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/curator 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, intertwining the fabric of reality with that of a dreamscape. She strives to elicit visceral responses, compelling viewers to engage in contemplation of our contemporary world, suspending themselves between loss and reclamation.

Incorporating playful gestures imbued with symbolism, she orchestrates imagistic narratives that lend her practice an autobiographical intimacy. Her work is underpinned by influences from illustration, Cynical Realism, and Superflat. 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 

Using Format