Artwork exploring the natural environment that reflects personal and collective resilience from the past year. Featuring work from students and instructors at OCAD U School of Continuing Studies.

 

Ravi Persaud

Peeking Over the Neighbours Fence

Not being able to travel out of the country for over a year has made road trips to local destinations a must. As much fun as those local trips have been, I still miss being able to visit our neighbours to the south to enjoy Bodega beers and supersized Big Macs.

 

      

Erin Sass

Out of the Blue
A Sliver of River
Tropic Optics
Warm and Fuzzy
Wintertime Tableau

Over the past year I started digitally illustrating in a paper cutting-like style (using the app Procreate), as designing and creating art extensively improves my mood. I utilize colour, texture, and shading to achieve the effect of genuine paper cutting, which I have always loved for its dimensionality and tangible nature.

 

Karen Welch

Naomi’s View, Oil on Canvas, 20” x 24”

Sitting on a fold out chair in my snow pants, toque, and new hiking boots, muscles aching from a two-hour trudge through the woods, I was treated to this beautiful, tranquil view. Naomi helped me through a very difficult day, sharing her happy place with me, with love, compassion, and a socially distanced pot of tea.

 

Nasim Salehi

I will grow, I will become something new, Mixed media on wood panel, 48cm x 48cm, 2021

Why had I never touched the heart of a tree? Trees that were a shelter for me in the days of quarantine and loneliness.

 

   

 

Cortney Stephenson

Brick Skin, a Study for Soft Bricks. Part 1, A cast of a brick face, acrylic modelling paste, acrylic paint, mould debris, yellow brick, silicone, and a book. Dimensions variable. 2020

A Brick at Rest, a Study for Soft Bricks. Part 2, A cast of a brick face, acrylic modelling paste, acrylic paint, mould debris, and a book. Dimensions variable. 2020

 

Arlan Vriens

Salvatore Sciarrino’s “Caprice No. 2”

When my career as a performing violinist was muted by the closure of concert halls, video unexpectedly became an important lifeline for my artistic practice. Filming in my small apartment and neighbourhood venues, I aimed to capture the curious attentiveness to space which came when the radius of my daily travels collapsed to a single point.

 

  

Kiran Sohi

Ghost on the Plane
Flying High

Kiran Sohi is a Toronto-based artist who works primarily with oil and acrylic paint on canvas. Her current practice encompasses landscape paintings in oil and abstract paintings in acrylic. She is also venturing into digital art and existential videos of nature that aim to explore existence perceived outside the self.

 

Ebru Winegard

A Lonely Childhood

Playgrounds in a city are the best. But what if they are closed?! 2020 changed everything.

Born and raised in Istanbul, Ebru Winegard is a filmmaker, graphic designer, and visual artist. She earned her master's degree in digital and media art at Istanbul University. Ebru is now based in Toronto and works as a freelance graphic designer.

 

      

Sam Dinatolo

Children’s Book 2, Digital Artwork, 2020

 

JeeHyun Kim

Pomona Mills 1: Through the maple leaves
Resolution: Do you see what I see?

 

Nazanin Sepandram

Here I Am

I try to capture the beauty in mundane objects and routine life. I believe during this time, more than ever, it is important to find the beauty in our lives.