A Growing Creative Landscape in Hamilton
Hamilton is often seen as Toronto’s quieter neighbour, but its creative community continues to grow in influence. Among the artists helping shape that landscape is Canadian Artist Monica Brinkman, a mixed-media painter whose work merges embodiment, feminist themes, and the lived experience of healing.
Brinkman grew up in Sarnia, raised by a mother and Nana who shared honest stories about the realities women face and encouraged independence, self-trust, and creative expression. Those early lessons eventually formed the foundation of her artistic voice, though their meaning deepened over time.
Rebuilding Her Life & Her Studio Practice
In 2019, Brinkman left an abusive relationship and began rebuilding her life, a period she describes as starting a second life inside the same body. During that time, she found herself in daily conversations with women whose stories differed in detail but echoed familiar themes of exhaustion, resilience, and rising again. Those shared experiences became the roots of FeministArt.ca, which she launched in 2022 as both a studio practice and a personal reclamation.
A Layered, Mixed-Media Approach
Her mixed-media process combines pencil crayon, ink, acrylic paint, collage, and moulding materials to create layered, textured paintings. Female figures in yoga poses appear throughout her work as archetypes rather than portraits, exploring introspection, tension, release, and the negotiation required in healing. Plant shadows, vibrant colour, and animal symbolism appear alongside these figures, drawing connections between inner emotion and the external environments we inhabit.
Art as Ritual and Emotional Grounding
Brinkman’s process is rooted in ritual. Journaling, meditation, and drawing help her enter an emotionally honest state before the first mark is made. What begins in grief, anger, or overwhelm often becomes steadied through the slow, layered act of painting. This approach mirrors her broader interest in shadow work: integrating the parts of oneself that were once avoided and giving them visual form.
Living in Hamilton and remaining closely connected to her family in Toronto, Brinkman positions her practice within a regional movement of artists redefining what it means to create outside major metropolitan centres. Through FeministArt.ca, she donates 15% of all sales to human rights causes, embedding activism into the structure of her practice. She is also training to become a yoga instructor and is frequently accompanied in the studio by her golden doodle, Olive Branch.
Created For Collectors Seeking Depth & Beauty
Brinkman’s work is not about presenting a polished version of healing. Instead, it captures the returning, the rebuilding, and the moments of clarity that arrive after the hardest days. Her paintings create space for pause, recognition, and emotional honesty, resonating with viewers seeking art that holds depth as well as beauty.
Discover more on Monica Brinkman’s Instagram: @femartbymonica
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