2022
A Sense of Flourishing
Sean Lee, Director of Programming of Tangled Art + Disability
Sean Lee (he/they) is an artist and curator exploring the notion of disability art as the last avant-garde. Orienting towards a “crip horizon”, he is interested in the transformative possibilities of crip community building and accessible curatorial practices that desire the ways disability can disrupt.
Sean is currently the Director of Programming at Tangled Art + Disability. He holds a B.A. in Arts Management and Studio from UTSC. Sean is also an independent curator, lecturer, and advisor, adding his insights and perspectives to conversations across Canada, the US, and internationally. Sean sits on numerous committees and serves on the board of the Toronto Arts Council and CARFAC Ontario, and is a member of the OAC’s Deaf and Disability Advisory Committee and Chair of TAC’s Visual and Media Arts Committee.
Intense Tactile
Jeremy Vandermeij, Executive Director of DesignTO
Jeremy Vandermeij is a designer of systems, interiors, furniture, and organizations. He has created and led for-profit, non-profit, and charitable businesses of various sizes. Jeremy is the Executive Director and Co-founder of DesignTO and has worked at Informa Canada, the Gladstone Hotel, TMU University, World Design Weeks, and George Brown College.
Dark Nights and Magical Lights
TOAF Team
Our team has put together a collection of works in the spirit of the season. We hope you tap into the magic of dark long nights and whimsical lights in during special time of the year.
Earthly Connections
Crystalynn Tarr, Artist
Crystalynn Tarr began her career painting in acrylics but with the desire for treading lightly on the land, she felt compelled to shift from purchasing plastic based, industrial coloured paints to soil based watercolours. It was a transition fraught with many experiments, failures and a lot of research in traditional painting methods.
Her work seeks to convey a deep sense of place; from the medium used to the subject matter. The process forces her to slow down, take time and watch the wonder of creation, be thankful for its existence, marvel at its provision and respect it as our temporary dwelling. Each colour used is rendered from the soil she forages near her home and in her travels, holding her memories in hue and tone. The pigments are collected by hand in small batches and processed into watercolours using traditional methods with deep gratitude and respect for this temporary dwelling. The process is as much part of the art as the paintings themselves.
Holiday Gifts
Meghan Yuri Young, Writer
Meghan Yuri Young is a writer, speaker, wellness consultant and mental health advocate. With nearly 15 years of experience in media, she has since branched off to focus on art initiatives, wellness and the mental health community — the latter through the founding of The Sad Collective. As a speaker and advocate, her goal is to not only promote happier, healthier lifestyles, but also awareness and activism, both individually and collectively.
Still, In Isolation
Hangama Amiri, Artist
Hangama Amiri works predominantly in textiles to examine notions of home, as well as the ways in which gender, social norms, and larger geopolitical conflict impact the daily lives of women, both in Afghanistan and in the diaspora. Her recent bodies of work have taken a new turn of narratives and a new lens on the domestic spaces created by the Afghan people as a response to political controls. Continuing to use textiles as the medium, Amiri searches to define, explore, and question these spaces. The figurative tendency in her work is due to her interest in the power of representation, especially of those objects that are ordinary to our everyday life, such as a passport, a vase, or celebrity postcards. Amiri holds an MFA from Yale University where she graduated in 2020 from the Painting and Printmaking Department. She received her BFA from NSCAD University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and is a Canadian Fulbright and Post-Graduate Fellow at Yale University School of Art and Sciences (2015-2016). Her work is exhibited nationally and internationally in New York City, Toronto, France, Italy, London (UK), and Sofia, Bulgaria. Amiri was also an artist-in-residence at the Banff Centre for Arts & Creativity (Fall 2017), Joya AiR Residency Program in Almería, Andalucía, Spain (Winter 2017), World of CO Residency program in Sofia, Bulgaria (Spring 2018), and at Long Road Projects in Jacksonville, Florida (Summer 2019).
Human Nature
Miranda Britton, Britton Gallery
Miranda Britton is a jeweller, multi-disciplinary artist and gallery owner based in Muskoka, Ontario. As a jeweller, Miranda creates pieces that explore the multitude of ways that humans converge with the natural world. Using abstracted and simplified representations of organic motifs, her pieces celebrate many facets of the natural world, reminding the wearer of their place within the natural order of things. Together with her father, Miranda opened the Britton Gallery in Bracebridge in late 2019 and the experience has re-invigorated her love of art in its many forms.
Materiality, Movement, Minimalism
Melanie Egan, Director of Craft & Design at Harbourfront Centre
Melanie Egan has over 35 years of experience in the field of craft and design. She is Director of Craft & Design at Harbourfront Centre; Canada’s foremost artist-in-residency devoted to ceramics, glass, textiles, jewellery and design. She is a curator, organizes symposia, lectures, writes, mentors and advocates for craft & design in Canada and internationally.
