Kirsten A. Miranda is a Philippine-born queer and disabled artist, researcher, and trauma-informed educator currently based in Montreal, where they are pursuing an MA in Art Education at Concordia University. Raised in the cultural contexts of the Philippines, Singapore, and Chicago, they have a cross-cultural upbringing that informs an ongoing interest in perception, spirituality, and the ways in which meaning is shaped across different social and sensory environments. 

Kirsten holds a BFA in Painting and Drawing from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and a Certificate in Clinical Massage Therapy from the SOMA Institute. Through volunteer work, advocacy, workshops, tutoring, and teaching, they have collaborated with mental health organizations and community initiatives in both Chicago and the Philippines.

Their current MA research focuses on the pedagogical, multisensory, and affective dimensions of grief-centred video games and their potential applications to grief care within academic institutions. More broadly, their research interests include semiotics, accessibility and media studies, critical plant studies and posthumanism, speculative futures, decolonization and Indigenization, critical disability studies, and feminist resistance through esotericism and occult practices. Through research-creation, narrative, and sensory inquiry, Kirsten examines alternative modes of learning, care, and knowledge-making that emerge through ambiguity, ritual, play, and affective experience — much of which they intend to continue exploring through future doctoral research. 

Alongside their studies, Kirsten has worked as a teaching assistant and currently serves as president of the Art Education Graduate Student Association at Concordia University. Beginning in Summer 2026, they will also teach as a continuing education instructor at the Ottawa School of Art. 

 

Website: www.kirstenmiranda.com 

Instagram: ohitskirs.art