From Vintage Black Canada:
"With the support of the Region of Waterloo Arts Fund, Project VBCx invited artists to tangibly engage with, and collaboratively reinterpret, selected pieces of our archive and related artifacts from the vantage of their own respective creative viewpoints. This free exhibit will feature the results of that collaboration + good music, drinks, vibes and most importantly art from:
@patriciacsimone @starkconan @trishaabe @shazia.rr @ryanantooa @reverie_collective_rugs @krystalballartist @snydercristian @ellieanglin Drinks graciously provided by @counterpointbrewingco and @sugarrunbar Opening night is February 23 2023 from 6pm - 9pm @king_mackay_gallery with a special acoustic performance from Juno award winning musician Erroll Starr at 7pm (@errol_starr_francis ) The collection will also be on view during gallery hours until Sunday February 26, 2023."
From Me:
I created these collages for Vintage Black Canada in 2019. These images were made when Aaron T Francis and I were planning a collaboration but we weren’t too sure what it would be yet. Shortly after we started scheming my Mom was diagnosed with cancer, and I actually made these collages to keep from falling apart (most of the time) while sitting in a series of hospitals, a nursing home and then a hospice at her bedside. It’s the last of my art she saw! I was really inspired by looking at these gorgeous family photos to reflect on the familial love and connection that transcends time and death. These were some of the first digital collages I made and the background images used in the collages are iPhone photos of things I saw during this time - textures on hospital floors and walls, patterns on the clothes we were wearing, photos of images from waiting room magazines and flowers we received as gifts. The letters used in the "Now Dance" collage were photographed at a hardware store as An and Emmy and I bought hardware to hang my Mom's quilt up in her hospice room. I’m so grateful to Aaron for letting me do whatever I wanted with this project and to have been able to get to know the Francis family through these pictures at a time when I really needed comfort. 💖❤️💖❤️💖
