tofeelclose

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Erika DeFreitas, "we are reservoirs. (np) (August 13, 2020)," 2020

polaroid film

tofeelclose culminates in a second act from Erika Defreitas, we are reservoirs. (np), a series of daily polaroids taken of the sun.

“Unlike cenotaphs we are reservoirs. We are reservoirs for those who came before us and for those who awaken with each sigh exhaled. Milagre do Sol. Spoken in the tongue of my mother’s mother’s mother’s mother. This is not without its burdens. Ave! Ave!

There are those whose porous bodies have been fashioned to absorb and conserve. A dwelling. A cistern for all things celestial. We surge with an aureate hue (often obscured by a menacing doubt); citrine nuggets nest in our molars (transmutation occurs); and stomachs swathed in its gilded dust (a striking splintered resemblance). There is a reason why.

And so, I look for her in the sun…”

Erika DeFreitas is a Scarborough-based artist whose practice includes the use of performance, photography, video, installation, textiles, works on paper, and writing. Placing an emphasis on process, gesture, the body, documentation, and paranormal phenomena, she works through attempts to understand concepts of loss, post- memory, inheritance, and objecthood. DeFreitas’ work has been exhibited nationally and internationally. She was the recipient of the TFVA 2016 Finalist Artist Prize, the 2016 John Hartman Award, and longlisted for the 2017 Sobey Art Award. DeFreitas holds a Master of Visual Studies from the University of Toronto.

tofeelclose is a space for individual and collective reflection. The project gathers momentum and shape through every voice. Contributors offer unfolding ideas and inquiries, lay bare obsessions, wade through the mundane, stage a place for an encounter. Look for ways to feel close.

tofeelclose is curated by Tarin Dehod and organized by Tarin Dehod and Derek Sandbeck of AKA. Design by Carson Sargent.

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