Online Exhibition / OCAD U Pride June 2026
Curated by Julius Poncelet Manapul
Works by 14 Makers from the course “Imagining Queer Asian Futurities” May-June 2026, taught by Julius Poncelet Manapul (They/Them/Ze)
Noor Amir, Eden Bakunawa, Anya Balano, Ashlyn Cassidy, Oslind Dizon, Vinesa, Michaela MacLean, Lila Mitra, Connie Nguyen, Miao Qi, Raina Sikdar, Icarus Warren, Ellie Yang, Field Zapton.
These series of works created by students from “Imagining Queer Asian Futurities” at OCAD University re-imagines a future in reflection to Queer Asian and transcultural belongings, longings, and Allyship. Through personal lived experiences and reflections these series of brave inspiring creators had tackled pressing issues faced by today’s new marginalized generations in a world still fighting for equity, safe spaces, inclusion, healing, and visualizing a future where creative imagination is a conversation to manifest beyond the horizon. As a queer Asian diasporic migrant myself who had faced adversities that still lingers in today’s world, it was important for me to create this course as a starting point for creatives to re-think about the political power of art and design for our society to re-translate, re-imagine, re-construct, re-activate, and reciprocity for a better emphatic futurities. Art making had become a positive, euphoric, and visceral way to react towards injustice and government oppression rooted in its colonial and religious past. I am proud to present the works of 14 creators from diverse programs as Integrated Media, Experimental Animation, Criticism & Curatorial Practice, Drawing & Painting, Photography, Advertising, Industrial Design, Print & Publication. These series of works truly encapsulates my hope for the new generations of creative thinkers who had shown us how art and design are still crucial in our world as free thinkers through imagining queer Asian futurities with possibilities. They truly epitomized what it is to feed the soul and reclaim a sense of value and urgency for the oppressed and transcultural queer belongings in the darkness. Within every generation there are new constant battles to be faced with new sense of longings to rupture oppressing structures. I hope the work you see will encourage you to create increment acts of kindness, understanding, empathy, bravery, and allyship as our world needs more of these values to heal our wounded futurity. Through the darkness where we can finally learn to exhale out the trauma of the past. Sincerely, Julius Poncelet Manapul
This online exhibition has been created from the unceded indigenous lands of Tkaronto / Toronto. As an immigrant Filipino to this land, I would like to acknowledge and remind everyone that this land I am on which I stand in solidarity to support the indigenous communities who bear the histories and cultures we benefit from today. This land is the traditional territory of the many nations including the Mississauga’s of the Credit, the Anishnabeg, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee, and the Wendat peoples, and is also home to many diverse First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples. We must continue to inform ourselves on these past narratives that had been colonially erased and continue the practice of awareness and acknowledgement not in just empty words but a sense of self-reflection on how we all play a part in this narrative.
Noor Amir
"No Matter What You Choose"
Program: Industrial Design Medium: Ren'py (coded with python), Photoshop Scale: 1280px X 720px Date: Summer 2026
No Matter What You Choose (CLICK HERE TO PLAY THE GAME)
No Matter What You Choose is a narrative visual novel that explores the emotional, cultural, and religious pressures that queer South Asian people often face. A lot of my work focuses on identity, belonging, and the ways family, culture, and personal beliefs shape who we become. This project was inspired by both queer diasporic storytelling and my own experiences navigating different parts of my identity, particularly the tension that can exist between cultural expectations and personal truth. The game uses faceless character sprites and branching narrative choices to communicate these ideas. The faceless characters were inspired by Islamic artistic traditions, where depicting faces is often discouraged, and I wanted to use that visual language as a metaphor for the ways queer identities can feel hidden, erased, or difficult to express openly. The colour palette draws from the bisexual pride flag as well as the original 1978 Pride flag, using pinks, purples, blues, turquoise, and hot pink to celebrate queer identity while also referencing a history that is often simplified or forgotten. I created the project using Ren’Py, a visual novel engine that allowed me to combine illustration, writing, and interactive storytelling. Through digital artwork, character design, and branching dialogue, I built a narrative where players must make difficult choices that influence Noor’s future. The soft color palette and simplified character designs were intentionally chosen to create a sense of warmth and familiarity while also reflecting the uncertainty and emotional conflict at the center of the story. Conceptually, the project explores the difficult negotiations many queer South Asian people are asked to make between family, faith, safety, and self-expression. Rather than presenting a single “correct” path, the story shows how every choice comes with its own challenges, sacrifices, and possibilities. I wanted to challenge the idea that identity can be neatly resolved and instead acknowledge the complicated realities of living between different worlds and expectations. Ultimately, No Matter What You Choose is one of the most personal projects I have created. It allowed me to reflect on my own experiences as a queer Pakistani person navigating culture, gender, belief, and belonging. Through Noor’s story, I hope to create space for conversations about identity, acceptance, and the emotional weight of choice, while reminding viewers that these experiences deserve to be seen, understood, and valued.
