Peripheral Review

"In her most recent body of work, Lapres’ investment in the replicability of appropriated images pushes the referential nature of her work into new formal territory. "1c2d94ca50aba4f6eace078a2ca3bacf.gif (GIF 1)" (2025), is a series of thirty paintings representing the 35-ish frames of the titular gif. The depiction of a moving image in this manner is new for Lapres, and this format both epitomizes and further develops the thematic questions her work investigates: can repetition be a form of meaning-making, or is it instead an emptying out of meaning, leaving behind only the superficial? For Lapres, the repetition itself is meaningful enough. " In the latest essay on the website, writer Violet Pask deeply considers the fantastical but familiar worlds created in the paintings of Toronto-based artist Sophia Lapres. Through dissecting the aptly titled "1c2d94ca50aba4f6eace078a2ca3bacf.gif (GIF 1)" (2025) to the millennially pertinent "I only travel with my credit card," (2024) the writing investigates if the meaninglessness of appropriated imagery can provoke emotions, and if nostalgia has the power to allow us to expand our understanding of the world. Read the full piece on the website today, link in our bio. Image: Image: Sophia Lapres, "I only travel with my credit card," 2024, oil on aluminum, 13.5 x 8.5 in. Photo courtesy of the artist.

Sarah Davidson: "I think there’s so much about being seen that’s very fraught. In the history of ‘nature,’ to be seen is often to be forced into a system of understanding that you might not have any stake in. In terms of the queer experience, being seen is a double edged sword. There’s a power in it, but also a threat. What’s interesting about the eyeballs for me is that they exist in that ambiguous zone." Jay Pahre: "It’s an interesting bundling together of different kinds of refusals: refusing to be seen, refusing to be interpreted in a way that’s easy; but also, the reversal of this pattern. It doesn’t quite reverse the gaze, it doesn’t quite evade the gaze, but it kind of highlights the act of looking, and highlights the act of what that generates, as far as a bodily response." In the latest piece on the website, New York-based artist Sarah Davidson is in conversation with friend and artist Jay Pahre, wherein they discuss first meeting at the Banff Residency, and their shared lived experiences within making art at "the intersections of queerness, transness, and beyond-human thinking at this current political moment." Read the full conversation at the link in our bio! Images: 1. Sarah Davidson, "Burn," 2021, watercolour, ink, and pencil crayon on paper, 18″ x 12″. Photo by LF Documentation courtesy of the artist. 2. Jay Pahre, "Space Blanket," 2019-ongoing, aluminum testosterone gel packets, monofilament thread, 96″ x 96″. Photo courtesy of the artist.

"In 'Handy Work,' [Steven] Beckly has created a new embodied semiotic, referencing a familial history of migration, trauma, warfare, gender, resilience, and faith. The meanings of the hand gestures are brought into being as they are practiced, invoking a kind of gestural talisman, an act of protection, and a declaration of knowledge and strength." In the latest review up now on the website, writer Adrien Sun Hall takes on artist Steven Beckly's solo exhibition, 'Handy Work,' at Daniel Faria in Toronto, in which the artist presented a new body of work that featured personal familial histories, challenged the conventions of masculinity in combat, and provoked new understandings of the complexities of father-son relationships. Read the full review at the link in our bio! Image: Steven Beckly, "Twist of Fate," 2025, archival pigment print, 25″ x 20″. Photo by LF Documentation courtesy of Daniel Faria Gallery. #stevenbeckly

“My artistic work has always been grounded in photography—as my practice has evolved over the years, I’ve become less interested in the actual act of taking photos, but I’ve always been interested in images. Cyanotypes felt like an obvious step for me in my practice; as I recently moved away from photography and into textiles, cyanotypes provided me with the possibility of printing images directly onto fabric. Cyanotypes are very accessible and easy to produce, they also have a history and connection to botany and the documentation of nature. It came naturally to me to produce images as I gardened since the process of making cyanotypes is so passive, it felt like there was an inherent connection between the two. I would pull things out of the ground or cut them down, and I would lay a fabric sheet out and quickly capture an image before the plant rapidly decayed—especially in the summer heat, the plants would wither fast. Since this was also my first year gardening, I felt protective and sentimental about what was growing and wanted a way to remember those plants, even the weeds.” – Holly Chang In the latest piece on the website, writer Lodoe Laura speaks with artist Holly Chang on her recent project, entitled “Garden into Infinity” (2025), and how the processes of gardening, sewing, and working with cyanotypes come together to archive ever changing organic plant life in her garden, while also helping to process grief. Read the full conversation on the website, direct link is in our bio! Image: Holly Chang, “Garden into Infinity, Father,” 2024. Installation view at PADA, Portugal. Photo courtesy of the artist.

