Jan 25 to May 4, 2025
Beneath the Surface: Stories of Kinship and Connection
About the Exhibition
Beneath the Surface features the evocative works of Emma Nishimura and Gayle Uyagaqi Kabloona, who use printmaking to explore culture, family, and identity.
Nishimura’s practice delves into themes of memory, loss, and resilience, focusing on her family’s experiences during the internment of Japanese Canadians in World War II. Her work reflects on the enduring impact of this history across generations. Kabloona, inspired by her Inuit heritage and artistic lineage, celebrates her identity while questioning it, blending tradition with contemporary exploration.
Both artists incorporate sculpture into their printmaking practices, extending their work to amplify stories of personal and collective memory. Together, their art connects the past and present, highlighting kinship, heritage, and cultural identity.
About Emma Nishimura
Based in Toronto, Emma Nishimura works with a range of media, including printmaking, photography, sculpture and installation. Her work addresses ideas of memory and loss that are rooted within family stories and inherited narratives. For the past decade, Nishimura’s research and art practice has focused on the experiences her family and thousands of other Japanese Canadians endured throughout their forced incarceration during the Second World War. Her work explores this history and the reverberations these experiences have had throughout the subsequent generations.
Nishimura has exhibited nationally and internationally. Her work is in a number of public and private collections, including the Art Gallery of Ontario, the Royal Ontario Museum, the Japanese Canadian National Museum and the Library of Congress. She is the recipient of the Queen Sonja Print Award 2018. Nishimura received her MFA from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and her BA from the University of Guelph. Nishimura is an Assistant Professor at OCAD University.
About Gayle Uyagaqi Kabloona
Gayle Uyagaqi Kabloona is an Inuit artist based in Ottawa whose work explores themes of cultural connection, biracial identity, and modern interpretations of traditional Inuit imagery. Influenced by her grandmother, Victoria Mamnguqsualuk, and her great-grandmother, renowned artist Jessie Oonark, Kabloona’s art often highlights strong women while honoring traditional methods and expertise.
Kabloona’s practice bridges mediums, carrying forward Inuit visual traditions with a contemporary approach. Her recent projects include collaborations with Google Pixel, Canada Goose, the National Arts Centre, the British High Commission, and Canada Post, where she created the first annual Truth and Reconciliation stamp. Her work has been exhibited at the Art Gallery of Guelph, Carleton University Art Gallery, and the Taseralik Cultural Centre in Sisimiut, Greenland. Currently, Kabloona is on the longlist for the prestigious Kenojuak Ashevak Memorial Award, continuing to make significant contributions to the Inuit art community.
