post
Meet Gayance, DJ Extraordinaire
MEET GAYANCE. Gayance, pronounced ‘guy-ence’, is a creole word for [...]
post
Stumbling For The Line, The Way – Building the Blueprint for An Artistic Career
How else would I have made my way as an artist but to stumble into it and keep pushing forward when I didn’t see the way paved out ahead of me? When you don’t see yourself represented or there is active hostility to your presence within these spaces, you are forced out of necessity to carve out your own way.
post
How I Taught Myself to Write and Found a Career in the Literary World
Once the article was published, I shared it far and wide. I received a wonderful response. People emailed me to tell me that my story was moving and let them know they weren’t alone. Someone asked if I was writing a memoir, something I had never considered but once the idea crossed my mind, I saw a whole new world of possibility open up. Three years later, in 2020, five months after applying right before the deadline, I received a surprising email from an arts council. I had won a grant to write my book.
post
Sometimes you look around and think how did I get here..?
Just like a road trip, when you think of a career in the arts the end destination can’t be the only goal or you miss all the sights and weird turns along the way.
post
How to Get Work Published as a Marginalized Writer
Despite having had over 100 bylines, including Huffington Post, Canadaland, [...]
post
Do We Keep Ourselves Safe? Exploring rape culture in the arts scene
It's time we talked about sexual violence in the arts community. In the first instalment of a two-part series, I share my experience as a young racialised survivor navigating the Toronto arts scene. Hopefully, my experiences can spark discourse and push you to think about what we need to do in order to increase safety in our community.
post
Lessons Learned in my First Year as an Art Business Owner
The first year in business is always a tough one, as it can be full of doubts, long hours and achingly slow results. Add art into it and it becomes even trickier. Here are some of the challenges (and lessons) I faced in my first year on this path.
post
Belonging, Home, and Grief – A Personal Story About Being an Older Woman Emerging Artist
Transitions (Unmute), diorama with paper figurine. Walking down [...]
post
On Building Resilient Immigrant Femme Communities through Urban Arts-Based Imaginaries
The passion I have in building creative resilient immigrant communities that are effectively addressing social issues at a grassroots level fuels the dense research I am undertaking. As a result, I have come to view my works as performative containers. Performative in the sense that my cultural memories and explorations of urban liminal spaces are intentionally replayed nonstop through the process of research, creation and public sharing, and containers because they hold and frame personal narratives in constant flux. Through visceral manipulation and critical arts interventions, I examine urban contemporary realities and the fractured cultural landscapes of immigrant femme communities who in the making of their identities are paving the way for transnational dialogue and urban imaginaries.