UTM CSAC Artist Talk, April 23, 2022

Please join me on Saturday, April 23, 2022, online for my closing artist talk as part of the Centre for South Asian Civilizations University of Toronto Mississuaga artist in residence award:

THE CENTRE FOR SOUTH ASIAN CIVILIZATIONS PRESENTS
UNSKILLED: AN EXPLORATION OF SOUTH ASIAN TEXTILE from seed to closet
APRIL 23, 2022, online
11AM - 1PM Toronto Time
9:30PM - 11:30PM India Time
5PM - 7PM Central European Time

ZOOM: https://utoronto.zoom.us/j/82333832999

Fashion Forward: Exhibition and Conversation

Fall 2021 saw the exhibitions Fashion Forward and ¡Adelante Siempre! curated by Hitoko Okada on view at WAHC (Workers Arts and Heritage Centre) in Hamilton, Canada. I had work on display in both shows and participated in two events during the exhibition run: “Fashion Forward a Conversation on re-fashioning sustainability as a relational ecosystem”, a conversation between Sage Paul, Hitoko Okada, and me co-hosted with X University’s Fashion Program at the Creative School; and a “Wash ‘n Care Workshop” where I led participants through the Wash ‘n Care project.

WAHC has produced a beautiful eight minute video tour of both exhibitions narrated by Hitoko Okada that outlines key themes in both exhibitions.

Profiles on Practice Podcast

Profiles on Practice is a new podcast series hosted by curator Nadia Kurd exploring the work of women artists of colour in Canada. The podcast is supported by the Canada Council for the Arts through the Digital Originals initiative and is housed on the website of Femme Art Review, a publication providing space for women and LGBTQ2+ voices that aims to reflect on art and culture in a dynamic, engaging way.

In this episode, I have been interviewed by Nadia about the trajectory of my work and it’s relationship to fashion and capitalism. Have a listen.

Upping the Aunty, An Addendum

I was honoured to be a invited to be a part of Critical Aunty Studies, an online “Asynchronous Symposium” created by drag artist and Mellon Bridge assistant professor at Tufts University, Kareem Khubchandani.

In this video performance, I take you through the initial ideas that led to the development of my painting series “Upping the Aunty”. I share interesting anecdotes and useful critique of the fashion and style blogs as they relate to aunties. (duration 8:55)

Queer Kinships and South Asian Migrations

During the pandemic when opportunities to talk with other artists in public forums was rather low, I was invited to have an online discussion with Rajiv Mohabir, a poet and Kareem Khubchandani, an academic on the subject of Queer Kinships and South Asian Migrations as explored through our respective work. The virtual event was hosted by Tufts University. You can find a recording of the conversation here.

Rajiv is the author of multiple poetry and chapbooks including The Taxidermist’s Cut, a finalist for the 2017 Lambda Literary Award in Gay Poetry. Kareem is the Mellon Bridge Assistant Professor in the Dept. of Drama & Dance and the Program in Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Tufts University teaching at the intersection of performance studies and queer studies.