Onya Hogan-Finlay

Onya Hogan–Finlay (born 1977) is a Canadian interdisciplinary artist, and small business owner. Her collaborative art projects focus on queer history, research, education, and community outreach. She is also a sea salt farmer, and a co-owner of OK Sea Salt.[1] She is based in LaHave in Nova Scotia.[2]

Early life and education

Hogan-Finlay was born in 1977, in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada.[3] She is of Canadian settler ancestry.[4] She is queer.[2]

She received her Bachelor's in Fine Arts degree in 2000 from Concordia University in Montreal, and Master's in Fine Arts degree in 2011 from the University of Southern California.[4]

Selected works

Hogan-Finlay was a founding member of project MOBILELIVRE–BOOKMOBILE project (2001–2005), alongside Courney Dailey, Leila Portavef, and Ginger Brooks Takahashi.[5] They remodeled an Airstream trailer and filled it with books, zines, and art pieces, and toured the United States and Canada.[5] Hogan-Finlay describes it as a "grass-roots, scrappy project" made up of volunteers; it was a project with a goal to inspire interest in art and increase media literacy.[6] With a collection of art and magazines, they toured the US and Canada.[5] Hogan-Finlay is a co-editor of "The BOOKMOBILE Book", a book documenting the project released in 2014.[7]

Hogan-Finlay's MFA thesis at University of Southern California included an exhibition, titled My Taste in Men (2011), featuring art from the ONE Archives.[8] While the archive had a plethora of art from gay men, the lack of art from women and transgender people inspired her to create a showcase with erotic art from gay men as well as intentional empty space for excluded identities from the community.[8] The center of her exhibit had a wallpaper featuring Reed Erickson, a transgender philanthropist who helped fund the ONE archives, with the wallpaper acting as a representation of his background contributions to the ONE Archives.[8]

Hogan-Finlay continues to make art while living in Nova Scotia. "Apple Obscura" (2022) is a large inflatable apple hung from an 18-foot ladder.[9] Inside the apple is a camera obscura, from which observers can peer through to see their surroundings upside down.[9]

Personal life

Hogan-Finlay is married to Kim Kelly, who holds a degree in business.[2] In 2021, the couple moved to the LaHare Islands in Nova Scotia and began their sea salt business, OK Sea Salt. Calling themselves the "salty dykes", the couple takes pride in running a queer woman-owned business.[1] Part of their revenue is allocated to be donated to charities promoting equality and social justice.[2]

References

  1. 1 2 "Salt sorceresses of Bush Island taste success in Atlantic Canada's latest boom in mineral wealth". The Globe and Mail. March 18, 2023. Retrieved February 9, 2026.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "The Magic of Sea Salt". Nova Scotia Community College (NSCC). Retrieved February 9, 2026.
  3. ↑ "Apple Obscura". Art In The Open (Art à ciel ouvert). Retrieved February 9, 2026.
  4. 1 2 "Visual Arts Nova Scotia - Onya Hogan-Finlay". Visual Arts Nova Scotia. Retrieved February 9, 2026.
  5. 1 2 3 Eler, Alicia (February 19, 2014). "A Bookmobile Becomes a Book". Hyperallergic. Retrieved February 9, 2026.
  6. ↑ Levine, Rachel. "The Book About The Bookmobile. Mobilivre's Kickstarter Campaign". Montreal Rampage.
  7. ↑ Dailey, Courtney; Hogan-Finlay, Onya; Pourtavaf, Leila. "Projet Mobilivre-Bookmobile Project Book". Justseeds. Retrieved February 9, 2026.
  8. 1 2 3 Cvetkovich, Ann; Frantz, David Evans; Locks, Mia, eds. (2011). Cruising the archive: queer art and culture in Los Angeles, 1945-1980. Los Angeles, Calif: ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives. ISBN 978-0-615-49724-2.
  9. 1 2 "Shary Boyle, Outside the Palace of Me – Espace". Érudit. Retrieved February 5, 2026.
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