In Labour/In Love
Excel Garay, Francesca Ekwuyasi, Arjun Lal, Emily Lawrence, Luke Pardy and Sally Wolchyn-Raab
November 26 — December 17, 2023
open Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, 12-6pm
Opening Reception: Saturday, November 25th at 6pm
Starry Night Gallery Hop: Friday, December 1st, 6-9pm
*Please note: masks are required in the gallery for the duration of this exhibition
In Labour/In Love is a responsive exhibition curated by Sally Wolchyn-Raab that emerged from themes explored in their solo exhibition Adipose, exhibited at Hermes the month prior. The two exhibition converse with one another and flow into each other as an experiment in curation motivated by individual understanding and interpretations of the universal experiences of body shame and body liberation.
Excel Garay, Francesca Ekwuyasi, Emily Lawrence, Arjun Lal and Luke Pardy were invited to bring works into the space that pull on the threads of their own relationships with their bodies and the acts and substances that nourish them. What arose became a nuanced and wide-ranging exploration into care as an active and laborious endeavour. The artists bring their own perspectives touching on queer and irreverent acts of self care, fantastical rejection of shame and searches for making amends and peace with the things we love.
Sally Wolchyn-Raab is a queer, chronically-ill visual artist, writer and arts administrator living and working in Kjipuktuk (Halifax, NS). Raised in Lenapehoking (Philadelphia) in an Ashkenazi-Jewish household, she writes and makes art inspired by food, cultural connection and bodily liberation. She works as one of the Artistic co-Directors of Eyelevel Artist-Run Centre, and graduated in 2023 with an MFA in visual art from Memorial University of Newfoundland. Her work has been published and exhibited throughout Canada and the United States.
Luke Pardy is an interdisciplinary artist working between photography, performance, and installation. He grew up in S’ólh Téméxw and now resides in Kjipuktuk. His work investigates settler relations to land through interactions with landscapes, architecture, the body, and ephemera. He holds a BFA from the University of The Fraser Valley and is currently a MFA candidate at NSCAD University. His work has been included in group exhibitions in Canada and the U.S. and solo exhibitions and installations in Abbotsford and Vancouver B.C. He is the recipient of a 2023 Canadian Graduate Scholarship from the Social Science and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC).
Emily Lawrence is a photo artist, baker and recipe maker living in Mi’kma’ki / Nova Scotia. Since graduating from NSCAD University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 2017, her conceptual food photography has been motivated by celebrating the pleasure of food in our pervasive diet culture. Through the seduction of drips, drizzles, sugar and fat, her work explores the potency of food fantasies and visual translation as a method of collaboration. She imagines her art parents to be Pee Wee Herman and Nigella Lawson.
More information coming soon about exhibitors Arjun Lal, Excel Garay and Francesca Ekwuyasi.