Artist Statement Pockets of Haven (2022 – ongoing) documents the safe spaces or ‘havens’ of Black creatives in Tkaronto/Toronto. The images reflect each subject’s individual personality and what all these individuals do in their spaces in order to feel comfortable, regardless of whether they built or found these spaces. The photographs are intended as a…
Artist Statement In Vietnamese, “hoa” means flower. It also is the first name of my bà nội (paternal grandmother). Before developing her memory disorders, my bà nội, Tuyết Hoa, wrote an autobiographical book about her life and its events. The book (in translation from Vietnamese) is titled “Memories of Tuyết Hoa”, and subtitled “When My Country is…
Artist Statement Nurtured Curiosity is a photo series reflecting on how the feeling of curiosity is passed down from one generation to the next. My father and mother’s inquisitive nature nurtured skills of perception and introspection in their children; specifically, in me and my sisters as we journey into adulthood and my younger brothers as…
Artist Statement I look around and see a place familiar yet distant. A whip-lash between alienation and closeness. It holds one sense of community while completely lacking another. There is a duality within this experience that makes it not as simple as staying or leaving. Navigating can be done in a multitude of ways. The…
Artist Statement Need Me uncovers a relationship between two generations, coming together in a time of need for each other, physically and emotionally. Through documentary style the viewfinder illustrates the caring and traditional action of hair cutting to bond two people who quietly need one another in a time of loneliness. A grandfather and grandson…
Artist Statement WHO ARE YOU? What makes you different than the person next to you and what have you done to celebrate those parts of you? “A Full Face” will take you on a path of self-expression and individualism within the queer community through the art of drag performers. Through each image, you get to…
ARTIST STATEMENT Who Wore You is a series of photographs exploring vintage clothing and their past lives and history. This project dives into the identities and life of these hypothetical past owners who could have worn them, preserving its memories. Since clothing is a form of self expression, the primary focus of [Project Title] is…
Artist Statement Through My Eyes is a photojournalistic as well as a digital video project based on queer identity and experience. This project takes a physical form through the use of 4×5 photography as well as a digital video installation. Through My Eyes consists of a series of 3 images and 1 video per subject,…
Artist Statement If you take the 401 an hour east of Toronto, you’ll eventually end up in a city called Oshawa. Once known as the “Automotive Capital of Canada”, Oshawa’s history is deeply rooted in the North American Auto Industry. In the late 1870s, McLaughlin Carriage Works relocated to Oshawa from the nearby Town of…
Gray Hairs at Eighteen is a confrontation on the expectations I’ve been held to as a Black teenager in today’s world. Throughout life I have been expected to maintain unrealistic standards: being “manly” and “strong” since I am the oldest child, or acting “hard” and “ghetto” because I am Black. These expectations have led me…