Building more just & sustainable futures through

CREATIVITY

& COMMUNITY

Sylvie Stojanovski (she/her) is an award-winning mixed media artist, creative facilitator & community organizer based in Tkarón:to/Toronto, Canada.

Welcome to all things earth, art + community.

Hi, I’m Sylvie

A painter, forager, and community builder with a deep love for the outdoors. My art is inspired by the myriad of relationships we have with the contemporary natural world—from the transience of reflections on water, to the complexity of memories of the land we hold from childhood.

Using materials I forage, like raw pigments and plants, alongside materials gifted by friends and family, I create abstract mixed-media paintings. Each piece becomes a collaboration with the materials I work with, reflecting the unique textures, rhythms, and stories held in my body, the land and the waters around us.

My journey into sustainable art began when I witnessed the river I grew up beside being polluted with motor oil. That moment shifted something in me. It changed how I think about our relationship with the earth. The earth is not something separate from us, but a living system we are part of and responsible for protecting.

Since then, my work has become a way to honour our relationships with the planet and explore what it means to be human within an ecosystem.

Whether you’re here to explore my artwork, learn to create with natural materials, or join a workshop, I hope you feel at home — and leave inspired to connect more deeply with yourself and the natural world.

Take a glimpse into my process.

  • Another 📸 from an incredible shoot with @gracegladwellphotography 

It’s the end of June. The end of Q2 + the beginning of summer. Regardless of how you slice it, it’s got me reflecting on how my work has evolved over the last few years. ✨

Stepping into the role of Co-Executive Director of @thestarfishca while continuing to nurture my creative practice has changed how I think about my work. For a while, I thought being an artist, an environmentalist, a facilitator, and a leader were separate parts of my life. Lately, I’ve realized they’re all different expressions of the same mission.

I’m interested in how creativity & community-building can help young people imagine & build more just and sustainable futures. 

+ That’s what I want to explore more here: reflections on nonprofit leadership, social impact, creative practice, community building, and the questions I’m grappling with along the way (+ there are a lot of them 🙃).

I’m on a journey to build a mission-driven life not by choosing between identities, but by integrating them together.

With gratitude & curiosity, 

Sylvie 🌱
  • Can’t believe it’s been two years since visiting Iceland for an environmental arts residency in Blönduós. 🤯 It’s cliché to say, but life moves so fast. This feels like a lifetime ago.

Traveling to a place and experiencing its culture leaves a mark on you. It etches its way into your being. I still think about the vast landscapes, the endless arctic summer light, and the feeling of standing in a place that seemed to stretch on forever.

Feeling grateful for that time of exploration, and for the person I was then: always wanting to be on the land, soaking up the sun, feeling infinite in the expansiveness of a field, standing on a cliffside, watching the sunset.

Wild to think it’s already been two years. 

Photo credits to @gabrielle.lacoste + special thanks to @kathleen.sheila.vaughan for coordinating such an incredible trip as a part of @concordia_arte’s Imagining Iceland Field School. 🙏🏻
  • starting this long weekend with a heart full of gratitude and awe. 🫢 

I recently did a shoot with @gracegladwellphotography, and her process is pure magic. ✨ I had a vision: making art with the river, in the river, barefoot with my work by the rocks—and she captured it so beautifully.

Grace has a gift for seeing and honouring people’s authentic selves, and it shows in every frame. 

Excuse me while I keep it 💯, making art that captures the feeling of the land, the sea, the sky through colour, & imagination.
  • She’s a graduate! 🎓

✅ Master of Arts in Art Education — complete!

After 2.5 years, I’m proud to share that I’ve completed my Master of Arts in Art Education, with a research focus in sustainable art-making. I’m officially a #CUGrad and #CUAlumni!

This degree is more than a piece of paper. It represents a time of deep transition in my life.

I moved out on my own. I established my own routines and work/life balance. I scaled work I love, and I deepened commitments to myself.

Along the way, I experienced a lot of loss — of friends and family I thought would be in my life for years to come. That’s been really hard, but I still carry them with me.

The weight of this moment isn’t lost on me. I’m the first in my family to earn a master’s degree. A hundred years ago, this path might not have even been within my ancestors’ realm of possibility, and yet, here I am—steeped in the grit, tenacity, and care they gifted me.

This part of my education journey was made possible through the generous support of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and Concordia University, who helped fund my studies. 🙏🏻 If you’re considering graduate studies or applying for scholarships, I’d be more than happy to share my experience.

I’ve always pursued education with one goal: to bring knowledge back to community. Today, I get to do exactly that in my ongoing work with @thestarfishca and in the Scarborough creative community, and for that, I’m so so grateful.

With love and gratitude 💜🫶🏻✨
  • 𝘞𝘪𝘴𝘥𝘰𝘮 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴. ✨

We don’t just inherit the struggles of those who came before us. 
We inherit their patience, resilience and hope. 
The quiet strength that carried them forward, 
and the wisdom beneath it all. 
Gifts. 

I first created this piece for my mom’s birthday in 2023. Since then, I’ve returned to it again, and again. Adding flowing flecks of gold, pink and purple.

Each layer is a reminder that…
- My ancestors are always with me.
- I am not alone. 
- Sometimes the most powerful thing is community.

This piece is dedicated to the mentors in my life who’ve held myself and my work with such tenderness, as I continue to grow. Thank you. 💗

🖼️ “Wisdom flows through generations” will be featured at a @fora.nfc event later this month that’s dedicated to uniting generations to create a better, more equitable future for all. 

With gratitude 💗
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#ArtAsAffirmation #WatercolourArt #MixedMediaArt
  • May flowers came early this year 🌼

Had the pleasure of leading an intergenerational Planting Seeds of Possibility workshop earlier this month at Scarborough Historical Museum. The program centred on themes of wellness, healing, and home. Participants chatted about the importance of recognizing our interconnectedness, as beings a part of a larger ecosystem. Together, we co-created this beautiful installation. ✨

A huge thanks to co-facilitator @franniepotts for taking the lead on priming and varnishing these pieces, and to Scarborough community members for bringing such open hearts to the creation process.

May our seeds of intention inspire hope and conversation beyond this blooming season. 

#PlantingSeedsOfPossibility #CommunityArt #PublicArt #CommunityCollaboration #IntergenerationalWorkshop #Scarborough #Art #ScarboroughArt #EcoArt #CoCreation #ArtTogether