Maya Chartier (Akassiyah) is a francophone artist who spends her time between Whitehorse and Haines Junction, Yukon, Canada. Besides her artistic projects, she works as a wildlife technician in the Arctic. Science is the main source of inspiration for her art practice – medicinal and rare plants, northern wildlife, celestial bodies, forest and marine ecosystems are the main subjects of her paintings. Her work expresses her spiritual relationship with nature and illustrates the connection between living beings, using mainly watercolors, inks and gouache. When she is not working in her studio, she is in the mountains, skiing or hiking with her dog Oslo.
Akassiyah is a member of the Yukon Art Society. View her profile here!
Akassi Yah is a traditional Ivorian name I received from an elder of a small village north of Yamoussoukro. To honour and welcome in her home me she gave me two names according to her cultural heritage: Akassi because I was born a Sunday, and Yah, as a gift from herself as it this is her own name.
I respectfully acknowledge that I live, work and paint on the Traditional Territory of the Kwanlin Dün First Nation, the Ta'an Kwäch'än Council and the Champagne and Aishihik First Nations.