A gesture of…
Alex Jacobs-Blum, Artist and Curator
Alex Jacobs-Blum (Lower Cayuga of Six Nations/ German), photo-based artist and curator living in Ohròn:wakon (Hamilton, ON). Alex’s practice centres Indigeneity, reclamation, resilience and intergenerational love and healing while challenging colonial structures.
Land & Body As Memory
Zachari Logan, Artist
Canadian Artist Zachari Logan (b. Saskatoon, 1980) works mainly with large-scale drawing, ceramics and installation. Evolving a visual language exploring the intersections between identity, memory and landscape, and place, Logan re-wilds his body as an expression of queerness. Logan has exhibited widely throughout North America, Europe, and Asia, and is found in private and public collections worldwide, including; National Gallery of Canada, Art Gallery of Ontario, Remai Modern, McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Leslie-Lohman Museum, Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art (NMOCA), 21cMuseums Hotel Collection and Thetis Foundation, among others. Logan has attended many residencies; including Vienna’s Museums Quartier MQ21 Program, the International Studio & Curatorial Program in Brooklyn, Wave Hill Botanical Gardens Winter Workspace Program in the Bronx and was artist in residence at the Tom Thomson Shack at the McMichael Gallery. Logan has worked collaboratively with several celebrated artists, including Ross Bleckner and Sophie Calle and his work has been featured in many publications worldwide, including BBC Culture, The Boston Globe, The Huffington Post, The Globe and Mail, Border Crossings and Public Journal to name a few. Recent 2021 exhibitions include, Shadow Of The Sun: Ross Bleckner & Zachari Logan at Wave Hill Botanical Gardens Ghost Meadows at Remai Modern. The exhibition Remembrance is currently on view at the Peabody Essex Museum through May of 2023.
Hard and Soft Materials
Amanda McCavour, Artist
Amanda McCavour works with embroidery to create large-scale embroidered installations. Through an exploration of line, stitch is used in her artwork to explore various concepts such as connections to home, the botanical world and more formal considerations of thread’s accumulative presence.
Surrealia
Ekow Nimako, Artist
Ekow Nimako is a Ghanaian-Canadian, internationally exhibiting LEGO® artist. Combining a multidisciplinary and formal arts program, Nimako explores Afrofuturism and Black narratives through an unmistakable figurative aesthetic that transcends the iconic medium. Nimako has exhibited works in Canada, Germany, Korea, the United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom.
The Poetics of the Imagination
Ed Pien, Artist
Ed Pien is based in Toronto and Havana. He has shown in venues that include the Drawing Centre, NYC; V&A; Canadian Culture Centre, Paris; Goethe Institute, Berlin; Musée des beaux arts; Musée d’art contemporain; Fondation Phi pour l’art contemporain, Montreal; Esker Foundation; Art Gallery of Greater Victoria; Mendel Art Gallery; Songzhuang Art Centre, Beijing; National Art Gallery of Canada; and MASS MoCA, Massachusetts. He has participated in the Montreal Biennale; the Sydney Biennale; the Moscow and Bienal Internacional de Asunción. His project, in the form of photographs, videos and an installation, involving a small group of Cuban Elders exploring the notion of time will be presented at the Art Gallery of Ontario this June, 2022. Pien was a visiting professor at Concordia University and has recently taken early retirement from the University of Toronto.
Honest! COLOURFUL! Personal! LOOSE!
Tiffany Pratt, Designer and Creative Director
Tiffany Pratt is a Toronto-based multi-disciplinary designer and artist with an unmistakable standout style. She supports corporate clients and the public on projects ranging from Creative Direction, Product Design, Interiors and Fashion.
Wonderlust
Lauren Sellen, Coyote Flowers
Coyote Flowers is a bespoke floral studio in Toronto, Canada. Designing with the unconventional in mind, their aim is to create meaningful compositions in flowers of unravelling beauty. Conscious of the emotional intent behind every piece, special importance is placed on the movement throughout. Coyote Flowers’ style can be described as sculptural, juxtaposing edgy with feminine. Currently Lauren is in Berlin, Germany on a 1 year term project working with renowned studio Mary Lennox.
Just a Moment
Mark Liam Smith, Artist
Mark Liam Smith is an oil painter based just outside of Toronto. Since he began painting professionally in 2015, Smith has shown his work in dozens of exhibitions and art fairs around the world, including SCOPE Basel, PULSE Art Fair in Miami Beach, Affordable Art Fair in NYC, Satellite Art Fair in NYC, Art Seattle, Art Toronto, and Papier Art Fair in Montreal. He is represented by two galleries in Canada and one in Australia. Smith is colorblind, and his palette reflects that: he uses highly saturated, often non-local colors to render his realistic still lifes. He draws from his linguistics background to inject narrative and symbolism into his paintings. When he’s not painting, Smith is teaching millions of others how to draw and paint on social media. His art and art tutorials have been featured by BuzzFeed UK, American Art Collector Magazine, The Jealous Curator, Art People, Create Magazine, Creative Boom, Hi-Fructose, Booooooom, and Bizarre Beyond Belief Magazine, among others.
