Aurora Borealis by uOttawa student Ana Fox with uOttawa VP Research  Julie St-Pierre
Aurora Borealis, artwork by Ana Fox
Since 2021, during the holiday season, the University of Ottawa’s Office of the Vice-President, Research and Innovation (OVPRI) holds a contest to select an original artwork, on the theme of Innovation, created by an undergraduate or graduate student at uOttawa for its official holiday greeting card.

This year, the OVPRI selected Aurora Borealis, a striking plasma-cut stainless-steel sculpture (10 ft x 22 in) created by HRREC student member Ana Fox, an undergraduate student in Fine Arts with a minor in Law. Hundreds of greeting cards featuring her artwork were sent out during the holiday season.

In Aurora Borealis, stainless steel, a material often associated with weight and industrial solidity, takes on a sense of movement and atmospheric lightness. This transformation embodies the spirit of innovation: not only developing new tools or methods but also reimagining what existing materials can become when their inherent properties are seen through a different lens.

This is the second time one of Ana’s works has been featured on OVPRI’s holiday greeting card; her digital artwork Diversity in Innovation was selected in 2023.