Eden Bakunawa
“a mirror to god” / kumpisál / confessional endurance
Program: Drawing & Painting Medium: Installation, Personal Materials and Mediums. Scale: Miscellaneous / Various / Approx. 8 x 6 ft Date: Summer 2026
The materials and medium used in this installation are inherited curtain fabric, acrylic pigments acquired in childhood, various writing inks & tattoo ink, woven tatak blanket from the Philippines, upcycled barong piña, red bedsheet, pilipiniana sleeves from friend, my hair, journals from age nine to twenty-two, upcycled raw canvas, silver pangalay fingers from folklorico Filipino dance, leather combat gloves, bamboo garden rods, wool and embroidery thread, terracotta clay, handmade water colour & oil pigments: processed from indigo leaves, madder root, cochineal beetles, & titanium dioxide, beeswax wax encaustic, mother’s scarf, basahans made out of recycled t-shirts that I wove on a loom, quilt given to be at birth, found mask painted with Filipino face tattoos/reclaimed langi, my own body. The tagalog word kumpisál translates to religious confession; the concept of confessional endurance intends to destabilize institutionalized religious belief in repetitive self-shaming automatically signifying righteous endurance. This idea of shame as necessary is misinformation that many are spoon-fed until internalized shame becomes instinctively preferable to pride. this work is my unabashed confessional. a fluid set of walls intended to filter air and light into its vicinity just as my rib cage filters memory and grief. The walls of my confessional are translucent; my body invites viewers to bear witness to my inner workings and scrapbook organs, covered in mirrored sigils as a reflection of my scars and history as a conversion therapy survivor. this is a memorial of all that I refuse to hide; journals, letters, hopes, failures, unsaid and irreversible words. sewn into the walls is my grief in the form of a flood still catching its breath. the floodwaters of grief have taught me to swim. to truly experience god, one must look inward and simply breathe. The chamber is made from my grandparents' curtains which they opened and closed for over fifty years in their bedroom. light filtered through this skin of fabric for decades; it is my intention to to honor the presence of light in the form of my own body and memory; to honor the storage of somatic memory found in my ribcage, each bone a signifier of another rebirth. with my knees bent in prayer to my own transcestors, I painted the curtain – and with my hands and hair I embedded cartographic sigils, each reflective of a different memory, time, and place. this installation is my mirror to god, a sacred offering to my ancestors, my body, and my million regenerating cells. walang hiya always.
Anya Balano
"living on filipinegg time gave me an adhd diagnosis putangitaymo they medicalized my swag"
Program: Integrated Media Medium: Interactive Hybrid Installation (curated objects and screen-based media) Scale: Varies from Installation Space Date: Summer 2026
"living on Filipinegg time gave me an ADHS diagnosis putangitaymo they medicalized my swag" (2026) is a testament to Robert Diaz’s response to “mess” as being inherently archival for queer diasporic culture. The title makes reference to “Filipino time,” a tongue-in-cheek concept of arriving at scheduled events over an hour past the agreed meeting time. The colonial irony is that, as humans being taxonomized via the neuro-typical-divergent-binary to mark a progression in psychological care, my Filipino kin’s temporal beliefs are effectively medicalized as a subproduct of this framework. The linguistic structure of the title further deviates from assumptions about Spanish as a Romantic language; “filipinegg” queerly plays with the discourse surrounding the term “filipinx,” where the assumption is that Tagalog follows a gendered suffix framework (see intersectional discourse with latino/latina/latinx/latine) despite being a Malayo-Polynesian language. When it comes to my gender dysphoria, I identify as what is known in trans communities as an “egg” – someone who is ignorant, in denial or actively rejecting their transness. “Putangitaymo” swaps ina, meaning mother, with itay, meaning papa, in our iconic expression of profanity “putanginamo,” with my personal direct translation being “your mother is giving puta.” The installation places the audience in a space that doesn’t feel necessarily logical without compromising on the “realness.” There is an underlying narrative of a recent Filipino immigrant not having enough money to afford proper furniture, despite having an assortment of “unnecessary” items, some of which are high monetary value, sitting upon the makeshift Balikbayan box altar. Hoarding is seen throughout Asian diasporic households as a result of generational scarcity mindset. In Filipino culture, this idea of collecting items that should otherwise be thrown out is traditionally recognized as anik-anik. This phenomenon has evolved from what was once a manifestation of low income compensated by sentimental wealth, into the commercialized anik-anik under Western influence copying the “trinket-girlie” micro-trend. Notable altar items* and couplings, from left to right: 1. Red cloth draped over the computer monitor. Budweiser novelty speaker partially tucked under. Hanging Batok pendant with ribcage imagery, created by classmate and friend Eden Bakunawa. 2. Digital camera, Labubu Cheese Curd acrylic keychain, “WHO IS HE?” church tract. 3. Katinko menthol oil and “Money” aromantic oil. 4. Jewelry box containing crystals, pesos coins, pearl bracelet, artisan ring, mini tarot cards Seven of Pentacles and King of Pentacles. Pieces from a puzzle map of the Philippines. For my mom, the Mindanao region: Lanao, Bukidnon and Davao. For my mom’s false origins, from the Visayas, Cebu. For my dad, from Luzon, Manila. 5. USD keychain and tea light on top of a ceramic candle holder handmade by residents of a local women’s shelter in the GTA. 6. The Holy Bible amongst “Return of Spirit” Oracle Cards–prayers, feline, mediumship. Hello Kitty paperclip. 7. Sticky notepad from OCAD alumni Gabby Golec (slugtrain), a lighter and a pin that reads “SUPPORT YOUR SISTERS NOT JUST YOUR CIS-TERS”. 8. Peach Riot Punk Fairy Series Blindbox figure, seated on coral from Boracay and a souvenir Colombia coaster. 9. Biology Basic Facts book, “I ❤︎ MY VAGINA” candy, immunity oracle card. 10. Academic graduation award from St. Maria Goretti Catholic Elementary School recognizing proficiency in English, with my deadname**. 