GROUNDING OBJECTS
Dahae Song, Artist
Dahae Song is a South Korean, Toronto based artist and visual philosopher. To paint the way a tree grows, Dahae uses various mediums to push and pull time. To document the world unseen, Dahae externalizes the internal landscape and materializes the immaterial world to serve as an impetus to look inwards and to contemplate this very moment that is forever fleeting us. Dahae Song received her BFA at OCAD U and has created meditative art objects and experiences in the city for global clients like Nike, Soho House, Samsung, Adidas, and Canadian clients such as Holt Renfrew, Tokyo Smoke, The Drake, and Hullmark.
Above and Beyond
Farnoosh Talaee, Curator & Director of Mayten Projects
Farnoosh Talaee is an independent curator, arts manager, and writer based in Toronto. Her curatorial practice explores the intersections of contemporary art with migration, diasporic identity, and decolonization, with an emphasis on art from the Mena region. She has contributed to curatorial research, exhibition management, and public programs at The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery, Toronto; Museum of Contemporary Arts, Toronto; and the Art Dubai, UAE, alongside a number of commercial galleries in North America and the Middle East. Most recently, she was the guest curator at MOCA to curate a series of public programming regarding the Shirin Neshat exhibition, and currently, she is the co-founder/director of Mayten’s Projects, a curatorial platform and commercial gallery exploring new trajectories for arts in different forms, consisting of artist talks, round tables, performances, group and solo exhibitions, and a hub for experimental ideations.
Ray of Sunshine
Shellie Zhang, Artist
Shellie Zhang (b. 1991, Beijing, China) is a multidisciplinary artist based in Tkaronto/Toronto, Canada. Zhang has exhibited at venues including WORKJAM (Beijing), Asian Art Initiative (Philadelphia) and Gallery 44 (Toronto). She is a recipient of grants such as the Toronto Arts Council’s Visual Projects grant, the Ontario Arts Council’s Visual Artists Creation Grant and the Canada Council’s Project Grant to Visual Artists. She is a member of EMILIA-AMALIA, a feminist reading and writing group. In 2017, She was an Artist-in-Residence at the Art Gallery of Ontario. In 2021, she was a recipient of the Toronto Friends of the Visual Arts Artist Award. Her work has been published in Canadian Art, the Toronto Star, Blackflash Magazine, CBC Arts, and C Magazine. Recent and upcoming projects include exhibitions at Mercer Union (Toronto), Capture Photography Festival (Vancouver) the Institute of Contemporary Art San Diego.
2021
Timberlost Selects
Lauren Wilson, Timberlost
Lauren Wilson is a Toronto based floral designer and plant installation artist under her company’s name Timberlost. Her work is focused on exploring and preserving the authenticity of nature in the constructed medium. With a background in literature, she loves telling stories with florals, whether they be surrealist, classic or romantic narratives. She is drawn to contemporary and emotive designs.
Falling into Fall
TOAF Team
To celebrate the season of Fall, the TOAF team selected artworks from this year’s roster of artists to create this special edition of Curated Collections. Fall is the time when nature shows its brilliant colours to signal transition, preparing us for the long, cold winter ahead. With these scenic changes serving as inspiration, we have put together the following poetic and cozy assembly of art.
Art and Objects
Teresa Aversa, Principal of Art and Objects Inc.
Teresa Aversa is a Contemporary Artist and Art Consultant based in Toronto. She received her BA in Criticism and Curatorial Practice (2009) from the Ontario College of Art and Design, graduating with honours. As a classically trained artist she has an in-depth knowledge of fabrication techniques and materials, coupled with a keen (and almost obsessive) interest in contemporary art and design. Having cut her teeth in artist studios, galleries and art consulting firms she brings a diverse range of experience to Art and Objects Inc – Envisioning and executing projects of varying sizes, scopes and budgets over her 10+ year career. Teresa founded Art and Objects Inc. in 2012 offering the Interior Design and Hospitality Industry a bespoke art experience and unique insight into the world of art and design.
Tangled Art + Disability
Adam Cohoon, Curator
Adam has operated as an independent Artist and Disability Advocate since 2003, where his work has included blogging, photography, filmmaking, and public speaking. He has presented his film work at the Opening of the Toronto Free Gallery, Camera Bar, and the University of Toronto Disability Art Show. He first gained wide recognition with the Disability and Media community through his selection to the National Film Board Momentum Program. work has appeared on the blog “Enables Me” and my work has also appeared on “CBC Toronto”. I have also had my work appear in the “Metro” newspaper and “Toronto Star Online”. To his credit, and unique development process, Adam had developed a manner in which he himself, through recent technological advances, leading to the GoPro camera affixed to his powered wheelchair, and accessible computer and laptop, he independently developed a manner of producing films. Mounting the GoPro on a wheelchair has allowed me to take video and photos from first person perspective, using a custom camera mount.
Still, here
Emilie Croning, Curator, Artist
Emilie Croning is a Toronto-based independent curator, visual artist, and scholar. Her work explores notions around identity and representation through visual language, working at the intersections of feminist theories, post-colonialism, and art history.
She received her BFA in Art History & Studio Art from Concordia University (Montréal) and a MA in Art History with a Curatorial Studies in Visual Culture Diploma from York University (Toronto). She is currently a Collection Manager for the Wedge Collection, a Project Coordinator at Wedge Curatorial Projects, and Program Assistant at Critical Distance Centre for Curators.
Carefully Crafted
Melanie Egan, Director, Craft & Design, Harbourfront Centre
Melanie Egan has over 35 years of experience in the field of craft and design. She is Director of Craft & Design at Harbourfront Centre; Canada’s foremost artist-in-residency devoted to ceramics, glass, textiles, jewellery and design. She is a curator, organizes symposia/conferences, lectures, writes, mentors and advocates for craft & design in Canada and internationally. She has curated numerous exhibitions including, The View from Here – a critical response to Canada150 (2019); The Mind is the Hand is the Bomb that Blows: Anders Ruhwald (2018); Aberrant Tales: Lindsay Montgomery (2016) RE: Position – curated with Paul McClure for Toronto International Jewellery Festival (2013); and edited Crafting New Traditions: Canadian Innovators and Influences – published by the Canadian History Museum (2008).
Visual Voices
Alex Garant, Artist
Alex Garant is a French Canadian artist known as the pioneer of Contemporary Figurative Op Art. She established herself as one of the leaders of the analog glitch aesthetic when a heart attack became the catalyst for her full-time commitment to the arts. Her oil paintings offer a graphic quality combined with traditional portrait techniques. Represented by several prestigious galleries in the United States and Australia, her works have also been shown in several museums including the Museum of Art and History (MOAH), the Fullerton Museum Center in California, the Mesa Contemporary Arts Museum in Arizona, and the Honolulu Museum of Art in Hawaii.
Craft Artist Members
Janna Hiemstra, Executive Director, Craft Ontario
Janna Hiemstra is the Executive Director of Craft Ontario. Over the course of her thirteen years with the organization she has established extensive connections with the community, and an in-depth knowledge of the organization’s structure, history, and potential for moving forward as an arts service organization. With a background in philosophy, curatorial practice, as well as ceramic studio assistant, Janna brings a wealth of cultural sector knowledge and strategic thinking in support of Craft Ontario’s vision and goals. She is both grateful and determined to focus on 2021 and beyond in order to continue strengthening Craft Ontario’s vital role as a champion of craft. Special thanks go to Sharmaine Mehta, Social Media & Communications Coordinator, for her hard work in helping to coordinate and promote Craft Ontario’s curatorial selection and TOAF partnership.
Botanica
Arounna Khounnoraj, Artist, Bookhou
Arounna Khounnoraj is a Canadian artist and maker working in Toronto where she immigrated with her family from Laos at the age of four. While her education includes a master’s degree in fine arts in sculpture and ceramics, it was through subsequent residencies that she found her current focus in fibre arts. In 2002 she started bookhou, a multi-disciplinary studio with her husband John Booth, where Arounna explores screen printing and a variety of textile techniques such as embroidery and punch needle. She creates objects such as bags, home goods and textile art.
A Perfect Mix
Danielle Krysa, Artist, The Jealous Curator
Danielle Krysa is the writer/curator behind the contemporary art site, The Jealous Curator. A published author of 5 books, Danielle is also an artist and creates mixed media collages combining found images, paint, and as much humour as she can pack into each title. Follow @thejealouscurator on Instagram.
Either Alone or in Some Combination
Micah Lexier, Artist
Micah Lexier is a Winnipeg-born, Toronto-based artist whose activities include making, collecting and organizing. He has a deep interest in measurement, increment, found imagery and display structures. He has presented over 100 solo exhibitions, participated in more than 200 group exhibitions and has produced fifteen permanent public commissions. In 2015 Lexier was honoured with a Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts. Lexier’s work is in numerous public and corporate collections including The British Museum (London, England), the Contemporary Art Gallery (Sydney, Australia), The Art Gallery of Ontario (Toronto), and The National Gallery of Canada (Ottawa). Micah Lexier is represented by Birch Contemporary, Toronto.
Codes, Patterns, and the Unspoken
Henry Heng Lu, Curator, Writer, Artist, Curator and Executive Director at Centre A: Vancouver International Centre for Contemporary Asian Art
Henry Heng Lu is a curator, writer and artist based in Vancouver and Toronto, Canada. Currently, he is Curator and Executive Director at Centre A: Vancouver International Centre for Contemporary Asian Art. He is a co-founder of Call Again, a mobile initiative/collective committed to creating space for contemporary diasporic artistic practices, within Canada and beyond, through exhibitions, screenings and roundtables. In 2018, he won an Ontario Association of Art Galleries (OAAG) Exhibition of the Year Award for his curatorial project, Far and Near: the Distance(s) between Us at the Art Museum at the University of Toronto. His writings have been published by Canadian Art, ArtAsiaPacific, Yishu: Journal of Contemporary Chinese Art, C Magazine, Richmond Art Gallery, PLATFORM Gallery, ArchDaily and Gardiner Museum. He was on the jury for the 2020 Sobey Art Award at the National Gallery of Canada. In 2019, he was a Researcher-in-Residence at the OCT Contemporary Art Terminal Shenzhen, China. Lu holds a Master of Visual Studies from the University of Toronto.
