Visual and Critical Studies Work
A Return to the Romantic: Historical cultural patterns seen in Instagram's cottagecore aesthetic
April 2021
Examining cultural patterns and aesthetic mouvements through history is valuable for understanding popular culture in the present. Style is cyclical. What was in fashion four years ago will be on your explore page tomorrow. Structures feeling for particular moments in history can be useful in understanding the aesthetics of our media today. With a discursive approach to research in popular culture, this paper analyzes Instagram's "cottagecore" movement.
Making Sense of Scent: Olfactory Art in the Information Age
February 2020
When we have an olfactory experience, we have automatic associations with this scent that arise as personal memories and social implications that are subjective to each person. This paper analyzes the evolution of scent as a formidable subject of art within contemporary curatorial practices, exploring how these scents are interpreted in artistic analysis and controlled within museum or gallery settings. With technological advancements, olfaction experienced from scent in both natural and synthetic forms have become an asset to the predominately audio-visual environment of the arts.
Race and Representation: The Role of the Artist, the Museum, and the Public
November 2019
This research essay analyzes the Whitney Museum of American Art's decision to display the painting by white artist Dana Schutz titled Open Casket (2016) in their 2017 biennial. Contemporary art that handles issues related to race and representation are often met with protest if they are not handled properly. It is necessary to consider ideologies of artistic freedom, the role of the museum, and the importance of contextual when evaluating the morality of evocative artworks. This essay is concerned with the questions of who is making art, for what audience, and to what end.
Fostering Community Through Difference
March 2019
This analytical text compares two Artist Run Centres in Toronto, Tangled Arts + Disability in the 401 Richmond building and ArtReach Toronto in ArtScape Yonge place. The objective of this analysis is to illustrate the role of the ARC to stimulate conversations of difference through aesthetics and community. While this text is written for academic purposes, a similar analysis could be drafted for free-lance submission to a publication that is concerned with the Toronto arts community.
Reflecting on a History of Fierce Femmes
December 2018
This short essay takes the form of a creative reading memoir, sharing a reflection on a piece of queer literature by Kai Cheng Thom titled Fierce Femmes and Notorious Liars. The focus in this piece is to write in a less formal tone, which is evident when read in comparison with my analyses and academic essays.
This is a sample of a more reflective, personal writing style.
Jeff Wall, The Storyteller: An Analysis of Wall's Reference to Modernist Painter Édouard Manet and the Concept of Indigeneity
November 2017
This essay focuses on the concept of Indigeneity that is found in the work of contemporary Canadian artist Jeff Wall. Wall’s the Storyteller is juxtaposed with Édouard Manets’ Déjeuner Sur L’Herbe to place the contemporary work within a historical context, highlighting the differences and similarities between these two works to define and outline what Indigeneity means in Canada today. The art historical practice of placing artworks in conversation with one another is a tool for understanding but is also important when reflecting on how we can view art in today’s current political climate. This is a time where Canada’s colonial history and the conversations the displacement of historical narratives are of high importance.
