LOSING IT

LOSING IT

Pink cream background with four fem presenting people at the bottom of the page. All four have an image of a naked human running on a hamster wheel. The four figures are looking tired, on their devices and pensive.

LOSING IT
Boozie

Inspired by the helplessness of being stuck on a hamster wheel, this series chronicles one’s inner dialogue. Losing It explores the journey of trying to confront your demons after listening to them tell you lies all day long. For the artist, this includes trying out all the self-help tricks in the book with the hope that a light can someday be found at the end of the tunnel. This series was created to find an outlet and a means of articulating the artist’s mental health struggles with room for some humor in the despair.

Boozie is an independent, self-taught artist based in Toronto. She finds inspiration in everyday moments. Her artwork primarily focuses on her experiences as a woman. Being drawn to portraits, many of her works reflect everyday women in different personas. 

Artist website:  instagram.com/artbyboozie

Keywords: Anxiety | BIPOC Experience | Family | OCD

#RWMFest #MoreThanRebellion

This year, the exhibition in the Rendezvous With Madness Festival will be presented in-person throughout the festival from October 27 to November 6.

VENUE:

The exhibition is held at Workman Arts Offsite Gallery, Artscape Youngplace, 180 Shaw Street, Unit 302, Toronto. 

 

DATES:

October 27 to November 6, 12 – 6 PM.

 

EXHIBITION OPENING & ARTISTS TALK

October 29, 1-4 PM, Talk at 2:30 PM

After the opening reception, engage with the artists of kind renderings as they delve into their work and  practice.

TOURS

Please join us for a guided tour on Thursday, November 3 at 5 PM 

ACCESSIBILITY

If in-person access is a barrier, please contact Raine Laurent-Eugene at raine_lauenteguene@workmanarts.com.

 

Visit the Accessibility page for further festival information and wayfinding.

MULTITUDE OF FISH - ASCENSION TALES

MULTITUDE OF FISH - ASCENSION TALES

Black and white line drawings of multiple linked fish swimming above waves of black lines.

MULTITUDE OF FISH – ASCENSION TALES
Jenny Chen

Multitude of Fish – Ascension Tales is an animation that tells the story of fish ascending into the heavens, symbolizing spirits being uplifted. This animation was created by hand drawing each frame. The images were derived from the artist’s mental wellness journey, specifically the healing of past trauma and depression.

For the past few years, Jenny Chen has worked with the recurring image of water and fish to symbolize the flow of energy. This larger body of work titled, Multitude of Fish, exists in mediums such as drawing, painting, clay sculptures, installation and animation. The fish moves organically through its surrounding space, leading the viewer on different journeys. These spaces are reminiscent of the inner realm while taking inspiration from outer landscapes.

Jenny Chen is a visual artist living in Toronto. She makes art to process the world around her while raising questions about existentialism and spirituality. Her work uses symbols to create mystical environments inspiring viewers to wonder about life beyond the material world. She graduated from OCAD University with a major in Drawing and Painting and a minor in Illustration. Since then, Jenny has worked mainly in watercolour, pen and clay. Her exhibition history includes the Small Arms Inspections Building, Toronto Media Arts Centre and Living Arts Centre. She has received grants for her work from the Ontario Arts Council.

Artist website:  jennychen.me

Keywords: Anxiety | BIPOC Experience | Community| Trauma

#RWMFest #MoreThanRebellion

This year, the exhibition in the Rendezvous With Madness Festival will be presented in-person throughout the festival from October 27 to November 6.

VENUE:

The exhibition is held at Workman Arts Offsite Gallery, Artscape Youngplace, 180 Shaw Street, Unit 302, Toronto. 

 

DATES:

October 27 to November 6, 12 – 6 PM.

 

EXHIBITION OPENING & ARTISTS TALK

October 29, 1-4 PM, Talk at 2:30 PM

After the opening reception, engage with the artists of kind renderings as they delve into their work and  practice.

TOURS

Please join us for a guided tour on Thursday, November 3 at 5 PM 

ACCESSIBILITY

If in-person access is a barrier, please contact Raine Laurent-Eugene at raine_lauenteguene@workmanarts.com.

