Judy Chartrand is a contemporary artist of Manitoba Cree heritage currently based in Vancouver. Chartrand grew up in the notoriously disadvantaged urban corridor of Vancouver’s Downtown East Side. From a young age, Chartrand held an interest in ceramics and painting. Her work contains rich elements of ready-made appropriations and repurposed materials.

Chartrand’s practice is characterized by a keen interest in social circuits of value, in both art and consumer society. Using the humour of appropriation with a cutting cynicism, Chartrand’s work exposes urgent issues around racism, ignorance and privilege. Often dealing with pre-existing formulas in the way of found-objects and art historical references, Chartrand complicates the reading of these materials by adding her own layers. The work of Judy Chartrand is in several private collections across Canada.