Every other week we highlight and celebrate the work of Scarborough-based creatives on this page + on our instagram–with a particular focus on bringing attention to the work of emerging muralists and community arts practitioners. The goal of each feature is to showcase an artist’s work and create a direct path for networking opportunities.
View our previous spotlights…
Jade Kent-Brewster is an emerging mixed media artist. 👩🏾🎨
Here’s what she had to say about her practice: “My art is inspired by everyday life. As an artist, I work hard to produce pieces that speak to who I am as a creative and are impactful to my audience. In my art I like to enhance mundane objects with vibrant light colours. I do not limit myself to one medium as I want my creation to provide the best experience possible.”
One hope she has for the Scarborough Arts community is that “artists gain more recognition for their artwork.”
Support Jade by following her at @jkb.studios and check out our next posts to see some of her work for yourself. 😊
Caterina Sinclair is an Anishinaabe-Filipina artist also known by her spirit name, Memengwaa Kwe. 🦋👩🏽🎨
Currently based in T’karonto, much of her art explores reconnection to ancestry and community through beadwork, and creative expression through fluid art paintings.
Outside of art and work, she’s currently learning her mother’s ancestral language of Nakawēmowin and sharing what she learns with her 2 year old daughter, who is picking up the language so well! In the near future, she hope to learn and share her father’s language of Tagalog as well.
Support Caterina by following her page on Instagram @memengwaakweoriginals, and/or buying some of her original paintings + earrings. ☺️
Ujwal Mantha is a recent grad from the University of Toronto Scarborough as well as a multidisciplinary artist. 👨🏽🎨
His practice deals with narrative. Specifically, the role that stories play in the construction of one’s culture, imagination, and identity. By writing, rewriting, and adapting stories, his work presents unique perspectives on consciousness, world-building (fictional and otherwise) and, more recently, issues surrounding mental health. His background in sociology also encourages him to look at his practice through an academic lens, backing it with research and theories and thus enabling his works to be used in an educational capacity. At the start of university, Ujwal’s work was largely sculptural, experimenting with whimsical and humorous installations. The pandemic encouraged him to explore two dimensional mediums and introspective themes, provoking him to think deeply about his own mind as a physical place that he could travel through, especially as the outside world descended into a series of quarantines.
Here’s what Ujwal had to say about his connection to Scarborough: “I was born in Hyderabad, India. I’ve lived most of my childhood and adult life there. It was the home I was born into, that I grew up in. I love it for all those reasons. But Scarborough is the home I’ve built. In a way it’s the home I’ve earned. There must be a reason why we travel, leave the safety of home to go somewhere else. Scarborough welcomed me and I’ve since built a little family of my own here.”
Support Ujwal by following him at @ujwal.k.m and check out our next posts to see some of his work for yourself. 😊
