2022 Transformation Stories
Tia Grant (She/Her)
Tia is a Toronto-based multifaceted individual.
She is a Creative, a Poet, and a wellness facilitator, to name a few 🙂
She aims to spread peace, love, and realness while helping others on their journey.
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This project allowed me to show what resiliency looks like to me.
These photos represent the overcoming of self-hate & hate from those around me, not seeing my beauty, being burned by the flames that come with life.
In the end, I've learned to embrace and love all that’s come with my journey.
Elisha Dixon
Born in Vancouver B.C and raised in Toronto. Elisha has been a graphic designer and photographer since 2016 and also taking on various art mediums such as watercolour , acrylic , stenciling and printmaking.
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My series serves around nature and how we revolve around it, how we evolved from it and what is next. Each shot expresses a part of nature. I chose to shoot all scenic photos in black and white to show the simplicity of nature on its own. Our environment changes on a constant basis and will continue to revolutionize. My series invites you back to nature, not something that we get to see a lot today.
J. A. Bartholomew R (she/her)
Born and raised in Brampton, Ontario, J. A. Bartholomew is a pursuer of art and an aspiring writer. She graduated York University in Communication Studies and Professional Writing with Honours. Through her education, she pursued various media projects that explored what it means to be a writer. Since her graduation, she continues to work on her debut novel and short stories while building her social media under her username @iteza30.
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The Emotions Project – J. A. Bartholomew R.
The Emotions Project is a photo essay that creates a metaphor of hidden emotions. As humans, we constantly mask our true selves to navigate in our society and create two identities. Whether hidden or exposed, emotions pose as a difficult, yet empowering experience as we reclaim our autonomy as to how our emotions are perceived or expressed. This photo essay is divided into five parts that conveys those hidden emotions:
The two-faced experience. Everybody hides behind a mask.
Puppets in a puppet show. Our lives are dictated by the identities we create.
We reach out to our true selves.
We pose for the camera and put on our best face.
Seeing is optional. Our judgement is biased.
Jasmine Vanstone (she/her)
Jasmine Vanstone is a Jamaican-Canadian multi-disciplinary artist and arts administrator based in North York. She experiments in digital collage, digital photography, drawing, painting, and paper crafts to share visual reflections of anti-Black racism, mixed race identity, mental health and wellness, and environmental justice. A graduate of York University, Jasmine earned a BFA with Honours in Visual Art and a Certificate in Cultural and Artistic Practice for Social and Environmental Justice.
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Social Anxiety and Imposter Syndrome affect my self confidence and how I am practicing positive self-affirmation as a mixed-race Black female emerging artist and arts administrator. My photos represent the paralysis of a self-inflicted inanimate mind, a glitch in the matrix allowing growth beyond perceived limitations, and the reward that comes from appreciating my strengths. As much as I am still growing, I deserve to be celebrated in all of my stages because I am enough.
Natasha Graham
I am a biracial Black woman who was born and raised in Toronto’s east-end. My mother was born in Toronto and my father immigrated to Canada from Jamaica. I have worked and volunteered in the non-profit sector, and have participated in many local initiatives. My aspiration to dedicate my life to improving mental health access for marginalized communities started because of my own lived experience with mental health diagnoses. I have a particular interest in intergenerational trauma.
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Climbing Gumdrop Mountain- A photography series on daily self-care and coping with mental illness and neurodivergence
Aesthetic: Fun and playful "Candy Land" game theme
The juxtaposition with the serious subject matter is about the false belief that coping and self-care is always easy. Healing isn't linear, and learning and coping can be difficult. While important and sometimes tremendously helpful, it isn't always a magic wand or fun undertaking.
Keyshia Corothers (she/her)
Keyshia Corothers is a multidisciplinary artist and activist who works with textile, fashion and graphic design. Her art is influenced by the lens in which she experiences the many facets of life like emotions, colour, and the natural environment. As a history nerd, her art continues to pay homage to the past. Her current favourite fashion era is the 1940's. She is inspired by the vibrant colours, the ruffles, and the polished, free flowing structure that accentuates the feminine body.
Keyshia explores natural elements as a way to express melanin and changing seasons with the richness of nature. In this collection of self portraits, she showcases self determination and agency in relationship to land and life around her.