Region of Waterloo Arts Fund Recipient

I am excited to share that I have received grant support from the Region of Waterloo Arts Fund to support the creation of new artistic work. Stemming from my MFA thesis work I Saw You in the Archive, my new project will involve creating a documentary film about the history of eugenic practices in Kitchener-Waterloo in the mid 20th century. I am grateful for the Region of Waterloo Arts Fund and the jury members for their mission to fund artists who are contributing to the Waterloo Region.

More information coming soon about the documentary project.

Tie the Knot Tight (film still), in development, 16mm film and digital video superimposition. Image courtesy of the artist.

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MFA Thesis Exhibition: I Saw You in the Archive

I’m excited to announce that my MFA thesis exhibition I Saw You in the Archive will be exhibited at the University of Waterloo Art Gallery (UWAG) on May 15th - May 31st. This exhibitions is the culmination of two years of research and creation while pursuing my graduate studies at the University of Waterloo. The body of work explore how history and the past still linger and effect the present; how the rhetoric of eugenics still seeps into our contemporary understandings of ourselves and each other. I Saw You in the Archive explores a local history within Kitchener-Waterloo of sterilization of people deemed ‘feeble-minded’ during the mid-20th century. How does this history of control and containment persist today? And how do we understand and frame such a history?

My exhibition investigates these questions and more through an immersive installation featuring video, performance, and print materials. It explores the history of the Kaufman Rubber Company, it’s owner A. R. Kaufman, and his connection to the eugenics movement within Canada. My research involved extensive digging through the University of Waterloo’s archives, which house the Kaufman family fond, and creating work that expresses my personal reactions to encountering this material.

I invite anyone who is able to please attend the exhibition. We will be having an opening event on Thursday, May 15th from 5-8pm. My solo exhibition will show adjacent to my lovely classmate Azadeh Pirazimian’s MFA thesis exhibition. UWAG is open Wednesdays to Saturdays, 12-5pm or by appointment, and is located at East Campus Hall, room 1239 at 263 Philips St in Waterloo, ON.

PS. Please sign up for my brand new email newsletter! I’ll be sending out a monthly email with news about future art-making endeavours. It' is the best way to stay up-to-date with news about my art.

Pursuing MFA at University of Waterloo

Hello everyone!

I just wanted to tell the online world that I am beginning my journey of my Master of Fine Arts! Very exciting!

I’ve been working towards this goal for the last few years, refining my portfolio and determining what I want to research / learn during my masters. I originally studied film during my undergrad, and wanting to expand my practice and what materials I worked with, I returned to school to study visual art. I always had a strong interest in visual art, taking non-studio courses during my undergrad and learning a lot about the crossovers of experimental filmmaking and visual artmaking. However, returning to school in 2021 to pursue my diploma in Visual Arts allowed me to really re-connect with WHY artmaking is so important to me, and WHO I wanted to be as an artist.

I’m not trying to write anything formal or fancy here, so I’m not going to try to explain all that here. However, I will say that returning to school reinvigorated my commitment to my artmaking. I am so grateful to the Simon Fraser University Visual Arts department and community for being so welcoming and uplifting. I learned so much during these last two years, and made such amazing connections and friends.

With all that said, I’m moving to Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario! I’ve been admitted to the University of Waterloo’s MFA program and will be starting in September. To be honest, this was my dream school (the program is amazing and includes so many unique opportunities), and I’m so happy this in the next step in my life. I am so excited for this journey to begin, and I’ll be updating you all with my new creations and learnings to come. So yes, I’m moving to Ontario; I’m starting my Masters of Fine Arts at University of Waterloo; and I am really excited.

These upcoming two years are going to fly by, so I’m just going to try to soak in all the moments the best I can. If you are a Vancouver friend reading this, I’ll still be visiting Vancouver often and hope we can stay connected with each other.

Wish me luck (: