Feb 1 to Sep 6, 2021
[De]/[Re]Constructing Place
About the Exhibition
Can we recollect past emotion-spatial experiences for the purpose of some attempt at representation? Can we go back to the past terrains and past encounters which are mapped inside us and which colour our present in ways which we cannot easily feel or say?– Owain Jones
[De]/[Re]constructing place explores the act of recalling place—place that is deeply personal, place that shapes your understanding of who you are. Here, through photographic means, four artists have sought to remember, investigate, communicate and share their emotional geographies. Sense of place is not static, and the act of recollection necessarily includes a process of construction, deconstruction, and reconstruction of this unique environment, that exists, in part, in the mind. This process reveals the fluidity of memory, identity and place and questions the dichotomy of “real” and “imagined.”
Holly Chang is a Toronto based Photographer and Artist who has completed her Bachelor of Arts in Creative Industries at Ryerson University. Holly is currently pursing her Masters Degree in Communication and Culture at Ryerson University/ York University.
Lucy Lu is a Chinese-Canadian artist and photographer based in Toronto, Canada. I studied photography at Ryerson University and graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts. With my projects, I’m interested in exploring cultural identity, personal histories, and how real and imaginary narratives make up our lives. I use photography as a storytelling tool, to communicate a tone, an atmosphere, or a feeling through visual language.
Clare Samuel is a Northern Irish artist now living in Canada. She holds a BFA with Honours in Photography from Ryerson University, and an MFA from Concordia. She has exhibited across Canada and Europe, participated in international residencies, and has been recognized by various awards including the Roloff Beny Fellowship and the Canadian National Magazine Awards. Her images have been published in magazines such as Blackflash, Next Level and Prefix Photo. Her work is photo-based and investigates the borders between interior and exterior worlds, and between people, places, or states of being.
Elycia SFA is a textile artist based in Toronto. Her work explores personal narrative and the de/reconstruction of memory, nostalgia, and loss, by portraying these concepts in the form of handwoven cloth. She attended OCADU for Material Art and Design:Fibre, and graduated in 2015. Elycia was accepted into Harbourfront Centre’s Artist-In-Residence program and awarded a scholarship in 2016. She was a recipient of the Helen Frances Gregor Award in 2017.
Charlotte Gagnier is an independent curator and museum professional based in Kingston, Ontario. She is interested in exploring the role photographs (taking and sharing) play in the construction of individual and group identity, and emotional geographies. Charlotte holds a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Geography from Queen’s University and a Master of Museum Studies from the University of Toronto. Charlotte is Program Assistant at Agnes Etherington Art Centre.