Art that I Want to Live with Forever
Alex McLeod, Artist
Through McLeod’s career spanning over a decade making 3D rendered environments, his work has been shown globally from major American institutions like the Whitney Museum of American Art to film and art festivals in Vienna and Tokyo. Collaborations range from videos for Mozart, installations for big brands, live performance visuals for DJs, Opera singers, and public art for cities.
Colour and Calm
Stéphane Monnet & Jeroen Dijkstra
Stéphane Monnet is the president and creative director of Monnet Design and is based in Toronto, Canada and Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Monnet is also the former President of the Advertising & Design Club of Canada. In his 20+ year career Monnet has received numerous awards from international design publications and organizations, including the ADCC, AIGA, Applied Arts, Communication Arts, Graphis, HOW, the National Magazine Awards and the New York Type Directors Club. Social: @monnetdesign / @monnet_stephane
Jeroen Dijkstra is a cultural entrepreneur living and working in The Netherlands. With a passion for art and design he organizes exhibitions, cultural events and is the curator and co-founder of DIRT (the Dutch Institute of Royal Taste). DIRT is a studio which conceives of, and organizes, cultural events such as The Royal Hangover, and runs the DIRT Market, a gallery featuring works which are designed and made in Europe. Social: @thedirt.nl / @jeroen_yuh_roon Url: thedirl.nl
Colourful
Tiffany Pratt, Designer and Creative Director
Tiffany Pratt is a Toronto-based multi-disciplinary designer, artist, author, and television host. She supports corporate clients and the public on projects ranging from creative direction, product design, interiors, colour consultation, and personal styling. Often referred to as The Queen of Colour, Tiffany has an unmistakable, standout style. Never trying to fit others into her aesthetic – Tiffany’s goal is unwavering: to be fully herself while helping people connect who they are on the inside with their outward representation. You can learn more about Tiffany on her website at tiffanypratt.com
Just a Moment
Pennylane Shen, Artist Consultant, Curator and Educator
Mark Liam Smith is an oil painter based just outside of Toronto. Since he began painting professionally in 2015, Smith has shown his work in dozens of exhibitions and art fairs around the world, including SCOPE Basel, PULSE Art Fair in Miami Beach, Affordable Art Fair in NYC, Satellite Art Fair in NYC, Art Seattle, Art Toronto, and Papier Art Fair in Montreal. He is represented by two galleries in Canada and one in Australia. Smith is colorblind, and his palette reflects that: he uses highly saturated, often non-local colors to render his realistic still lifes. He draws from his linguistics background to inject narrative and symbolism into his paintings. When he’s not painting, Smith is teaching millions of others how to draw and paint on social media. His art and art tutorials have been featured by BuzzFeed UK, American Art Collector Magazine, The Jealous Curator, Art People, Create Magazine, Creative Boom, Hi-Fructose, Booooooom, and Bizarre Beyond Belief Magazine, among others.
Gesturing at the Divine
Kristen Sison, Artist-healer, Storyteller
Kristen Sison is a diasporic Filipinx woman practicing community choreography as an artist-healer, storyteller, + book witch. She serves community by creating youth-led education spaces that re-imagine how we teach about climate justice — from Conscious Minds Co-operative, and most recently through a 3-month climate leadership program Rooted and Rising. In June 2021 she released It’s Bigger Than All Of Us; a ritual object, workbook, and community archive that reflects the process of claiming self-sovereignty within our bodies, while deepening our relationship with Spirit. She’s also a founding member of Kapwa Collective, a mutual support group of Filipinx-Canadian artists, critical thinkers, and healers based out of Tkaronto. www.bonesthrown.com@bonesthrown
Gary’s Illustration Picks
Gary Taxali, Artist
Gary Taxali is a contemporary Canadian fine artist, illustrator, and holds the rank of Full Professor in the Faculty of Design at OCAD University. His retro stylized art, reminiscent of depression era artwork, advertising, typography and packaging, has earned him important placement as world renowned artist. Taxali’s artwork has a high brow/low brow appeal, and consists of original stylized characters, iconography, and symbols reminiscent of the 1930s best described as “pop art”. His artwork has been exhibited in galleries and museums around the world including The Victoria and Albert Museum (UK), The Whitney Museum of American Art (USA), The Andy Warhol Museum (USA),
The Contemporary Art Museum in Rome (Italy), and his work is in the permanent collection of The Library of Congress (USA). He has collaborated with various brands including Canadian men’s retailer Harry Rosen on custom-designed silk pocket squares, six Gary.
