly honest person I’ve ever met. She has a particular way to open up to me that makes me want to do the same, and somehow we’d end up laughing about the darkest shit in our lives and feel better about it.
I think my heart has been waiting for a heart like Amy’s for a long time. The wild, sensitive and loving heart that persistently cares and is generous to a fault.
Kristin (2026)
pencil, marker pen, acrylic & beads on canvas
Maj (2026)
pencil, acrylic & beads on canvas