About

 

 Amanda Imsland (formerly Emsland) was born in The Pas, MB and grew up surrounded by boys, nature, wild animals and guns attached to men in uniforms. Despite her efforts to become “one of the boys”, her desire for textiles, dance, lipstick, adventure, culture, and something bigger than herself got the best of her. Longing to be draped in exotic fabrics, ears tickled by foreign languages, culture and dance from far away lands, she travelled, explored, got really uncomfortable in her skin and gave birth to someone new.

Inside she feels like an African Queen or better yet…Robert Redford’s character from “Out of Africa” or even better yet.. Diane Fosse. She’s a Mermaid Goddess, a Rhythmic gymnast who missed her chance at the Gold Medal, Madonna’s potential best friend, Annie Oakley, Mother Theresa, an undiscovered host for Lonely Planet circa 1998, Alexander McQueen, a poet who didn’t even know it, Wayne Gretzky, a character from “Call The Midwife”, a Trapper’s Festival Fur Queen (who also missed her chance at the crown!) and an alternate front woman for Led Zeppelin, which, as it sounds…..is exhausting! All these lives to live and only one body do it in.

In earlier years, Amanda earned her BScN from the University of Alberta and focused on Women’s Reproductive Health, even becoming an Intra-Uterine Inseminator and “fathering” many babies. All the while a deep longing for something else tugged at her heart. After 37 years of yearning to be taken seriously, she decided to give birth to herself and enrolled at The Kootenay School for the Arts, studying Textile Design and Construction with Angelika Werth. Her life began to take the shape of something she could recognize as her own and she went on to live in contentment with all of her selves!

Amanda is an artist who lives with disabilities. She uses self-expression and art for healing purposes. Using existing fabrics and found objects, she creates elaborate, multifaceted designs to tell a story. Nothing makes her insides crinkle with joy more than intricate, detailed, well crafted, colourful, tailored pieces of clothing. She also loves throwing paint, dancing, performing, hoola hooping, animals, spending time underwater and being alone.

Her work recently won multiple awards at The Art of Adornment Juried Art Show (2020) in Rossland, BC. She is honored to have been selected for the Manitoba Rural and Northern Juried Art Show (2020) and to be showing in her home province.