11. Peach Riot Rush Hour Series Blindbox scientist figure holding a Smiski, no just kidding that’s glow in the dark baby Jesus, beside a peripheral webcam. *unlisted objects are Philippine souvenirs or Christian faith memorabilia. **my preferred name is still also a “girl’s name”. The screen-based component featured multiple live browser and app windows. The intended interaction between screen-based media, the installation and performance was for my fictional characters created within IMVU to prompt the audience to pray onto the torotot (Filipino party toy) and obsidian arrowhead. This is a nod to Manobo spiritual practices of praying over objects with magical properties such as the tubaran (rattan basket drum), mairub (sword) and tabalo (spear). One avatar was styled in anik-anik, while the other was adorned in traditional Manobo attire in contrast to hypercybernetic accessories – my rendition of the ILOVEYOU virus, personified. It was when I was asked to enlarge the view of these character on screen when the monitor display crashed. Prior to this interference (of what I like to think is my character coming forward to interact with us), the content that was able to be viewed was as follows: 1. IMVU chatroom with my two avatars (running two accounts on separate browsers) engaging in lesbian intimacy on the floor of Mang Inasal. 2. An instagram reel of a middle-aged white man celebrating his off-screen wife’s cooking, with the caption “POV: when your husband loves your lumpia so much.” 3. File Explorer opened to a folder containing academic research articles obtained via Ex Libris Discovery. Topics include Manobo knowledge systems and cultural practices, the parallel of the ILOVEYOU virus to other forms of foreign “contamination” in the West (e.g. 9/11, swine flu, ebola, covid), and the Christianization of the Mindanao region. 4. Live webcam video feed. 5. Typed into the notepad app, the sole phrase “let us pray” Creating living on Filipinegg time gave me an ADHD diagnosis putangitaymo they medicalized my swag was my conquest to materialize this past month of reconnecting with my ancestry, learning about the intricate enmeshed layers of the Philippines’ colonization and drawing parallels between my studies to what I’ve been able to process of my generational trauma through EMDR therapy. My practice is in hybridizing the digital with the analogue, and it was through this project I was able to realize the ways in which my erratic time-blind process and obsession with cyborgian concepts of virtual/biological are, in itself, decolonial with respect to my lineage.
Ashlyn Cassidy
"This Doll is Serving Darbie"
Program: Drawing & Painting Medium: Watercolour Pencils, Pencil Crayons, Chalk Pastel, Beads, Cardboard, Vinyl Sheet Scale: Doll size, 11.5 inch, Doll box 11 x 4 inch Date: Summer 2026
The piece I created titled "This Doll is Serving Darbie" is a Barbie doll that I hunted for and transformed into what I view through the lens of an Ali. The transformation process of the doll is deeply connected to my childhood and always wanting to create doll houses, cut doll hair, and redo their makeup with markers and pencils A huge chunk of the materials used in this project are things I already had laying around and repurposed pieces of the box the doll came in. Other than the doll which I purchased I wanted everything used in this project to be very cheap being a student, and use what I already own so I don't overthink small details or obsess over everything. I wanted to create this doll because I have always loved dolls and find the whole practice of piecing elements together to create a personality/ identity to something so interesting because it takes an object and gives it life/ purpose. To create this work I used the body of a Barbie doll, ready made items including the clothes, box and shoes, that the doll originally came with, watercolour pencils, chalk pastels, pencil crayons, and acrylic paints. A large chunk of time creating this doll was spent on the face and trying my best to make they eyes even and the right shape. I found myself having to redo the eyes a couple of times with at first the acrylic paint then watercolour pencils as I wasn't satisfied with how they turned out. The contour of the face was done using watercolour pencils, pencil crayons, and chalk pastels to create as much dimension as one would have if they were to do drag in real life. Due to the political environment that the world in at the current moment I find myself wanting to create this doll as an approachable and age-appropriate way for people who may not know or understand what Drag is or the Queer community. I kept in mind when creating this doll to keep it PG, as if it was something for risqué people who aren't from the Drag/ Queer community may not even entertain even looking at the doll. The creation of this doll is not only a childhood passion project but a safe way to introduce the Queer and Drag community to both adults and children. Teaching and opening up the discussion of this community to both children and adults allows for an open dialogue of accepting and advocating for each other and pushes people who may want to participate in this community confident to do so.
Oslind Dizon
"Are you in the right washroom?/Do you belong here?"
Program: Drawing & Painting Medium: Interactive Installation, Found Objects, Plaster Cast, Acrylic Paint, Makeup Scale: 40" X 28" Date: Summer 2026
This representation of a mirror can change based on how you want to change the language of the figure depicted within this frame, held together by magnets these pieces are able to be moved around to create a forever changing presentation and expresses the ideas of being perceived. This piece questions the performance of gender and learned experiences through using the imagery of the bathroom as a context and a physical connection to putting yourself into a literal box (bathroom). Throughout this work I found myself having fun with the tangible side of creating this representation of a mirror, incorporating found objects and materials created deeper personal relation to this piece despite the setting being public. Using materials like snippets from an old prayer book, old makeup from my Ninang I never used, and sculpted plasticine versions of my mom and dad's features as they shape me literally and serve as a basis of my culture and experience as they are the representations of the masculine and feminine and also an imagery to heteronormative ideals as they are masks. This piece is a reflection of my avoidance of gendered bathrooms because of features that can be seen as in the wrong bathroom, but also reclaiming them throughout objects from loved ones and an actualization of my journey in relation to the colonial views of the catholic church. Creating this piece allowed myself to find and create a space containing fears but also acceptance of being contained and perceived within the binary concept of gender. Creating this piece I connected with the ones I love in more ways than one despite the colonized mentality that comes with being in a Filipino family who asks if I ever want to become a nun. Understanding that multiples of perceived versions exist.
