Relations
Alec Boyle, Charlotte Lai, Jessica Berger, Joon-Young Lee, Sabrina Dewes, & Sidney Haqq
Curated by Jamie Edghill
Exhibition: July 18th - September 14th
Opening Reception: July 18th 6-9pm
Relations is a group exhibition featuring work by emerging artists of Toronto Metropolitan University’s School of Image Arts, exploring various approaches to relationships. In these bodies of work, the artists use photography to engage with the multiple facets of relationships, navigating how relations are made, how they are held, and how they grow, change and withstand time. They examine how identity plays a role in how we relate to others and how personal growth can transform and shift relationships. Each artist offers an akin yet distinct approach to capturing these cherished connections.
Offering insights into the beauty of human connections and community, a profound love that we as humans can hold for each other, these projects capture a celebration of shared similarities and differences, support and connection.
In a chapter of bell hooks’ “all about love: new vision,” she discusses living by a “love ethic.”1 It is essential to value and care for each other and to respect the labour involved in care practices.
“We do this by choosing to work with individuals we admire and respect; by committing to give our all to relationships; by embracing a global vision wherein we see our lives and our fate as intimately connected to those of everyone else on the planet.”2
Present in these works is a love and appreciation for these profound and persistent connections. There is a yearning to freeze this moment and reflect on the glimpse of the relationship captured at that specific time. It is bittersweet that, with time, these relationships change and grow, but it is a moment that will always be cherished.
In Alec Boyle’s project, “L’Anima Doppia,” he tells the story of Michelina and Guiseppe Di Tiello and “explores confessions of assimilation, tradition, and identity of the Italian-Canadian immigrant.” Through his experience of creating this work, Boyle explored his own identity, grappling with his “Canadian upbringing and the fading traditions woven into my Italian familial history.”
“What We Are” By Charlotte Lai explores her family’s experiences with being part of a mixed-race household. Curious to hear from her family and to consider her own feelings and experiences with race and identity, Lai’s images offer a glimpse into the loving connections her family shares, the racism they have faced and how their shared experiences and differences have shaped their relationships to each other. “Through warm-toned images with recurring themes of growth represented through plants, written testaments from my family members, as well as going through archival photographs of my grandparents and elder family members, I hope to gain a deeper understanding of what connects us all through our different experiences within the same family.
L’Anima Doppia, Alec Boyle
Jessica Berger’s “Lost and Found” is an exploration of girlhood, connection and identity. Through a mix of collage and portrait photography, this work encapsulates the shared experiences of girls navigating through their early twenties. Walking the line between adolescence and adulthood, this work combines imagery from Berger’s personal archive with widely recognizable stickers and trinkets, creating a sense of understanding of girlhood and the delicate nature of female identity. “The portraits thrive in the awkward in-between moments where you see the connection between childhood and adult selves. They give a glimpse into the lives of my friends and explore the way girls are expected to perform their identities through reenacting stereotypical girly activities for the camera while also embracing the camaraderie and shared experiences of girlhood.”
Lost and Found, Jessica Berger
Joon-Young Lee’s “I Will Always Love You” is a love letter to the people they are closest with, expressing a fear of losing time with these connections, of the possibility that with time gone by will, these connections weaken. Thus, creating a desire for tangible evidence of their love and care for each other, Lee set out to capture tender moments and build a monument to them. “Can I trust my bare memory to remember what we talked about, or what you wore, or how we existed? I want to remember you. With photography as my ground, I use this medium to immortalize the essence of the people I love. To keep their image and memory alive in ways that simultaneously transcend and strengthen the limitations of memory. What I’ve captured from January 2024 to April 2024 are more than just images. Besides my actions and words, this is how I love you. This is how I choose to keep you close to me even when life hesitates us.”
Sidney Haqq’s project “In The Mirror of Yesterday” is about her experience of being a twin and her complex relationship with self and identity. As she reflects upon her current moment in adulthood, she draws connections to her experiences with her partner and being a twin; the similarities of being bonded with another person and growing as a pair but also as an individual. “Individuality is a complex concept for some to grasp. It is a word that means much more than autonomy; it is a condition of the mind. Growing up as a twin, I was never entirely an individual. I became well-accustomed to the support of close-knit bonds that directly influenced my being. Thus, my personal development and self-perception came through the relationships I held.”
In The Mirror of Yesterday, Sidney Haqq
“Minha Querida” By Sabrina Dewes captures the relationship she shares with her mother, an appreciation of their special bond and unconditional love that they share. This series includes tender images of mother and daughter and their deep connections to each other. “The bond between a mother and her daughter is one of the most profound human connections to exist. They understand each other’s emotions better than anybody else. Mothers and Daughters exist as oblique mirrors of each other.