"If I decide to remain in Canada, I do think there will be times where I feel that I am not fully grounded in the geographies that make up my family’s histories, but only through the combination of shared experiences in culturally relatable places. Tied together through the care of individuals who share the same complexity of knowing what their respective “home” is and what it could look like, I hope will provide an understanding of what it means for me to be situated on stolen land." In the latest review now live on the website, Winnipeg-based writer and artist Mahlet Cuff takes on her own diasporia identity while walking through "to be held in two hands," a two-person exhibition by artists Sonali Menezes and Snack Witch Joni Cheung at Martha Street Studios. Read the full review by clicking that link in our bio! Image: Installation view of "to be held in two hands," with work by Snack Witch Joni Cheung. Photo by Sarah Fuller courtesy of Martha Street Studio.

Tonight, we're thrilled to be launching the publication "Craft Parlour" alongside an exhibition of the same name by Rebecca La Marre. The publication is the culmination of La Marre’s 2023–24 residency at Western Front, which included a six-part workshop series that brought together ten interdisciplinary artists—Rosamunde Bordo, Amelia Butcher, Xinwei Che, Hannah Crosson, Sun Forest, Amy Gogarty, Chloë p.f. Lalonde, Christian Newby, Emiliano Sepulveda, and Julia Wong. Selected through an open call, the group met monthly from October to April to explore craft, contemporary art, and art writing, with a focus on writing as a tactile, material practice. The sessions combined shared research and hands-on exercises, and were enriched by guest contributors Rob Froese, Danny Kostyshin, Sharon Kivland, and A Jamali Rad. Designed by Manon Fraser and co-published by Western Front and Peripheral Review, the publication features original contributions by La Marre and the workshop participants, offering further insight into the ideas and processes that shaped the project. The publication is available for purchase at Western Front and at the Vancouver Art Book Fair for $30. @copy_ypoc @perioheralreview @vancouverartbookfair @manon_fraser_ @rrosa_moon @amelia.butcher @xinwei_che @hanossonah @___sunforest @amygogarty3 @chloelalonde__ @newbychrist @mister.emiliano @robfroeseceramicart @danny_kostyshin @mabib.liotheque @y2k_was_an_inside_job — Image: A hand holds a bright purple book with the title “CRAFT PARLOUR” in a bold stencil-style silver font. The book is illuminated by sunlight, casting shadows on the wooden floor below. A dark curtain is visible in the background.

Exhibition by Rebecca La Marre Opening reception: Jul 3, 2025, 6:00 – 8:00 p.m. Western Front, with Peripheral Review and the Vancouver Art Book Fair, presents “Craft Parlour”, a solo exhibition by Saskatoon/Treaty 6 artist and writer Rebecca La Marre. Installed in our library, the exhibition brings together a series of ceramic writing tablets alongside a new publication of the same name to explore the intersection of craft and writing. Developed during her 2023–24 residency at Western Front, “Craft Parlour” emerged from a six-part workshop series that brought together ten interdisciplinary artists—Rosamunde Bordo, Amelia Butcher, Xinwei Che, Hannah Crosson, Sun Forest, Amy Gogarty, Chloë p.f. Lalonde, Christian Newby, Emiliano Sepulveda, and Julia Wong—to consider the relationship between craft, contemporary art, and art writing, with a focus on writing as a tactile and material practice. The sessions blended shared research and hands-on exercises, and were further enriched by guest contributors Rob Froese, Danny Kostyshin, Sharon Kivland, and A Jamali Rad. Designed by Manon Fraser, and co-published by Western Front and Peripheral Review, the accompanying publication of the same name features original contributions by La Marre and the workshop participants, offering further insight into the ideas and processes that shaped the project. Further details at link in bio. @copy_ypoc @peripheralreview @vancouverartbookfair — Image: Rebecca La Marre, “Ceramic writing tablet”, (2019), stoneware paper clay, 21.5 x 28 cm. Courtesy of the artist. Photo by Carey Shaw.

