Murray Siple

Murray Siple (b. 1970 Canada) began drawing as early as age 2. All art materials inspired him in his youth as did the analog technology of the 70’s and 80’s. He’d record conversations on cassette recorders, make pause VCR tapes off the TV and play them at parties, and take Polaroids and display them in appropriated gallery spaces in his hometown of Kamloops.

He was accepted into Emily Carr University of Art and Design in 1990 and began to immediately experiment mixing painting with technology (speakers behind paintings, projections into ice). A need for art school finances opened Murray’s skills with cameras to becoming a pioneer in producing, directing, filming, and editing snowboard and skateboard videos. His videos from the early 90’s went from covering local riders to traveling the world filming the industries top professionals all in a span of a few short years.

At the beginning of a bright career, Murray was involved in a high speed motor vehicle accident combined with an emergency room mistake that left him a quadriplegic. In rehabilitation Murray immediately began drawing again. His drawing led him to design, a way to express how he needed things adapted for him from ramps to bathrooms to clothing. He built an adapted house in North Vancouver that gained international press for combining modern design with barrier free access. Living in that home led him to writing and directing “Carts of Darkness”, a National Film Board of Canada production.