See below for more from the artists.
Minha Querida, Sabrina Dewes
1 bell hooks, All about love: new visions. New York: HarperCollins, 2001. See esp. chap. 6 “Values: Living by a Love Ethic”
2 hooks, All about love, 87-88.
In The Mirror of Yesterday
Sidney Haqq
Individuality is a complex concept for some to grasp. It is a word that means much more than autonomy; it is a condition of the mind. Growing up as a twin, I was never entirely an individual. I became well-accustomed to the support of close-knit bonds that directly influenced my being. Thus, my personal development and self-perception came through the relationships I held.
My Twin was the most significant influence in my childhood. Her presence acts as a glimpse of my past. She expands my existence and directly reflects parts of my childhood. Together, we make up two sides of the same coin. Her being has gifted me with the unique experience of a shared life, endowing me with the serenity of sisterhood and the warmth of our two-person community. Her guiding light allows me to understand my past and examine my being, from a place of pure comfort.
As I entered adulthood, I met my current partner. While sharing similarities with my twin, our relationship gifted me with self-awareness. His presence serves as a mirror, directly reflecting the positive and negative facets of my being. Through him, I have found space for transformation and growth, free from judgment and standards I have previously held myself to. By understanding the complexities of embracing a person outside the family unit, I am forced to understand my behaviors and how they affect those around me. Thus exposing facets of myself that I had ignored previously.
As I reflect on the essential roles these relationships have played in my life, I can’t help but feel as though I am still grappling with a sense of incompleteness. A part of myself that I must fill independently. My relationships have allowed me to become who I am today, but now it
Sidney Haqq
Sidney Haqq (she/her) is a lens-based artist currently located in Toronto, Ontario. Her work considers her place in the world, centralized on themes of introspection, relationships and self-identity. Through her exploration of self, Sidney visualizes her mindscape into actuality, providing insight into how she makes sense of the world around her. Her work bridges her perception and the world, allowing onlookers a safe space to contemplate their own realities and place within the world.
Minha Querida
Sabrina Dewes
The bond between a mother and her daughter is one of the most profound human connections to exist. They understand each other’s emotions better than anybody else. Mothers and Daughters exist as oblique mirrors of each other.
Minha Querida depicts the powerful bond created between a mother and her daughter and the impact they have on each other. I cannot think of anyone who I relate to more closely; my mom is a part of me and who I am. All my life, I have been told that I am just like my Mom but to me, we have many differences that make us the individuals we are. This series celebrates the ways in which my Mom influences my life while still exploring what makes us unique.
“Minha Querida” means “My Dear” in Portuguese using the feminine conjugation that the English language does not have. The title captures the essence of womanhood within itself, a prominent theme carried throughout the series. Minha Querida captures the dynamic within a Mother-Daughter relationship that speaks to womanhood on an intimate and generational level.
Minha Querida is meant to highlight the importance of those relationships you share unconditional love with. Unconditional love is like an infallible trust and sense of safety that is a powerful and precious thing to share with another person. It is these types of relationships that ground us in the times when we are lost. This series is an appreciation of these relationships where love is being offered freely.
Sabrina Dewes
Sabrina Dewes is a Latina-Canadian photographer and visual storyteller based in Toronto. Her work is known for exploring themes of identity, human experience and fashion, showcasing a deep appreciation for portraiture and narrative visualization. Sabrina uses photography as an outlet for self-expression and creative thinking to capture her ideas and perception of the world around her. Through her lens, she intends to display her passion and creativity of the world in hopes that it will resonate with people alike and conjure inspiration.
I Will Always Love you
Joon-Young Lee
I carry within me an existential fear of losing my time with the people closest to me. Not strictly through death but through life itself. That, through the opportunities that life offers I gradually lose my connection and time with those I love. Presently asking Will I ever experience a moment like this, with you, together, ever again? Can I trust my bare memory to remember what we talked about, or what you wore, or how we existed. I want to remember you. With photography as my ground, I use this medium to immortalize the essence of the people I love. To keep their image and memory alive in ways that simultaneously transcend and strengthen the limitations of memory. What I’ve captured from January 2024 - April 2024, are more than just images.
Besides from my actions and words, this is how I love you. This is how I choose to keep you close to me even when life hesitates us.
There are those I was not able to photograph, and there are those I wish I could have photographed more. However their images and my love for them still exist with me, both in the recesses of my heart and safeties of my library.
I will always remember you.
I will always love you.
