DYSTROPOLIS

Haven't been climbing up this set of mesmerizing spiral staircase at the Art Gallery of Ontario #AGO @agotoronto for awhile. #architecture #FrankGehry #Apr2026

𝘉𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 (𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘭𝘦), a group exhibit, curated by Farah Yusuf @thisisfaradise at Onsite Gallery @onsite_at_ocadu Finally I got a chance to visit this exhibit, wow, what a feast for the senses and the brain. The artist interviews definitely helped me gain a deeper understanding of the ideas and intents behind their works. It felt like a meditation on #posthumanism for all things, including humans, animals, lifeforms, inanimate objects, machines, and artificial intelligence. We are all unique and yet bound together by nature, interconnectedness, memory, identity, agency, adaptation, evolution, and so much more. We should therefore exercise care for all things. Along with this thought, a couple of novels came to mind: 𝘉𝘰𝘳𝘯𝘦 by Jeff VanderMeer, and 𝘍𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯’𝘴 𝘌𝘥𝘨𝘦 by Isaac Asimov that I felt very much tied to this exhibit and the idea it's trying to convey. 🖼️: 1-4- Ingrid Bachmann @ingridbachmannmtl 5- Catherine Blackburn @catherinebjewellery 6-10- Camille Jodoin-Eng @camillefuzz 11- Diane Landry @dianelandry_art 12- Robert Hengeveld @robert_hengeveld + Diane Landry 13- Alex McLeod @alexander_mcleod_ 14- Meryl McMaster @meryl_mcmaster 15, 16- Zev Farber 17-19- Sarah Friend @isthisanart #art #technology #toronto #Apr2025

𝘈𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘐𝘯 𝘍𝘢𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘰𝘯 exhibit opening reception at the Textile Museum of Canada @textilemuseumofcanada Powerful work by #IndigenousFashion designers got me so many feels. I will have to set aside some good hours on my return to the exhibit to fully appreciate everything. #fashion #exhibit #toronto #May2026

May the Force be with you. #May4th #BB8 #amigurumi #StarWars #May2026

FB has reminded me of my last collection 𝘈𝘵𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘴 was shown 11 years ago. Such a lifetime ago! I've been thinking about my past collections and collaborations and wonder what I should do with them instead of keeping them in storage. Burnout led to a pause led to 11 years! Designer: me aka Dystropolis Photographer: DQC Photo @dqcphoto Event: FAT Fashion Art Toronto 2015 @fashionarttoronto Shoes: John Fluevog Shoes @fluevog #FashionDesigner #dystropolis Apr2015 #toronto #Apr2026

I was referred to the Textile Drop-in Program facilitated by the Toronto Guild of Spinners and Weavers @toguild_spinnersandweavers at the Riverdale Farm @riverdalefarmtoronto @culture_to @cityofto and managed to attend four of their afternoon programs during my April staycation. I loved being there! Such a chill environment to create and chat with artists who were making various things, such as table-loom weaving, hand-spinning, felting, knitting, and embroidering. There would be various artists dropping by and I got to hear about their experiences and stories. So cool to get to hold some of the raw fleece sheared from the sheep living at the farm. I've found myself drawn into the fundamentals of textile-making that so many memories have been stored in these ancient techniques. As my hands are working with these techniques (yet to learn how to get fleece into yarn), I could feel myself being connected with things old and new, near and far. The visit I made at a mill-turned museum in Hong Kong to the visits and learning I have here in Toronto now all feel super connected. I wish I had shared the Hong Kong visit experience with the artists there but I was too absorbed with their conversations. I brought my unfinished projects from various workshops and completed them with the generous guidance from one of the guild members. I even started a new project on the back of a tapestry loom there. At one session, we were all invited to a gallery opening that one of the artists was part of that I was able to make. Of course, I had to go check out some of the animals living at the farm 🐑🐐🐦 When I get another chance in the future, I will definitely return to this wonderful program. 🖼️: 1-2 -Days-old baby goats 🐐💙 3-4 -finished the kraika from a workshop by @thisfolklife with guidance from @joelewis1117 5-6 -finished a kilim from a workshop by @toranj.workshop 7 -started a new personal project on the back of a tapestry loom 8-14 -farm animals + scenery #community #FibreArtists #FarmAnimals #toronto #Apr2026

Sash Weaving workshop by the artist Božena Hrycyna (thisfolklife.com) @thisfolklife at the Shevchenko Museum Library Gallery @shevchenko_museum_toronto Kraika is a traditional, hand-woven Ukrainian sash or belt that holds cultural significance in rooted identity, rich symbolism, interpersonal bonding and as protective amulet. The set up of a rigid heddle backstrap loom was incredibly simple and mobile and we even learned to improvise with chairs as warping tools. It's so true that yarn selection was the hardest part! My fondest part was the opportunity to chat with the participants who are artists in many different disciplines! Such a privilege to weave in the gallery full of beautiful artwork by Ukrainian artists and to learn about Ukrainian history and culture at the permanent exhibition. I didn't get to weave the full length at the end of the workshop but managed to finish it at the Riverdale Farm Textile Drop-in program a few months later. I don't think I will be wearing it but I wonder if I could give it a sculptural form later 🤔 #BackStrapWeaving #toronto #Jan2026 #Apr2026 #dystropolis

Paul McCartney 𝘗𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘩𝘴 1963-64 𝘌𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘮 at Art Gallery of Ontario AGO @agotoronto Bae and I finally got to visit this exhibit. Such precious photos. I really love the contact sheets that we don't use anymore in this digital age. #Beatles #ContactSheets #toronto #Apr2026 #DayOutWithBae @benjellojiggler One of the perks of having a Toronto Public Library @torontolibrary membership is to be able to access museums and galleries for free through the tpl:map program.