Vinesa
"Trillium"
Program: Criticism & Curatorial Practice Medium: Acrylic on Canvas Board Scale: 10" X 10" Date: Summer 2026
This piece is called ‘Trillium’, an acrylic on canvas piece that represents my bisexuality as someone that is closeted. I tend to paint this flower a lot from time to time. I would have different interpretations of it. From a stance it seems to be a painting of the flower itself, but people in the queer community can understand the inner works of this painting through the flowers and the colour scheme. I was heavily inspired by botanical illustrations of the flower to do a personal interpretation of it. The flower represents both my sexuality and my place of birth, it is an object that has always been a part of my personal belongings. The medium I have used is acrylic, acrylic paint is something I am familiar with and I tend to be more experimental with the colour scheme. Acrylic gives me the challenge of working with mediums that tend to have a faster drying time, allowing me to navigate where to blend and where to highlight. I had a proposed project that I never resonated with, I had looked at a work I did in the prior year that was about my sexual identity through the trillium flower and I decided to do a new response to that piece. As someone who is not out to certain people, my artworks around my queer identity tend to lean towards symbolism that hetrosexual people would not understand, but people in the LGBTQIA+ would comprehend. The execution of my work is satisfactory, I feel as if I could have done more with the work through a series but with time limitation I am satisfied with the way this piece has come to be. The first portion of my process work I wanted to use air drying clay on top of thepainting to make the flowers 3D but as I was trying to paint it over the clay I kept running into user error. Air dried clay takes a long time to dry and trying to paint around it while it was drying was difficult. I modified it to removing the clay and just painting the flowers onto the canvas. The development for this piece had different aesthetical thumbnails, I found that illustrating a vase did not encompass the purpose of this painting which was to take up space. The vase idea seemed to be enclosed and trapped and I wanted to explore the idea of openness in this painting. The colour scheme of the final piece contrasted with each other with the flowers leaning more of a lemon yellow whilst the background was a mute purple with highlights of pink. I am trying to confront my own narrative of taking up space in a subtle way, the flowers being the centerpiece allows one to confront the narrative of being in the closet while engaging with queer culture. I excavate issues of identity and sexuality through the subtleness of a botanical piece, which subtly allows me to explore my queer identity while being in the closet. The flower is a response to both my sexual identity but also my the place where I am from, as someone with a family that immigrated due to displacement, the flower is an object I resonate with in a personal way. The painting allowed me to explore my bisexuality through a lens that I am familiar with while exploring it in a light that allows me to not be overt as someone who comes from a homophobic family. Growing up Sri-Lankan Tamil, the collective society has its ups and down, one of the downsides is performing for other people. Performing heterosexuality so it does not wreck the community structure is what most closeted people in the South Asian community does. I contemplate coming out as I feel the responsibility of taking care of my parents and straying them does not feel like an option as of yet. The painting allowed me to explore my bisexuality through a lens that I am familiar with while exploring it in a light that allows me to not be overt as someone who comes from homophobia
Michaela MacLean
Alloparental Stuffing - Mic Dang
"The immigrant hoarding habits and how my Mother nourishes me in ways she doesn't know"
Program: Criticism & Curatorial Practice Medium: Curated Installation, Apartment Bedroom, gifted consumables and keepsakes, found objects, found friends, Performance Scale: 75 square feet Date: Summer 2026
Lila Mitra
"Feeling Other Worldly"
Program: Advertising Medium: Photography, Graphic Design, Photoshop Scale: Slideshow, Mock Ups, Phone, Laptop, and Projected Screens Size Varies. Mini Booklet is 5.5 inches x 4 inches (not including the rings) Date: Summer 2026
Introduction / Inspiration I created an campaign called Feeling Other Worldly, an awareness campaign that explores and expresses how it feels being mixed race, queer and the emotional experiences of feeling caught between different worlds. I drew a lot of inspiration from fairy tales, childhood feelings, fantasy style imagery, photographer Petra Collins and my own lived experiences, i wanted the project to explores themes of belonging, self acceptance and struggling with identity. The work was influenced allot by my interest in visual storytelling and conversations surrounding mixed race communities, feeling otherness, sexuality and the representation on theses topics. Objects, Mediums and Values The campaign has a few elements graphic design, a fantasy inspired storybook and a creative brief. At the center of the work is a girl (representing myself) as a mythical creature whose changing colours symbolize the different aspects of her identity. The fantasy elements is a metaphor for experiences of un-belonging when being a mixed race person, the advertising components were focused on the awareness campaign aspect. As an artist i value visibility, empathy, representation and the creation of spaces where people can feel seen and understood, especially when i understand what that feels like. So with this opportunity I wanted to create a project where these values could be reflected and convey struggles with identity, belonging and community. Execution and Process The campaign was executed through a combination of photography, digital design, storytelling and advertising strategies. I was inspired by dreamlike photography and fantasy aesthetics, I created a series of advertisement mock-ups (both online and OOH) visual concepts and storybook that blended the awareness advertising with eye grabbing fairy tale aesthetics. The bright colours I chose particularly pink, yellow, and blue, were used as visual symbols of pansexuality, being more that one thing or choosing ‘one colour/culture’. Through this project I explored using multiple mediums and how they can work together to communicate a cohesive message Conceptual Framework Conceptually my project is a response/expression to my experiences growing up mixed race and queer. The story of a mythical creature searching for where she belongs, I tried to touch on the pressure mixed raced people may feel to define themselves according to other people's expectations or projections. The changing in colours represented the desire/trying to fit into a single category to please others or trying to, while feeling tethered to multiple identities. I used the fantasy aspect as a metaphor to show the issues of alienation, stereotyping and identity based exclusion, while also looking at the other side of it, self discovery and acceptance. My goal for the project was to challenges the expectations or projections people place onto others and push the viewers of the project to start conversations about that and to be actively aware. Conclusion / Personal Connection Ultimately my Feeling Other Worldly project is a deeply personal reflection and a well as an awareness campaign. This project is important to me personally and my practice because it allowed me to really explore themes and feeling of mixed race perceptions, culture, sexuality and belonging through visual storytelling and also through an advertising aspect, which is an opportunity I’ve never to do for a project before. As someone who has lived experiences that heavily influenced this work, I hope this project creates recognition for those who have felt misunderstood, isolated or caught between worlds rather than viewing someones identity as something that must be sorted, simplified or judged. This project is about being proud of the complexity of your own and other peoples identities and pushes the viewers to embrace all parts of themselves while extending that same understanding to others whether it comes to culture or queerness.