Taxali celebration coins for The Royal Canadian Mint including the world’s first currency celebrating non-gender specific marriage, and with musician AimeeMann on her album “@#%&*! Smilers”, which earned Taxali a 2009 Grammy Award Nomination for Best Art Package. Taxali’s illustrations have appeared in every major magazine including Rolling Stone, GQ, The New York Times, Newsweek, and The New Yorker. He has won hundreds of national and international awards including numerous recognition from American Illustration, Communication Arts, Society of Publication Designers, a nomination for a Cannes Lion, and Gold Medals from the National Magazine Awards, The Advertising and Design Club of Canada, and 2 Gold Medals and a Silver Medal from The Society of Illustrators (NYC). Gary was listed as one of the top 100 illustrators in the world by art book publisher Taschen in “The Illustrator: 100 Best from Around the World”. His monographs include “I Love You, OK?” (published by TeNeus USA), “Mono Taxali” (published by 27_9 in Italy), and “Happiness with a Caveat”. He lives and works in Toronto.
3D Wonders
Shellie Zhang, Artist
Xiaojing Yan is a Chinese-Canadian artist whose work embraces her sense of having a hybrid identity. Combining her Chinese roots and education at Nanjing Arts Institute (B.F.A., 2000) with higher education at George Brown College in Toronto (2004) and an M.F.A. in sculpture at Indiana University of Pennsylvania (2007,) settling permanently in the Toronto area, her work reflects her journey through these various cultures, arriving at her own personal vocabulary. Her unique point of view brings together the past and the present, encompasses culture and nature, art and science.
Yan is a recipient of numerous awards and grants, including the 2014 Outstanding Young Alumni Award from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Project Grants from the Canadian Council for the Arts, the Chalmers Arts Fellowship, Mid-career Grants from Ontario Arts Council, and a 2018 OAAG Exhibition Installation and Design Award and many more.
Most recently, she has had solo shows at Maison Hermès, Shanghai, China; Art Gallery of Northumberland, Cobourg, ON, Canada; Richmond Art Gallery, Richmond, BC, Canada; Varley Art Gallery, Markham, ON, Canada; and Suzhou Museum, Suzhou, China. Yan has also completed public art projects and commissions in Canada and China including her 2018 installation “Cloudscape” at the Royal Ontario Museum and 2019 Window display “Into the Dreams” for Maison Hermès in Shanghai.
Fuel for Thought
Shaheer Zazai, Artist
Shaheer Zazai is a Toronto based Afghan-Canadian artist with a current studio practice both in painting and digital media. Zazai received a BFA from OCAD University in 2011 and was artist in residence at OCAD University as part of the Digital Painting Atelier in 2015.
Zazai’s practice focuses on exploring and attempting to investigate the development of cultural identity in the present geopolitical climate and diaspora. The digital works revolve around Microsoft Word and imagery drawn from traditional Afghan carpets. Through mimicking carpet-making methods, Zazai creates his own designs in Microsoft Word, where every knot of a carpet is translated into a typed character. While the digital is a process based exploration, the paintings have been an internal investigation into vulnerability and fear.
Zazai is a recipient of Ontario Arts Council grants and he was a finalist for EQ Bank’s Emerging Digital Artist Award in 2018. Since graduating, Zazai has had several solo and group exhibitions such as those at the Capacity 3 Gallery, CAFKA Biennial 2019, Art Gallery of Mississauga, Glenhyrst Art Gallery of Brant., Double Happiness Projects and Patel Brown Gallery. His digital works have been covered by CBC Arts in 2018, Ajam Media Collective in 2019 and Globe and Mail in 2020.
2020
SPRING FORWARD
TOAF Team
In honour of Spring’s arrival, we’ve put together a new Featured Collection called SPRING FORWARD, showcasing refreshing works from 22 TOAF artists that best display the spirit of the season.
Students Curated →
Francisco Alvarez, Executive and Artistic Director, OCAD U Galleries
Francisco Alvarez has been Executive and Artistic Director of Galleries at OCAD University since September 2016. In this role, he serves as Director of Onsite Gallery and seven other galleries across the campus. He brings over 30 years’ experience in programming and administration as curator, exhibition and public events producer, marketer and fundraiser at organizations including Heritage Toronto, Mr. Pink Art Consultant, the Royal Ontario Museum, and the Ontario Ministry of Culture and Tourism.
Landscapes Curated
Flavio Belli, Curator
On my way to the abandon Spud Valley Gold Mine on board the MV Uchuck from Gold River to Zeballos, Vancouver Island, BC, 1973. Hand-coloured photo by John Taylor.
