About Me
Biography
Emerald 邹佑 (Born in Hunan, China) is a visual artist based in Squamish, Tsleil-Waututh Musqueam/Vancouver, and Tkaronto/Toronto. She is a multidisciplinary artist drawn to painting, digital media, and activist work. She holds a BFA in Drawing and Painting from OCAD University with a Minor in Art and Social Change (2022). Emerald is the co-founder and current organizer for the Shoes Off Collective (artist-run collective) and is a member of The Plumb (DIY artist-run project)
Artist Statement
Emerald's current artistic praxis revolves around contemporary figurative oil painting. Within this framework, she deftly employs the human form as a conduit for exploring the interplay of the political within both private and public domains. Emerald conscientiously constructs spaces where corporeal experiences oscillate between realms of pain and pleasure, loss and reclamation, intertwining the fabric of reality with that of a dreamscape. Her research is focused on adoptee psychology, the One-child policy, Ghost Kingdoms, and Chinese mythology to engage in contemplation of our contemporary world.
Incorporating playful gestures imbued with symbolism, she constructs imagistic narratives that lend her practice an autobiographical intimacy. Her work is underpinned by influences from illustration, Cynical Realism, and the Superflat movement. Moreover, her artistic exploration extends to probing issues surrounding representation, diasporic storytelling, and queer theory.
Get in Touch
Get in touch with me using my contact form !!
CV
Education
2022 OCAD University, Bachelor of Fine Arts:
Maj. Arts Drawing and Painting, Min. Art and Social Change, Toronto, Ontario
Solo Exhibitions
2023
She’s Been Haunting Me in My Dreams, Spacer Maker II, Toronto, Ontario
Selected Group Exhibitions
2024
Upcoming - Interwoven Identities, Asian Arts and Culture Trust,Toronto, Ontario
Ghost Bodies, The Plumb Gallery, Toronto, Ontaro
deciphering as material, Ignite Gallery, Toronto, Ontario
Expressions of Critical Thought, Aurora Cultural Centre, Aurora, Ontario
To Search for the Source of One’s River, She Said Gallery, Toronto Ontario
Something Sweet, Spaced, Luminato Festival, Toronto Ontario
Return Passage 回程, Acentric Space Gallery, Shanghai China
Tender Curiosities - Diastories, Trinity Square Video, 401 Richmond
2023
Lithify, Red Head Gallery, 401 Richmond
Toronto Out Door Art Fair, City Hall, Nathan Phillips Square
2022
Tropical Cafe Holiday Art Market, Centre A Gallery
Grand Opening Showcase, Liquidation World
I will Doom Scroll Until my Eyes go Dry, Swell and I fall Asleep and Die, Remote Gallery, Toronto, Ontario
Second Annual Juried Show of Visual Arts, Art Gallery of Mississauga, Mississauga, Ontario
Emerging Now, Bau-Xi Gallery, Toronto, Ontario
Fresh Paint/New Construction, Art Mûr Gallery, Montréal, Quebec
GradEx 107 Thesis Show, OCADU, Toronto, Ontario
2021
WiTNESS MEDiA, Ada Slaight Gallery, Toronto, Ontario
Grants and Awards
2024
Arts Abroad Residencies, Canada Council
2023
Most Innovative Use of Material, Toronto Outdoor Art Fair
2022
Akin Studio Residency, RBC Career Launcher
Drawing and Painting Medal, OCAD University
John Madott Fine Art Award, OCAD University
Nora E. Vaughan Award, OCAD University
Student Group Leader Award, OCAD University
Artist Career Launcher Recipient: Partial Gallery
Curation, Projects, Events
2024
Home Room, My Friends Studio, Toronto, Ontario
I Notice That's Out of Place, The Plumb, Toronto Ontario
Exchanging Presence, Magdolene Dykstra, Art Gallery of Burlington
Chosen Family, Shoes Off Collective x Bevy Space Gallery
2022
Take Your Shoes Off! Shoes Off Collective Exhibition Catalogue,Catalogue Committee/Fundraiser
I will Doom Scroll Until my Eyes go Dry, Swell and I fall Asleepand Die, Remote Gallery, Toronto, Ontario
#RisingYouth Grant, Bamboo Sticky Rice - Communities inRelation, OCADU
Blue Print for a Collective Home, Shoes Off Collective, Great HallGallery, OCADU, Toronto, Ontario
Navigating Identity In the Asian Diaspora, Shoes Off Collective,Ada Slaight Gallery, OCADU, Toronto, Ontario
Drawing and Painting Catalogue Committee, Fundraising/Graphic Design, OCADU GradEx
Residencies
2024
AcentricSpace Art Residency, ACENTRICSPACE, Zhujiajiao,China
2023
Vice Versa Retreat, Duplex Artist Society x Shoes OffCollective
2022
Archives of Ontario: 150 Anniversary of the OntarioSociety of Artists, Toronto, Ontario
2021
What Moves You?: UAL/OCAD Residency, Remote/OnlineToronto, Ontario
Professional Experience
2024
Collective Member, The Plumb, Toronto, Ontario
2023
Programming Assistant, Nuit Blanche, Scarborough, Ontario
2022
Project Coordinator, Nuit Blanche North York, Ontario
University Recruiter, Admissions and Recruitment OCADU, Toronto, Ontario
Gallery Attendant, Ignite Gallery, OCADU Toronto, Ontario
2021
Gallery Installation Crew, Polygon Gallery North Vancouver, BC
Gallery Installation Crew, Centre A Gallery Vancouver, BC
2019-2020
Art Guru/Teacher, 4Cats Art StudioVancouver, BC/Toronto, Ontario
Publications
2024
Death Star Tarot Reading, Death Star Volume ll, Star Magazine
2023
Season 2 Inner Space, AGO Youth, AGO
2022
A Mark Here, Again. RARARA, Reel Asian
Granola Gworl Head Cover, Toronto Sun
7 Must-See Artists at Grad-Ex 107, The Curators Club Journal,Partial Gallery,
Blue Print for a Collective Home, Toronto Star
Cool Down, China Town Stories Volume 4:Heat, China TownToday
2021
Conflict with the Internal Occident and the External Orient, SUSpring Festival, Digital Catalogue
Liberated for a Night, Hardwire Journal, Undergraduate Journal ofSexual Diversity Studies at UofT
2020
Liberated for a Night, The Herd Archive/Volume 3, E-Magazine/Instagram
Gastown Murals of Gratitude, Museum of Vancouver,Vancouver, BC
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