Connie Nguyen
"Thân em vừa trắng lại vừa tròn"
Program: Criticism & Curatorial Practice Medium: Metal tin, clear pebbles, water, plastic container bags, modeling clay, sugar-ginger syrup, coconut milk, sesame seeds, printed didactic. Scale: 6 x 8 x 3.5” Date: Summer 2026
I began this project looking at two photographic series: Laurie Simmons’ The Love Dolls and Léon Busy’s autochromes of Vietnam during/underFrench occupation. Simmons’ work, made in the late 2010s, captures hyper-realistic Japanese sex dolls that captivated her during her visit to the country. Busy’s autochromes, made in 1914, were commissioned to document French-occupied Vietnam and the daily lives of its people. While Simmons’s work prompted envy and thus reflection on my consideration towards the ideal Asian beauty, Busy’s record of disappearing Vietnamese beauty tradition, particularly of ăn trầu (chewing the betel leaf) to dye one’s tongue red and teeth black (as well as inducing ecstasy), educated me in the precolonial women of Vietnam. Both series, though devastatingly beautiful, evidence the predatory gaze/consumption of the Global North towards bodies of the Global South, using faux Asian bodies as props, and capturing colonized subjects for a bank commission. In reacting and retaliating against this devouring, I thought to parody a meal-kit to replicate and criticize similar eating of the Asian bodies. The meal-kit culture today (e.g., HelloFresh, Chef’s Plate, etc.) parallels so much the delivering of a sex doll: the whole is taken apart, each limb/ingredient bound by vacuum-sealed plastic, neatly packed into unhuman compositions, ready to be torn apart and assembled into a pleasantly convenient consumable product. Who cares which limb/ingredient originates from, or how the whole body/dish actually looks like in real life, as long as the buyer is satisfied with a blue-eyed three-breasted Japanese sex doll or a Gojuchang Miso Ube Matcha Latte*, it doesn’t matter about the cultural origin. When deciding on what dish to make the meal-kit of, I thought back to a famous Vietnamese poem by the legendary poetess Hồ Xuân Hương: Bánh Trôi Nước.
Thân em vừa trắng lại vừa tròn (My body is both white and round) Bảy nổi ba chìm với nước non (In water I now sink, now swim.) Rắn nát mặc dầu tay kẻ nặn (The hand that kneads me may be rough –) Mà em vẫn giữ tấm lòng son (But I shall keep my true red heart.)
The first line proclaims herself as “white and round”, literally describing herself as the bánh trôi, but at the same time, a beautiful woman (for being pale and plump was the standard). The following lines continue the allegory of bánh trôi and womanhood, describing both the process (boiling to sink/float, kneading the dough) and the life (living tumultuously, constantly sinking, and having to suffer through “rough hands”). The last line, however, declares her (human) independence, that despite the hardships of being a Vietnamese woman, her heart/soul remains true and spotless. The meal-kit borrows this allegory of bánh trôi and body. However, as I meant to retaliate against the greedy consumption, I thought to make the bánh/body poisonous and inedible. Thus, I make the bánh, which is supposed to be a sweet mung bean ball wrapped in glutinous rice flour dough, using clay. Then, I remain faithful in the garnish by keeping the sweet ginger syrup, creamy coconut milk, and toasty sesame. The instruction manual (a key in every modern meal-kit) was written to be purposefully ambiguous as to whether the buyer is making a dessert or making love. Once the imagined buyer finishes the manual, they would put together the ingredients, and upon swallowing the sweet toxin, would immediately fall to their death. (*) Not a real dish, just trendy buzzwords/dishes that have been appropriated by white people.