Flavio Belli possesses a wide range of experience in the Canadian arts community. He is an art consultant, curator and artist. He is currently Chair of the Board of Directors for the Al Green Sculpture Studio and School and a member of the Board of Directors of the Italian community’s Columbus Centre. He was Co-Curator of The Al Green Gallery in 2013 and 2014. He served as a member of the sculpture selection committee for the McMurtry Gardens of Justice (2007-2014) while also a Board member of the Toronto Outdoor Art Fair (2004-2014). By appointment of the Governor in Council, he served two three-year terms as a member of the Canadian Cultural Property Export Review Board in Ottawa (2005-2012). Flavio was Director and Curator of the Joseph D. Carrier Art Gallery in Columbus Centre (1990-2005). During that time, he was also an on-camera arts commentator for Toronto Living, for Rogers Television (1999-2004). A visual artist in his own right, Flavio’s artworks have been shown in solo and group exhibitions since 1974 and his works form part of public and private collections.
Photography Curated
Glodeane Brown, Culture Fancier
Glodeane Brown is an arts management professional and an arts and culture blogger. She is the Founder and Editor of Culture Fancier, which started in 2016 with the aim to educate, entertain, and inspire people. She is currently working as the Programming and Operations Coordinator at CAFKA – Contemporary Art Forum Kitchener and Area.
Follow Glodeane: @culturefancier @cafkabiennial
Tangled Arts + Disability
Adam Cohoon, Artist and Curator
Adam has operated as an independent Artist and Disability Advocate since 2003, where his work has included blogging, photography, filmmaking, and public speaking. He has presented his film work at the Opening of the Toronto Free Gallery, Camera Bar, and the University of Toronto Disability Art Show. He first gained wide recognition with the Disability and Media community through his selection to the National Film Board Momentum Program. work has appeared on the blog “Enables Me” and my work has also appeared on “CBC Toronto”. I have also had my work appear in the “Metro” newspaper and “Toronto Star Online”. To his credit, and unique development process, Adam had developed a manner in which he himself, through recent technological advances, leading to the GoPro camera affixed to his powered wheelchair, and accessible computer and laptop, he independently developed a manner of producing films. Mounting the GoPro on a wheelchair has allowed me to take video and photos from first person perspective, using a custom camera mount.
Follow @tangled_arts on Instagram
Artists to Watch
Tatum Dooley, Curator, Canadian Art Forecast
Tatum Dooley is a writer and curator living in Toronto. She writes widely on cultural trends in art, architecture, fashion, and technology. She runs the Instagram account @cdnartforecast.
Shopify’s Make My Space Work Special
Alexandra Gater, Youtube Star, Make My Space Work
Before starting her Youtube Channel, Alexandra was the Home Editor for Canada’s iconic women’s lifestyle magazine Chatelaine, where she created the YouTube series The Home Primp. Alexandra is passionate about showing millennials it’s possible to live in a home that feels stylish and beautiful (even if you rent!) without spending a lot of time or money. In just a year, she’s gained over 200k viewers who tune in every week to receive easy decor tips and fun, budget DIY inspiration. When she isn’t producing content for her own channel, she is a host for the HGTV digital series Buy or DIY and hosts and produces Shopify’s Make My Space Work. She is also a regular guest expert on Cityline and The Global Morning Show. Alexandra graduated on the Dean’s List with High Distinction for an Honours Bachelor of Arts degree specializing in Journalism at The University of Toronto.
Follow @alexandragater on Instagram
Curated by Tory Healy
Tory Healy, Editor-in-Chief of Designlines
Tory Healy is the editor-in-chief of Designlines, a Toronto quarterly that shines the spotlight on the city’s stalwart and rising design talents, fascinating architectural projects, as well as where to find design products in the city. A journalist with over 20 years of professional experience, this position at Designlines is one Healy has held for a decade. Reporting on Toronto’s ever-evolving design landscape and multitude of creatives is a true passion for her and one that inspires her daily.
Published four times a year, Designlines is the ultimate guide to Toronto’s best contemporary design, including profiles on the region’s first-rate designers and creators, features on the city’s most innovative architecture, and comprehensive reviews of the GTA’s top furniture showrooms and decor shops. Designlines’ multi-pronged media platform includes print and digital editions of the magazine; an up-to-the-minute website; a weekly e-newsletter that reaches a wide audience of design- curious subscribers; and four growing social media channels that supply followers with a constant stream of timely and visually compelling info.
Follow Designlines: @designlinesmagazine and online
Figurative Pieces
Robert Houle, Artist
Robert Houle is a Toronto artist and a member of Sandy Bay First Nation, Manitoba. He has been exhibiting internationally for over 40 years and taught at the Ontario College of Art and Design University for close to 20 years. He has written numerous important essays and monographs on contemporary First Nations and Native American artists and has curated ground breaking exhibitions including “Land Spirit Power: First National at the National Gallery of Canada”. Houle’s considerable influence as an artist, curator, writer, and educator has led to his being awarded the Founder’s Achievement Award from the Toronto Friends of the Visual Arts (2020), two honourary doctorates, the 2015 Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts, the Eiteljorg Contemporary Art Fellowship (2003), the Toronto Arts Award (2001) and the Janet Braide Memorial Award for Excellence in Canadian Art History (1993).
