The Importance of Persona in the Work and Practice of Toronto Artists
April 15 - 25th 2004
376 Dufferin (at Queen)
Amy Bowles attended both the Cardiff Institute of Art and Design and Yeovil College of Art and Design in the UK. Since moving to Toronto, Amy has participated in a number of group shows and has had three solo exhibitions. She is currently represented by Paul Petro Contemporary Art Gallery.
Stephanie Cormier is a Toronto-based artist. The starting point for much of Cormieršs work arrives from cultural phenomena, psychological dynamics, and a tension resulting from opposing concepts of population growth and of solitude, absence and loss.
She has embodied her operations in a variety of artistic forms ranging from photography to multi-media and video installation. The roots of Cormieršs work are in certain feminist iconography often previously over looked. Using such superfluous visuals Cormier empowers these products as tools for the depiction of emotional expression or hypothetical circumstance.
Teresa Ascencaois a Toronto based artist working in the mediums of photography, film and video. Her works play with poetic and kitsch sensibilities and often employ interactivity as a means of engaging her audience with issues of gender socialisation. Teresa Ascencao was born to Azorean parents in Sao Paulo, Brazil and immigrated with her family to Toronto three years later. She holds a Graphic Design Diploma from Humber College and graduated with distinction from the University of Toronto's Honours Fine Art Studio program. Her work has been featured in Eye Magazine, Lola, Toronto Star and on Citytv.
Lisa Di Quinzio is an artist from Halifax, Nova Scotia. She graduated from York University with a Bachlor of Fine Arts in studio arts and a minor in film studies. Over the past two years Lisa has exhibited her paintings in a number of group shows in Toronto.
Timothy Comeau is a visual artist, computer nerd, budding webmaster and writer working in Toronto. He is a member of the Instant Coffee artist collective and serves on the board of YYZ Artists' Outlet. He recently launched a Good Reads mailing list which is getting a lot of attention. You can subscribe by sending an email to tim@instantcoffee.org.
Matthew Soucie and Michael LeBlanc were both born in Moncton, New Brunswick in 1974 and are now far better artists than they were in that year. Matthew and Michael credit their hometown and its numerous colourful characters with about 80% of the inspiration that they bring to any given project. The other 20% is derived from the pronunciation of the word "chipotle" (say it slowly), and from the early work of Steve Martin.
Rita Koos was born in Budapest, Hungary,1977. Her family left eastern Europe in 1988, first living in Vienna, then Montreal and finally settling in Toronto.
The time the close-knit family spent traveling through cultures was significant. Rita, along with her older brother, had been widely exposed and influenced by western arts and politics, which was mixed in with folklore of Hungary and a supportive artistic family. Many conversations and significant bonding among four people who relied on each other entirely. The family was a sanctuary from which Rita drew her strength.
Rita spent a lot of time observing peoples behavior and listening. She was interested in the body, sexuality...human politics. Her need to have her own voice manifested itself through art, with creative writing, painting, and performance art. The concepts of being watched and heard are strong themes in her work.
Seth Scriver born and raised in Toronto, attended the Nova Scotia Colege of Art and Design, 1997-2002, receiving an interdisciplinary Bachelor of Fine Arts. He is currently raison some prunes in Toronto.
Marcella McKiernan has been designing and sewing clothes for over ten years and is a recent graduate of NSCAD where she majored in textiles.