Miao Qi
良辰待定
"Awaiting the Right Time"
Program: Experimental Animation Medium: Photography, Photoshop,iMovie Scale: Varies from Projected Installation Duration: 00:03:27 Date: Summer 2026
中文原版本 《良辰待定》是一部结合摄影、实验动画与碎片化文字的短片，围绕中国婚礼文化中的“喜”与“囍”展 开，通过请柬、戒指、红色绸布、枯萎玫瑰、家庭短信、双手动作与颜色变化，讨论亚洲酷儿在家庭 期待、婚姻制度和自我选择之间的拉扯。 在我的作品中，婚礼不是单纯幸福的象征，而是一种复杂的文化压力。请柬代表被正式宣布的关 系，也代表家庭与社会对“正确人生”的确认；戒指象征承诺，但也可能成为被规定的身份; “囍”字通 常代表祝福，但当它不断重复、放大、变形时，也会变成一种压迫性的符号。 一场婚礼、一张请柬不仅仅是两个人之间的婚姻关系，更是整个家庭对于子女人生的肯定。我选 择“良辰待定”作为标题，是因为它保留了婚礼请柬中常见的祝福语气，但“待定”也暗示一种无法被 确定的未来，没有发生的认可，这个未来并不是不存在，而是还没有被传统语言真正容纳。 短片中的手是最重要的视觉主体。手写请柬、整理红色材料、触碰彼此、梳理头发、戴上戒指、互 相靠近或错开，这些动作都在暗示亲密关系与身份选择。手不是清楚出现完整的脸或身体，因此 它们不被固定为某一种性别或身份。我希望让观众看到一种更加多样的酷儿身体表达：不一定要 通过直接的强烈的宣告，而可以通过触碰、停顿、重复和犹豫来呈现，这样的表现方式过于太含 蓄，但是也绝对更加温柔、循序渐进、对于还在接受酷儿文化或者对自身认同有疑惑的人，这或 许是他们更容易接受的方式，像温柔的水流一样慢慢滋养渗透人们的精神世界。 我也使用了家庭催婚短信作为作品中的文字压力。那些重复出现的信息看似日常，却不断把个人 推向婚姻、生育和“正常生活”的轨道。不仅仅是在酷儿群体中，很多人都会觉得来自家人的一个接 一个的短信家书会让自己烦躁、喘不过气、甚至惊恐。这些压迫感的短信和婚礼物品形成对照：一边是漂亮、喜庆、被祝福的视觉， 一边是隐藏在背后的焦虑、沉默与不被理解。 颜色在作品中也承担叙事功能。红色来自中国婚礼的传统色彩，象征喜庆、家庭和仪式，但在作 品中也逐渐变得沉重，最后失去颜色变成黑白，而粉色、紫色、绿色、蓝色等颜色则参考酷儿旗帜 与性少数色彩代码，用来打破单一的传统红色，使用这些颜色的动画片段是整个影片最明亮的部 分。不同颜色出现在手、背景和头发，像是一种身份的流动，也像是在传统婚姻中慢慢长出的另一 种可能。现实拍摄部分中枯萎的玫瑰、密密麻麻的双喜符号，则让作品在浪漫和不安之间摇摆。 我选择实验动画与真人摄影结合，是因为这个作品本身也处在现实与想象之间。真人摄影记录真 实存在的物品和身体，动画则表现无法直接说出口的情绪、幻想和压抑。它不是一个完整叙事，而是一组关于婚礼、家庭和酷儿身份的视觉片段。我希望观众在观看时感受到：婚礼不只是一个 仪式，也是一套关于人生应该如何发展的社会脚本。而酷儿身份并不是对“家”的否定，而是在尝试 在传统婚姻中重新定义什么是爱、美丽的事物，承诺和未来。 所以 《良辰待定》并不是一部关于反抗婚礼或否定家庭的作品。相反，我希望它保留一种温柔而复杂的 态度。家庭可以给予爱，也可能带来压力；婚礼可以象征承诺，也可能承载沉重的期待。这些情感 并不是非黑即白，而是共同存在于许多亚洲酷儿的成长经验之中。 因此，我希望作品最终提出的问题并不是“我们是否应该离开庭”，而是：当传统家庭对于幸福的 定义与个人身份发生冲突时，我们是否仍然能够继续理解彼此？家人是否能够学会倾听，而不是 替彼此决定未来？当外界不断定义我们应该成为谁时，我们又如何坚持自己的身份，并拥有定义 自己未来的权利？ 我并不期待这部作品给出答案。我更希望它成为一次邀请，邀请观众重新思考家庭、婚姻与爱的 关系，以及理解是否能够成为连接彼此的第一步，而不是要求彼此改变。 Translation Awaiting the Right Time is a short film that combines live-action photography, experimental animation, and fragmented text. Centered around the Chinese wedding symbols “Xi (喜)” and “Double Happiness (囍),” the film uses wedding invitations, rings, red fabric, a wilted rose, family text messages, hand movements, and changing colors to explore the tension between family expectations, marriage traditions, and queer identity in Asian communities. In this work, a wedding is not only a symbol of happiness, but also a complicated cultural expectation. A wedding invitation represents a relationship being officially announced, but it also reflects the approval that families and society expect from a “proper” life. A ring can symbolize love and commitment, but it can also become a symbol of an identity that is chosen for someone instead of by someone. The character “Double Happiness (囍)” is usually associated with blessings, but when it is repeated, enlarged, and distorted throughout the film, it slowly becomes a symbol of pressure instead. A wedding and a wedding invitation are never only about two people. They also represent the family’s recognition of a child’s future and life choices. I chose the title Awaiting the Right Time because it echoes the hopeful language often found in traditional Chinese wedding invitations while leaving the future intentionally open. The “right time” is not simply about a wedding date. It also represents a moment when one’s identity, love, and future can finally be recognized. That future is not absent—it is simply still waiting to be embraced by tradition. Hands are the main visual subject throughout the film. They write invitations, arrange red wedding decorations, touch one another, brush through hair, exchange rings, move closer together, or slowly drift apart. By focusing on hands instead of showing full faces or bodies, I avoid assigning fixed genders or identities to the characters. I hope to present a more open expression of queer identity. Rather than relying on direct declarations, the film uses touch, pauses, repetition, and hesitation to express intimacy and identity. This approach is intentionally subtle, but I believe it is also gentler. For people who are still learning about queer identities or questioning their own identities, this quiet way of storytelling may feel easier to approach. Like the slow movement of water, it gently nurtures understanding over time. Family text messages encouraging marriage also appear throughout the film as a form of visual pressure. These repeated messages seem ordinary, but they constantly push people toward marriage, parenthood, and the idea of a “normal” life. This experience is not limited to queer people. Many individuals feel overwhelmed, anxious, or even frightened by the constant expectations expressed through family messages and letters. These messages stand in contrast with the beautiful wedding objects shown on screen. One side presents celebration and blessing, while the other reveals hidden anxiety, silence, and misunderstanding. Color also plays an important narrative role. Red comes from traditional Chinese wedding culture and symbolizes celebration, family, and ceremony. However, as the film progresses, this red gradually becomes heavier before finally fading into black and white. Meanwhile, colors such as pink, purple, green, and blue are inspired by LGBTQ+ pride flags and queer color symbolism. These animated sequences become the brightest moments in the film, breaking away from the dominance of traditional red. Different colors appear on hands, backgrounds, and hair, suggesting identities that are fluid and constantly changing while imagining new possibilities growing from within traditional ideas of marriage. The wilted rose and the overwhelming repetition of the Double Happiness symbol create a visual space that moves between romance and unease. I chose to combine experimental animation with live-action photography because the work itself exists somewhere between reality and imagination. Live-action captures real objects and