A Perfect Mix
Jay Joo, Owner, JJ Studio
Originally from South Korea, Jay Joo received his BFA from the Jewellery and Metalsmithing program at the Ontario College of Art and Design University. During his years at OCAD University, he has acquired a diverse skill set that includes traditional techniques as well as Computer Aided Design and manufacturing. He was accepted into the Harbourfront Centre’s artist-in-residence program and was awarded a scholarship in 2012. After his residency, he established JJSTUDIO. His studio is located in downtown Toronto, where he promotes local arts and crafts, teaches and continues his practice as a jeweller.
Follow Jay on Instagram @jjstudio.official / @jjstudioca
Textiles Curated
Arounna Khounnoraj, Bookhou
Arounna Khounnoraj is a Canadian artist and maker working in Toronto where she immigrated with her family from Laos at the age of four. She holds a master’s degree in fine arts in sculpture and ceramics, but found her current focus in fibre arts. In 2002, she started Bookhou, a multi-disciplinary studio with her husband John Booth, where Arounna explores screen printing and a variety of textile techniques.
She creates objects, home goods and textile art @bookhou.
Danielle Krysa is the writer/curator behind the contemporary art site, The Jealous Curator. A published author of 5 books, Danielle is also an artist and creates mixed media collages combining found images, paint, and as much humour as she can pack into each title.
Follow @thejealouscurator on Instagram
Sculptural Works Curated
Charmaine Lurch, Artist
Charmaine Lurch is an interdisciplinary visual artist whose work draws attention to human-environmental relationalities. Working with a range of materials and reimagining our surroundings—from bees and taxi cabs to The Tempest and quiet moments of joy, Lurch subtly connects Black life and movement globally.
Follow @charmaine.lurch on Instagram
Brooke Manning of Likely
Brooke Manning, Likely General
“I am drawn to mystery and that which may reveal hidden magic.”
Brooke Manning is an artist who studied Art History at Queens University before transferring to OCAD in 2008 to complete her BFA. Inspired by a deep love of community, transparency, ethical consumerism, and empathy, she created the artist-focused space Likely General in 2013 with its first priority being that of providing a home for the work and expressions of women, marginalized, queer, and non-binary folks. Likely General’s storefront regularly houses the work of over 300 artists and offers a new exhibition in its community gallery space monthly. In her personal life, Brooke is an active published poet, writes music under the moniker Loom, and is studying to be a Death Doula.
Follow the shop at @likelygeneral and learn more about Brooke’s works at milkportrait.com
Painting Curated
Kelly McKenzie, Curator
Kelly McKenzie is the Principal of McKenzie Art Projects, a fine art advisory and appraisal firm, and the Curator of the Corporate Art Collection at Manulife. She also sits on the board of directors of Twentytwenty Arts, a non-profit that produces art campaigns for charitable organizations to raise awareness for mental health, homelessness, and addiction.
Abstract Works
Mia Nielsen, Director of Art Toronto
Conceptual Pieces
Oluseye, Artist
Oluseye is a Nigerian-Canadian multidisciplinary artist. His practice is rooted in the interplay of seemingly dichotomous ideas – Christianity and indigenous African beliefs; vulnerability and strength; spirituality and sexuality – and how these ideas collide and reconcile to shape perception and identity. With a primary focus on Black male subjectivity, he creates paintings, photographs, performances, and sculptures that explore the ways in which contemporary, historic and African mythologies shape notions of Blackness. He has exhibited at The Art Gallery of Ontario, Gallery 151 in New York, and Art Twenty-one in Lagos, Nigeria. He is a recipient of the Canada Council for The Arts New Chapter Grant, the 2019 Toronto and Ontario Arts Council Visual Arts Grants.
Follow @olu.seye on Instagram
Christie’s Holiday Picks of Home Decor Pieces →
Christie Pinese, Rose City Goods
After years of working in fashion retail, Christie decided to merge her experience with her love of design and venture off on her own. Rose City Goods opened in July, 2019 and stems from her love of ceramics, textiles, vintage and handmade objects. Each vendor was thoughtfully selected and Christie strives to support independent artists and makers. Currently, over 70% of Rose City’s vendors are Canadian and approximately 80% of their product comes from female artists and entrepreneurs. Rose City is a merging of Christie’s love for the planet with her passion for art, decor and thoughtful design. Rose City Goods hopes to bring a unique assortment of handmade, artisanal goods that stand out from the crowd.
Follow @rosecity.goods on Instagram
Florals Curated
Kristin Sjaarda, Photographer
Kristin Sjaarda has worked as a photographer for 25 years. Using the style of Dutch Golden Age painters and objects passed down from her Dutch grandmother’s family, she photographs flowers grown in her downtown Toronto neighbourhood alongside the flora and fauna that live and thrive in an urban environment.
Follow Kristin: @ksjaar
Design Pieces Curated
Danielle Suppa, Owner + Creative Director, SOUVENIR
With a background in fashion and product design, Danielle Suppa opened her lifestyle shop and creative studio, SOUVENIR in 2015, highlighting her personal taste with an eye on emerging Canadian talent.
Follow Danielle: @souvenirstudios