Liz Toohey-Wiese: "I wrote a lot in my thesis about my work in relation to Canadian landscape painting, specifically looking at the Group of Seven. What was different about my work was the presence of humans. People are either present in my paintings or there’s evidence that humans were there to undo a colonial narrative of terra nullius. It’s also just my experience of a landscape with other people. It’s important to me that the figures are all specific people in my life, but this is not inherently necessary for the viewer. The figure is a way for you to insert yourself into the landscape, or to understand scale." In the newest post on the website, Vancouver-based artists Dan Starling and Liz Toohey-Wiese discuss their respective relationships to the landscape of so-called "Canada," both in a historical context as well as how they navigate the permanent effects of how climate change has affected the way we understand and depict nature. Link in our bio to read the full conversation! Image: Liz Toohey-Wiese, "Quesnel," 2024. Photo by Byron Dauncey courtesy of the artist.

Please join us (today!) Sunday March 30 from 2-4pm at Tamam for the soft launch of the project “Disclosure, towards liberation” in print. Earlier last month, a collection of texts was launched for free access on Peripheral Review’s chapbook project, peripherie peripherie. The print form houses these texts, with more expansive formats to include other works. This project is my way of giving back, so 100% of the proceeds will be donated. If you can’t make it on Sunday and are keen to support, you can pre-order a copy through the link in our bio. Orders will be mailed out by mid-April. “Disclosure, towards liberation” is a series of reflections, critiques, and creative expressions about the state of the arts, and its parallel institutions, in relation to the global rise of activism supporting Palestine in the last year. It features a collection of works by Dana Qaddah, Rana Nazzal, BUSH Gallery, Mercedes Eng, Dana Salama, SF Ho, Rehab Nazzal, Ibrahim Abusitta, Nada El-Omari and Daniel Drennan Al Awar.

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"The group exhibition 'Future Memoria' left a profound impression on me as a viewer and continues to resonate as a deeply moving and intellectually stimulating art experience. The juxtaposition of utopian aspirations alongside dystopian anxieties accurately reflected current global narratives, rendering the exhibition both timely and timeless. The show invited me to consider not just artistic interpretations of imagined futures but also the real-world forces shaping them. This sense of urgency and reflection set the tone for an exhibition that challenges, provokes, and ultimately lingers in the mind long after viewing." In the review that's now live on the website, writer Mohsen Veysi unpacks the complications and relevance of the world we live in found within the group exhibition titled "Future Memoria" which showed at Surrey Art Gallery last summer. Link in bio to read this one! Image: Installation view of "Future Memoria." Photo by NK Photography courtesy of the Surrey Art Gallery.

"While the stories we tell about diaspora have largely been unilateral—imagining a departure from a land where you are at home to becoming unmoored in the place you have migrated to—the 'tankiyan' offer a counter narrative. For a place like Punjab, with a list of grievances against India ranging from the dividing and quartering of Partition, to the violence of today’s Hindu nationalist state, there is no sense of home. The condition of being Punjabi is characterized by a longing for another place, perhaps a pre-Partition whole. In this imagined Punjab, the average person can live unencumbered by the state violence, flourish in their farming, and imagine a future for generations to come." In the newest review now live on the website, writer Prabhnoor Kaur hones in on the surreal and symbolic 'tankiyan'––the curiously ornate water tank rooftop sculptures in Punjab, which is the subject of photographer and artist Rajesh Vora's latest photobook. Through weaving in her own personal immigration story, Kaur dives into the complications of the definitions of success for the Punjabi diaspora to the Western world, as well as what it means for the family members who remain behind. Feature Image: Cover of "Everyday Monuments–The Rooftop Sculptures of Punjab" by Rajesh Vora. Published by Figure 1 Publishing, 2023. Photo courtesy of the Surrey Art Gallery.