real bodies, while animation expresses emotions, fantasies, and inner struggles that are difficult to say out loud. Rather than telling a complete linear story, the film presents a series of visual fragments about weddings, family, and queer identity. I hope viewers will recognize that a wedding is not only a ceremony, but also a social script that shapes expectations about how a life should unfold. At the same time, queer identity is not a rejection of family. Instead, it is an attempt to redefine love, beauty, commitment, and the future within the context of traditional marriage. Awaiting the Right Time is not a work that rejects marriage or denies the importance of family. Instead, it embraces a gentle and complicated perspective. Family can provide love, but it can also create pressure. Marriage can symbolize commitment, but it can also carry heavy expectations. These emotions are not simply good or bad. They often exist together within the lived experiences of many Asian queer individuals. Ultimately, the film does not ask whether we should leave our families behind. Instead, it asks whether we can continue to understand one another when traditional ideas of happiness conflict with personal identity. Can family members learn to listen instead of deciding each other’s future? When society constantly tells us who we should become, how can we continue to define ourselves and claim the right to imagine our own future? I do not expect this work to provide clear answers. Instead, I hope it serves as an invitation—an invitation for viewers to rethink the relationship between family, marriage, and love, and to consider whether understanding can become the first step toward connection, rather than asking one another to change.
Raina Rachel Sikdar
"The Colour of No Longing"
Program: Experimental Animation Medium: Hand-painted backgrounds (acrylic on paper), digitally layered illustration (Procreate and Photoshop), assembled into a digital animation (Videoleap) Scale: 8 x 10 in. each painting (2848 x 3534 px digital scans); GIF animation sized 2848 x 3534 px Duration: 00:00:04 Looped Date: Summer 2026
The Colour of No Longing began with a question about colour that came from my own creative practice and from a community I rarely see pictured: almost every painting in art history that depicts love uses red, pink, and flesh tones, while the aroace pride flag, dark blue, light blue, white, yellow, and orange, looks instead like a sunset, calm and open rather than urgent, and that contrast between the two palettes is what set this whole project in motion. I wanted to work with flowers and with Pori, winged spirit figures from Bengali and South Asian folklore close to the Western idea of a fairy, because I am aromantic and asexual and also Bengali, and for a long time I did not believe those two parts of myself were allowed to share the same frame; using flowers and folklore figures that are specifically Bengali, rather than generic or borrowed ones, lets the work hold both identities at once and matters to me because aroace representation in visual art is almost nonexistent and queer South Asian representation is rarer still. To execute the work I first sketched and then physically painted the floral backgrounds for each of the five pieces by hand in acrylic, photographed them, and brought them into Procreate and Photoshop to digitally layer in the Pori figures, line work, lettering, and Kusama-inspired dot patterns over each painted background, looking closely at the Bengal dancing art for how to draw the Pori, especially Kshitindranath Majumdar's apsara and spirit-figure paintings such as Apsaras Dancing on Clouds, held at the National Gallery of Modern Art in Delhi, for their fluid linework and the way the figures sit between worlds, neither fully grounded nor fully celestial; once all five digital paintings were complete I used the editing app Videoleap to sequence them into a four-second looping GIF animation that moves through the aroace flag in colour order, so the piece exists as both five standalone paintings and one continuous animated cycle. Conceptually, each painting pairs one flag colour with one Bengali flower and one feeling: Palash for community, night-flowering jasmine for platonic love, white lotus for wholeness, Blue Himalayan poppy for aroace identity, and Aparajita for the aroace spectrum, and my idea changed substantially to get here; I started the project reaching toward Western queer artists and pop culture for visual language, matching colours to artists like Henry Scott Tuke, David Hockney, Romaine Brooks, and Alice Oseman simply because their work already lived in the right palette, before my professor pushed back on that approach and pointed me toward fairy folklore in Bengali and Indian culture instead, asking why I had never once looked toward my own culture to represent an identity I actually hold; that guidance is what led me to the Pori, and to swapping out generic flowers like sunflowers and bluebells for Palash, night-flowering jasmine, white lotus, Blue Himalayan poppy, and Aparajita, flowers I had to learn about because they were never part of how I'd been taught to see my own culture, and I try to demonstrate through this shift that aroace identity is not an absence to be borrowed into existence from elsewhere, but something that can be built from the artist's own roots. This work is crucial to my practice because it sits exactly at the intersection of my queerness, my Bengali diasporic upbringing, and my lived experience of being aromantic and asexual in a world organized around romantic and sexual norms, and finishing it taught me that the most honest visual language for an identity with almost no art history of its own was never going to come from someone else's culture, it had to come from mine.
