Briel Ana Simon (Montreal, 1986) is a self-taught pastelist. She has her BA in Philosophy from McGill University and did graduate studies in Aesthetics & Politics at the California Institute of the Arts. She takes her inspiration from cinema, art history, and her own life. She is mainly interested in how a woman's interior manifests itself and is portrayed in art history and visual culture. In her varying depictions of women, places and things, she imbues her pastels with a touch of humor and melancholia.