Desire Lines II
Siddharth Khaire
Born in Baroda, India, Siddharth Khaire (aka Graffi sid) is a self-taught artist who gets inspired by day-to-day activities. As a child, he was always to be found with a sketchbook and markers in hand - cartoon characters and funky designs have been a constant in his body of work. Although his artwork was initially inspired by his indigenous roots back in India, Sid was exposed to Hip-Hop as he grew up, while becoming fascinated by graffiti and street art. Once a fan of creating B&W masterpieces, he now paints with an explosion of colors. Sid predominantly approaches his artwork from a street art perspective, with an underpinning of re-contextualization through mixed media materials and his creativity. Also, freehand aerosol and traditional brush techniques are evident in Sid's works, primarily incorporating mixed media such as acrylics, aerosol, inks, markers, and objects, among others. He is always known for his detailed work and creative concepts. Sid has grown up as an artist rather than believing that he is just a “grown-up”. Sid came to Canada in 2016. Since then he did many mural projects with the City of Toronto (Street Art Toronto) and different workshops with different non-profit organizations.
Jenny Chen
is a Chinese-Canadian artist from Mississauga. She currently works in watercolor, pen, and clay. Her work uses symbols to create otherworldly environments while considering themes of existentialism and spirituality. Her exhibition history includes the Small Arms Inspection Building (group), Living Arts Centre (group), Toronto Media Arts Centre (group), and United Contemporary (solo). She is a grant recipient from the Ontario Arts Council and Cue Arts Projects. Chen’s recent piece, ‘The Multitude of Fish’ was featured in the Toronto Star.
Sylvie Stojanovski
(@anepicenigma) is a Scarborough-based, emerging artist, creative facilitator, and project manager, with a passion for community art-making. She believes that art has the power to heal, connect people across differences and create social change. Her personal creative body of work is largely pattern-based and created through a process of intuitive mark-making. Sylvie is inspired by the myriad of relationships we have with the contemporary natural world and is interested in helping people reconnect with their child-like sense of wonder.
As an arts entrepreneur, Sylvie has founded successful collectives and played roles in program development, research, and outreach for established arts organizations, including Mass Culture, Scarborough Arts, and the Coalition for Music Education in Canada. In the community, she is known for her exceptional leadership, and dedication to supporting arts initiatives at the intersection of creativity, mindfulness, and play. In 2019, she was awarded the Rising Star in community leadership award from Dancing Damsels Inc. for her work with the youth-led multidisciplinary arts festival, ARTSIDEOUT. Recently, she was one of 5 artists selected from across Canada to be a part of the Youth Climate Lab's Virtual Gallery and #MoveTheNeedle campaign on climate conversations.
Ammarah (AMMARICAN) Syed
Ammarah is an interdisciplinary artist interested in documenting how modern-day discourses such as capitalism, colonialism, and various power dynamics have developed to inform mental health, identity, and sexuality. Ammarican explores in her work, how words among other factors, influence emotion, culture, and politics. AmmariCan’t Even, Ammarah’s performance alter-ego, likes to deconstruct and explore the little boxes our society and our minds like to put us in. Both of their processes involve sitting on their ass for 8 weeks (contemplating of course) & then creating something all in one go. They aspire to use the arts as a means to transform oppression into change.
Gloria O’koye
Gloria is also known as Glowz is born and raised in Toronto, She has been a writer for 18 years and a spoken word artist for 7 years. Gloria self-published two books 'A Kintsugi Memoir' and 'Hood Chronicles' in the past two years. She has been involved in community engagement as of 2013 and still is much involved. Her poetry reflects lived experiences growing up in different parts of the city and her upbringing.
Lucia Laford (Waawaaskone Qwe)
Lucia Laford is an Anishinaabe artist from Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. Lucia has learned and followed in her father’s footsteps and paints in a traditional Woodland style. Lucia also employs many other techniques in her art practice, including contemporary styles using a variety of mediums.
Lucia has had numerous solo and group exhibitions in Toronto and Sault Ste. Marie. She has also live painted for the ROM during the Anishinabeg art and power ongoing exhibition. Her work also includes mural painting and running mural workshops for children. Most recently she painted 4 murals for the Fort York Indigenous Festival and created the painting used for promotional material for the annual Native Child and Family Services Pow Wow.
GENE ONE
Gene One is a Canadian Born Mc based on the west side of Toronto. Real name Givanni Binger, A potent lyricist whose sound is best described as versatile, and gritty, pulls inspiration from the ugly & beautiful real life scenarios that arise with the journey of coming up. With multitudes of witty punchlines and wordplay amid layers of resonant and progressive vocals, the 24-year-old rapper sits cohesively between carefully selected compositions of eclectic and feeling production ranging from smooth melodic samples and chops to elaborate double-time flows and assertive drums.
Having created a local buzz after performing at hundreds of shows from 2013-17 alongside notable acts such as Pusha T at Drakes own 6fest among others, a 20-year-old Gene was subsequently featured on “Sway In The Morning” boasting a freestyle with Philly Based Producer Jahlil Beats, later receiving high praise by The top radio host and the local hip hop community, and Having curated dozens of independent shows putting on local acts & facilitating hundreds of programs for the cities youth, he's had a direct influence on the Urban community in Toronto and its interwovenness into the contemporary scene. In 2017 and 2018 He was invited to speak at the University Of Toronto On 2 occasions to share his journey.
More recently getting together with Grammy Nominated production duo “Buda and Grandz” for his Debut single “World“, Gene is constantly at work developing new material. Now Teaming up with executive producer and long-time close friend “Kwace”, he continues to cultivate the now known sound that is Gene One. His upcoming EP “GENEMI” sports a variety of Toronto producers & new york's Chuck Strangers is set to drop before the new year rolls in.
Mandy Sanchez
Mandy was born as a first-generation Salvadorean Canadian in the prairies of Winnipeg where she started out as a dancer at the age of 5 learning traditional folklore dances from her culture. She always had a connection to music through her family upbringing. She continued her passion for dance by moving to Toronto as a street dance freestyler while also facilitating spaces for youth with VIBE Arts and Unity Charity through Hip-Hop culture. Traveling to places like Montreal, Vancouver, Florida, and New York to further develop her knowledge and experience in the culture she's been immersed in. She recently discovered another hidden passion of hers which is facilitating music as a sound selector. She has now merged both of her artforms of street dance and being a DJ to facilitate spaces that encourage exploration and curiosity. She has gone on to create her own spaces under the name “Our Mecca” as a hub to join her two passions of music and dance in one space under one roof. Some spaces she has facilitated music were “Run It Back” Toronto’s first R&B battle in the street dance scene in the city, Unity’s “In Your Element” End of the Season Showcase, and Soulection Appreciation Day. Her main values remain the same no matter what space/artform she facilitates which are Integrity, Freedom, Openness, and being honest with yourself.