Joon-Young Lee
Joon-Young Lee (They/Them) is a queer asian artist based in Toronto, Canada. Lee works primarily in the medium of contemporary photography, with their works reflecting on fashion, identity and relationship. . Lee approaches their work with the mindset of exploring and addressing the social and cultural issues in their perception of life. It is through this mindset where Lee best communicates their thoughts and emotions.
Lost & Found
Jessica Berger
Lost & Found is an exploration of girlhood, connection, and identity through portraiture and experimental collage. This series presents girlhood as something that transcends a particular period of life. The collages blend personal and gathered materials to produce dreamlike scenes steeped in sentimentality and emotion, while the portraits highlight the ways girlhood is present in the lives of my close friends - navigating their early 20s, simultaneously on the edge of adolescence and adulthood.
The collages are constructed using a distinct visual language that combines familiar components, such as stickers and trinkets, with images from my childhood camera, personal archive, and the family albums of my friends. I rephotograph, scan, and digitally combine these to create scenes where past and present are in conversation.
The portraits thrive in the awkward in-between moments where you see the connection between childhood and adult selves. They give a glimpse into the lives of my friends and explore the way girls are expected to perform their identities through reenacting stereotypical girly activities for the camera while also embracing the camaraderie and shared experiences of girlhood.
Lost & Found celebrates the varied nature of girlhood by combining personal histories and collective experiences via expressive collages and intimate portraits.
Jessica Berger
Jessica Berger, a lens-based artist currently based in Toronto, explores themes of identity, memory, and connection in her practice. With a keen interest in experimental processes, collage, and portraiture, she navigates the intricate dynamics between the self, others, objects, and places. Through her work, she hopes to encourage viewers to reflect on their own experiences and relationships - both internal and external- while representing her subjects with care.
What We Are
Charlotte Lai
what we are is a photographic exploration of my family’s experiences with being a part of a mixed-race household. This contributes to the question that I will never stop asking myself in both my personal and professional life; what does it mean to me to be biracial? Discussing race and identity is not an easy or quick topic to unravel, and I know that it’s something that I’ll be thinking about for the rest of my life. With this project, I wanted to shift my perspective from solely myself to extend to the rest of my family; not only unfolding my feelings surrounding being apart of a mixed race family, but asking my parents what it feels like having children that have little to no resemblance to them, my siblings how experiencing being biracial during their childhoods in the 90s was different to mine in the early 2000s. This project is meant to capture the love we share for each other, the racism we’ve faced collectively in different contexts, and ultimately the unconventionality that makes us who we are. Through warm-toned images with recurring themes of growth represented through plants, written testaments from my family members, as well as going through archival photographs of my grandparents and elder family members, I hope to gain a deeper understanding of what connects us all through our different experiences within the same family.
Charlotte Lai
Charlotte Lai is an up-and-coming lens-based artist creating out of Toronto. Exploring tender themes of domesticity and familiarity within her photography projects, she juxtaposes these comfort-evoking images with the bold energy of shooting musical artists performing live on stage. These two photography styles meet in the middle to result in her studio work, producing editorial images that use unconventional lighting and colour to create something engaging and meaningful. Charlotte prioritises lighting and tonality in her work, building a portfolio that ranges in content, yet still maintains an underlying commonality that ties it all together. As a recent graduate from Toronto Metropolitan University’s Photography program, Charlotte is eager to continue exploring Toronto’s community of creatives.
L’Anima Doppia
Alec Boyle
L’Anima Doppia explores confessions of assimilation, tradition, and identity of the Italian-Canadian immigrant. Through the eyes of Michelina and Guiseppe Di Tiello, the collection of images illustrates the domestic nuances of everyday life for the kin, utilizing traditional relics of the Italian-Canadian collective. The work serves as a visual testament to their resilience, the sacrifices made to better the lives of future generations, and the cultural metamorphosis which unfolded through the act of immigration. Through this exploration, I navigate the complexities of my own identity, grappling with the coexistence of my Canadian upbringing and the fading traditions woven into my Italian familial history. Through a series of intimate yet docile photographs, I explore the tangible and intangible threads that connect generations of family, bridging the geographical and temporal gaps that separate us from our ancestral roots. Through the lens, I seek to capture the nuanced emotions embedded in the immigrant experience—the bittersweet nostalgia for a homeland left behind, the triumphs and tribulations of forging a new identity, and the unspoken wisdom passed down through the generations.
Alec Boyle
Alec Boyle is an emerging photographer living and working in Toronto, Ontario. Approaching the world through a documentary lens, his practice is channeled through lifestyle portraiture. The photographer’s work explores themes of identity, belonging, and human connection, encouraging viewers to reflect on the complexities of their surroundings. His imagery captures the essence of urban life, inviting contemplation on the complexity and diversity inherent in everyday moments within the vibrant cityscape of Toronto.