WITH/IN

What are individual, cultural, and societal associations with belonging, and how does its absence shape our expectations and identities? Whether direct or obtuse, these connections invite a multitude of concurrent themes, including longing, vulnerability, and reclamation.

How does one define and respond to intimacy and connection at a time when, in the wake of the pandemic, interpersonal relationships are more isolated and digitally focused than ever?

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Victoria Day’s practice is interdisciplinary, but her love for detail and precision runs throughout. Her recent work serves as a catalyst to explore her status as a visible mixed-race minority. Through the study and presentation of the traditional Korean art of dancheong, Day seeks to communicate the nuances of her relationship with her heritage amidst a rise in anti-Asian sentiment.

Nix Burox is a nonbinary trans artist who uses autobiography to discuss identity and mental health issues. In Vulnerability Studies, they’re diving into the visceral discomfort that can come from opening yourself up to others in your search for community. Like an unexpected touch for the touch-starved, or the thawing of your freezing limbs, accepting help and care from others can feel like a burning pain when you’re used to relying only on yourself.

Rachael Dodgson is a Toronto-based artist, educator, and arts worker using gestural mark-making and text to create bold material assemblages and layered print work. Using humour and cultural references, Dodgson explores her own Y2K nostalgia and anxiety surrounding outdated and perceived expectations of adulthood and gender. For Dodgson, this autobiographical narrative reflects a greater Millennial/Gen Z experience of defining one’s identity impacted by the search for connection in the digital space. She is currently completing an MFA at York University.

Jessica Palmer is an artist, designer, and screenprinter from Epekwitk/PEI based in Tkaronto/Toronto. Using visual information harvested from personal archives and found objects, she uses methodical tools such as print media and photography to explore identity through a material lens. These small acts aim to play with notions of value and place while highlighting relationships to the physical world.