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘔𝘪𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘳 𝘊𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘬’𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘚𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘚𝘪𝘥𝘦 group show at Gagné Contemporary @gagnecontemporary (downtown west end/401 Richmond @401richmond ) featuring artists: Alison Brannen, Lori Coulter, Nick Fox-Gieg, Bill Greaves, Horst Herget, Cate McGuire, Erik Mohr, Ella Morton, Stan Olthuis, Howard Podeswa, Jobelle Quijano, and Meagan Williams. "In Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s poem The Lady of Shalott, the shattering of a mirror marks the exact moment a solitary, reflected existence collides with the chaos of the real world. To look directly is to break the frame. The Mirror Crack’d from Side to Side takes this rupture as a starting point, exploring the diptych as an artistic practice defined by the break in our field of vision." Heard about this opening reception from an artist Cate McGuire whom I met at the Riverdale Farm Textile Drop-in program during my April staycation and whose work is part of the show. I love how distinct each diptych is and how diverse the mediums are. The gallery was full of people who love art! Chatted with the artists as well as folks from the drop-in program. Such a great time that Bae and I stayed till closing! I am now fascinated by diptych! Looked up the poem afterwards and found myself murmuring "I knew this somewhere somehow." It was a Waterhouse's painting at the AGO I saw last year! 🖼️: 1- Cate McGuire "Hide in Plain Sight" @catemcguire1 2- Lori Coulter "The Secret Life of Women" @lorilcoulter 3- Horst Herget "Elegy" @horst.herget 4- Alison Brannen "Moon Shadows, Inside/Outside" @alison_brannenceramics 5- Meagan Williams "Mount Rundle/Policeman's Creek" @dumbabstraction 6- Howard Podeswa "Verso 2" (left) & "Verso 1" (right) @howardpodeswa 7-9 End of the reception 10- Gallery invite 11- John William Waterhouse ""I am half sick of shadows,' said The Lady of Shalott" (Alfred, Lord Tennyson, The Lady of Shalott, Part II), 1915, at AGO Art Gallery of Ontario @agotoronto #GalleryOpeningReception #CanadianArtists #toronto #Apr2026 #DayOutWithBae @benjellojiggler

David Blackwood 𝘔𝘺𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘓𝘦𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘥 exhibition at Art Gallery of Ontario AGO @agotoronto A little late to Blackwood's work but was completely drawn by his magnificent large-scale work: 𝘍𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘋𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘢𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘰𝘳 1980 etching and aquatint on paper; working proof no. 5 (or 6) 2011/303 and Plate for 𝘍𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘋𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘢𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘰𝘳 1980 copperplate The exhibit displays consecutive series of his working proofs showing his fascinating and meticulous process on etching and intaglio printmaking: 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘎𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘗𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘉𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘯 𝘞𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘰𝘳 1982 All of these felt so familiar yet distant. I was feeling nostalgic remembering that I had spent a great deal of time in my OAC year on printmaking especially etching on zinc plates in a small northern Ontario town called Elliot Lake. The texture of the plates, the smell of the ink, the clicking sound of the pressure press, and the inked images on paper felt within grasp yet are fading memories. Didn't expect the exhibit to conjure up so much emotion, but that is what art does. Such a humbling experience. #ExhibitionVisit #ArtEducation #DayOutWithBae @benjellojiggler #toronto #Apr2026

Treasures from the Royal School of Needlework @royalneedlework borrowed from the Toronto Public Library @torontolibrary . #TextileArt #rsn #tpl #toronto #Apr2026

𝘚𝘦𝘭𝘧-𝘱ro𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘵, 4/6, 1996, by the young me. This work was created when I was taking private printmaking lessons from a professor, sadly I forgot his name 😅, referred by my school resident friend Frances who fascinatingly switched her major from Business to Fine Art against her family's wishes. I couldn't recall the thoughts behind this work but I recall the feelings of despair, loss and fleeting. And, yes, I misspelled the word "self-portrait" on the print 😅 It is what it is! Perhaps, I should re-title it to "Presentiment" now that I managed to have my hair green/blue for the first time ever. I do love this color on me. Why did I wait so long 🤣? Lessons learned from the inexperienced me, not to use darker color on the grays, it won't work and also sadly the darker color covered some of the vibrant aqua on the lower part of the hair during the wash. *sigh* I used Jinx from Arctic Fox @arcticfoxhaircolor on the lower part and Transylvania of the same brand on the gray (upper part). Those who have watched the TV series Arcane would understand the reference to Jinx. Love this show. #printmaking #hairdyeing #artmaking #dystropolis #Mar2026