 

Visit the Accessibility page for further festival information and wayfinding.

kind renderings

kind renderings

RWM 2022 Kind Renderings

AN IN-PERSON EXHIBITION

Kindness is not an act of weakness. It is an act that resists societal expectations of doing and saying nothing. This form of rebellion is evident in this year’s Rendezvous With Madness visual art exhibition whereby the six exhibiting artists address within their work personal experiences that challenge what mental health and wellness looks like. Action is apparent through frameworks of compassion, thought-provoking imagery and considerate storytelling.

IN THE EXHIBITION:

A photograph of the back of a head with bantu knots.

CHAINS & CROWNS
Stéphane Alexis

An inverted photo with black background and white swirls of hairs

THE THINGS WE CARRY WITH US
Twinkle Banerjee

Pink cream background with four fem presenting people at the bottom of the page. All four have an image of a naked human running on a hamster wheel. The four figures are looking tired, on their devices and pensive.

LOSING IT
Boozie

Black and white line drawings of multiple linked fish swimming above waves of black lines.

MULTITUDE OF FISH - ACENSION TALES
Jenny Chen

Charcoal drawings of curled bodies surounded by words.

MY LEFT-HAND IS TALKING AND
MY RIGHT-HAND IS NURTURING
Jessica Field

Painted portrait of a park parking lot with a bright light in the blue sky and an ice cream truck with an adult and child waiting for their treats.

CINNAMON
Wen Tong

This year, the exhibition in the Rendezvous With Madness Festival will be presented in-person throughout the festival from October 27 to November 6.

VENUE

Workman Arts Offsite Gallery, Artscape Youngplace, 180 Shaw Street, Unit 302, Toronto 

 

GALLERY HOURS

October 27 to November 6, 12 – 6 PM

 

EXHIBITION OPENING & ARTISTS TALK

October 29, 1-4 PM, Talk at 2:30 PM

After the opening reception, engage with the artists of kind renderings as they delve into their work and  practice.

TOURS

Please join us for a guided tour on Thursday, November 3 at 5 PM 

ACCESSIBILITY

If in-person access is a barrier, please contact Raine Laurent-Eugene at raine_laurenteugene@workmanarts.com

 

Visit the Accessibility page for further festival information and wayfinding.

WORKMAN ARTS MEMBER ARTISTS JURY:

 

Sylvia Frey, Visual Artist, Toronto

Sylvia Frey is a Mad, Queer, BIPOC Visual Artist based in Toronto.  Her artwork explores the intersection of Madness, Healing, and Art.  She is an interdisciplinary artist, working in the mediums of painting, drawing, writing, and performance.  Most currently, she has started to explore film and photography.  Her artwork can be found in various private collections in North America and Europe.

 

Esmond Lee, Visual Artist, Researcher, and Architect, Toronto

Esmond Lee is an artist, researcher, and architect based in Scarborough. Lee explores long-term, intergenerational experiences of migration in peripheral spaces. He holds a Master of Architecture and is pursuing a Doctorate in Critical Human Geography. Lee draws from these seemingly diverging backgrounds to examine identity, belonging, and nuanced cultural and political borders in the built environment. Recent works include installations for Nuit Blanche Toronto, developed during his time as the Doris McCarthy Artist-in-Residence, and at Malvern Town Centre for CONTACT Photography Festival. Lee’s current projects include two photobooks: ‘Below the City’, recognized by the Burtynsky Grant, and one for Woodside Square Library as the TPL Artist-in-Residence. 

 

Laura Shintani, Visual Artist, Toronto

Laura Shintani is a multimedia multidisciplinary artist who’s curiosity leans into learning, leadership and making friends with the interior monologue of the mind. Having a Japanese-Canadian ancestry, she directs themselves to create work that re-connects a disconnected past to the present. She lives with and embraces neurodiversity.

Her work has been shown at the Royal Ontario Museum, Campbell House Museum, Tangled Arts + Disability and Workman Arts. She helps to facilitate CAMH’s client “Art Cart” through Workman Arts and has received grants from and has been on juries for the Ontario Arts Council. Her most recent skill is trying her hand at taiko drumming!