Oxide Garden No. 2 captures a layered record of place, time, and material transformation. Rosehips were gathered from a rose bush on Beatrice Street on June 14, 2025, near the end of their seasonal cycle, after the first bloom had faded, carrying the subtle memory of growth and decay. Discarded lag bolts from a Camden Street industrial site were left behind, later processed over several weeks into iron-rich rust water, preserving the latent chemical history of the material.
The work combines these natural and found materials with artist-made inks, guided across the surface through layering and gentle scraping. The pigments interact organically, producing ethereal textures and shifting colour relationships as the materials meet, migrate, and influence one another. The piece preserves moments in time and traces subtle transformations, reflecting both human and environmental processes.
#makeink #torontoartists #artofprocess #powerofnature
BAND is proud to share a major milestone from our booth at Art Toronto: RBC has acquired Laurena Finéus’s Under Borrowed Skies (2025).
This acquisition recognizes Finéus’s powerful practice and underscores the importance of institutional collecting in supporting Black artists and Black-led institutions in Canada.
We are also celebrating a new curatorial partnership: Emilie Croning, founder of EMC Contemporary, will curate one of BAND’s first exhibitions in our newly renovated space in 2026: a solo by Laurena Finéus.
Together, these milestones reflect BAND’s commitment to creating opportunities for Black artists and building bridges between the nonprofit and commercial art worlds.
We are grateful to RBC for making our participation at Art Toronto possible through the Discovery Program; to EMC Contemporary and Emilie Croning for leading our collaboration with Lauréna; to Laurena Finéus for her trust; and to TD for supporting BAND’s Curatorial Initiatives by sponsoring Co-Director Joséphine Denis’s role.
#BANDGallery #LaurenaFinéus #RBCCollection #ArtToronto #BlackArtists #InstitutionalCollecting
Artwork Image Courtesy of Artist: Laurena Finéus, Under Borrowed Skies, 2025. Oil, Mica, Pigment and Ink on canvas, 60”x 67”
First image credit: Ibrahim Abusitta @iadocumentation
Second image credit: Laurena Finéus @laurenafineus
Third image credit: Ibrahim Abusitta @iadocumentation
Drawing Drop III is now live with a Google Drive link available in my bio. All works documented by @iadocumentation
Welcome to a world where my works are revered and explored by elders of the future.
Pictured:
Cosmos
8.5” x 11”
Acrylic paint on paper
2025
My First Rose, 2025 🔴
Foraged rosehips, rusted iron and crab apple vinegar on paper
Ink made from foraged rosehips, slowly boiled and left to rest for days before meeting iron. The pigments deepen gradually, revealing the careful, patient process behind each mark. This work shows the slow unfolding of transformation, where time and material come together before the ink finally touches the paper.
📷 @iadocumentation
Some install shots from @art_toronto with @smokethemoon ! Thanks to everyone who came by🙏💕🌙 last slide is a pic of my babies in my studio.
#contemporaryart #emergingartist #torontoart #artfair #abstractpainting #figurativeart #contemporarypainting
We can’t wait to show you what we have planned for Art With Heart—now only 2 weeks away!
Get a peak behind-the-scenes when our collection was shot by photographer and contributing artist Ibrahim Abusitta (@ibrahim.abusitta / @iadocumentation ) This year’s incredible 2023 collection appears in its entirety in our catalogue, which just arrived in-house and will soon be on its way to art buyers and artists.
Thank you to our friends and sponsor Gallery Express (@galleryexpress ) for the elite art handling and transportation services and for making room for us to shoot in your space. We would not be able to transport all 90 artworks without the gentle yet hardworking experts at Gallery Express. From our auction to your home, we trust Gallery Express.
It’s only a fortnight until Art With Heart 2023, presented by TD Bank Group (@td_canada ), get your tickets today at ArtWithHeart.ca
Celebration of the well (past life #2), oil, flashe and acrylic on canvas, 2023, 48 x 48 inches
In this work, I attempt to reimagine and sidestep identity politics by using meditation, hypnosis, and past-life regression to retrieve information about myself. Using spirituality as a lens and as a methodology to mine information and make work; past-life regression has given me permission to bypass the limitations of my physical identity. In this painting, I retrieved information from my deathbed as an Albanian farmer. The prompt in my regression was to revisit an important event in that lifetime. I saw people celebrating the founding of a water well. There were offerings of food and pottery, dancing, and chanting among the people.
this work is currently on view @patelbrowngallery , documentation by @iadocumentation
repost from @patelbrowngallery :
🌞 "Break It to Me Gently", the summer showcase at Patel Brown Toronto, is NOW ON VIEW 🌞
We are proud to present works by eleven artists including both longtime collaborators and new faces. Drop by to cool down and reflect on the season in these last few dog days of summer!
The gallery at 21 Wade Ave., #2 is open Tuesday - Saturday 10am-6pm, including this long weekend.
📸: @iadocumentation
🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞
#groupexhibition #summershowcase #breakittomegently #leeayaikawa #raulaguilarcanela #vanessabrown #nathaneugenecarson #patrickcruz #melissadoherty #alexahatanaka #davidrossharper #MiaoXuanLiu #shelliezhang #summergroupshow #patelbrown #torontogallery #canadianartist #sculpture #painting #collage