Icarus Warren
( Un/answered )
Program: Photography / Printmaking & Publication Minor Medium: Photography, Laser Printer. Scale: 9x12 digital display, Otherwise 6" x 9" Prints Date: Summer 2026
I have craved to take part in my cultural identity, but it has come to a point where this relies on digging out the information I've been too afraid to immerse myself in. It's confrontational and overwhelming, but my family's history is something that needs to fill the hole I've been substituting with second-hand culture. I was called to action by the work-in-progress project "Electric Neon Clock" by Alison S. M. Kobayashi. She has been collecting archival documents about her great grandfather and their family's history, having had their assets repossessed by the Office of the Custodian, and being relocated to encampments following the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Not only does this deepen Kobayashi's connection to her heritage and family, it also lays out the experiences of the Japanese-Canadian community at this time, placing criticality over this history's narrative. In my work, I aimed to both satisfy and confront my urge to collect and hold on to things. There is a restlessness to not knowing my history, but the anticipation of grief is immobilizing, so I started to make a zine about it. The grief won’t go away, it was time to let it in. My zine was an introduction for this journey cultivating familial closeness, where I put together written work expressing my thoughts, and visual and symbolic representations, mainly through graphic design, supported by photos I have taken in my childhood home, at our family cottage, and in Vancouver. It was crucial that I take initiative to hear from my parents, and get on their level to justly communicate with them. I interviewed the two of them as well as my sister, and asked for photos and objects that to them represented their culture and heritage. One element that has consistently stood in my way is my identity as gender-nonconforming and queer. My queerness remains an elephant in the room across my entire family.... But my queerness is integral in my interpretation and expression of this project. For me, it’s about breaking the mould. I let it bleed into everything, because embracing that which is queer is embracing my limitlessness, so I lean into transformation. But of course with my family, this lens surfaces pain, and that was part of the point. This zine is both closure and the entrance to mending my identity.
Ellie Yang
同此共我
"A Place for Both of Me"
Program: Photography Medium: Photography, Photoshop Scale: Varies from Installation Date: Summer 2026
这件作品包含了我对去厌女，去恐酷儿，自我对话的理解。在持续多年的CBT治疗中，我逐渐意识到我的内心还有一个无法直接与我交流的自己。人也许会因为社会规训，文化熏陶，趋利避害地产生一个顺从的，保护性的自我，而那个活跃，酷儿，边缘化，非主流的自我就被锁在心中，有时这种保护性会倒转，在支持接纳、公平、多元和包容的盟友们之中，被压抑的自我有时会浮现。我在这组三章的摄影作品中展示了一个东亚女性化酷儿的人格，性别，自我的两面性。 在儿童游乐场中的两个白裙形象代表着在心中，在童年；一个尚不了解性别角色和性别刻板印象的酷儿所受到来自家庭和社会的伤害是无意识的，冲击的；他们在冲击中互相保护，互相依偎。在林中，是现实与虚幻的边界，是内心和身体的河岸，这时的他们已经知道什么是二元论，什么是黑和白，他们在这里求索的问题是：你是谁？我是谁？我们需要争斗吗？我们需要分离吗？我们是一心同体吗？在这里，意味着在现实，在现在；支撑那个一直保护自己的自己走下去的，一直是那个被保护的自己活下去的愿望。这一章，我用格子代表对生活的妥协，红色代表对生活的渴望。我和我一起奔跑，我和我相互搏斗，这一次，我能真正和我并肩吗？
This work comes from my understanding of unlearning misogyny, unlearning queerphobia, and learning to speak with myself. Through years of CBT therapy, I gradually realized that there is another self inside me, one who cannot always speak to me directly. Under social discipline, cultural training, and the instinct to avoid harm, a person may develop an obedient and protective self. This self learns how to survive. At the same time, the active, queer, marginalized, and non-normative self may be locked away. But protection can also turn back on itself. In spaces where support, acceptance, fairness, diversity, and care are possible, the repressed self may begin to appear. In this three-chapter photographic series, I explore the two sides of an East Asian feminine queer self: personality, gender, and selfhood in tension with each other, but also protecting, holding, and playing with each other. The first chapter takes place in a children’s playground. Two figures in white dresses appear in the space of the mind, and also in the space of childhood. Before a queer child understands gender roles or gender stereotypes, the harm from family and society can already arrive. It is unconscious, sudden, and forceful. In this impact, the two selves protect each other and lean on each other. The second chapter takes place in the woods. The woods become a boundary between reality and illusion, a riverbank between the mind and the body. Here, the two selves have already learned what binaries are, what black and white mean. They begin to ask: Who are you? Who am I? Do we need to fight? Do we need to separate? Are we one mind in one body? The third chapter takes place in reality, in the present. The self who has always protected me is supported by the desire of the protected self to keep living. In this chapter, I use plaid to represent compromise with life, and red to represent the longing for life. I run with myself. I fight with myself. This time, can I truly stand beside myself?Chapter 1 在心中In the Mind
Chapter 1 在心中 In the Mind
Chapter 2 在林中 In the Wood
Chapter 3 在这里 In the Place
Field Zapton
"Cycles of Generation"
Program: Criticism & Curatorial Practice Medium: Interactive Installation, Table Installation, Personal Objects, Food, Forged Plants from Home, Cyanotype on Personal Fabrics & Papers. Scale: Varies from Installation Date: Summer 2026
Cycles of Generation takes you on a journey from the underworld, through the earth, and into fresh, juicy life. In three stages, lead by 3 spoons: 1) The Past (Rest/Masculine/Processed/Material gifted to Life-Physical and Spirit separated) 2) The Present (Play/Trans/Harvested/The Ephemeral Bridge between the physical and the spirit world) 3) The Future (Grow/Feminine/Fresh/Life Creating-Spirit and Flesh integrated) As a scale from mother’s to father’s family, from masculine to feminine, with my genderqueer, chosen fam in the middle as my happy medium. Masculine side processed beyond the point of reproduction, and into a state formed by consumption, the middle a medium of raw and processed. My trans, chosen fam, the bridge between where life and death meet, the transition line between roles on the cycle. Spoons point where to eat/interact. Two goblets each at the father and the medicine- To indicate communing with the spirits of your family, and one goblet at the mother- to indicate you are integrated with spirit and are drinking together. An interactive, choose your medicine. One, lined with caution tape and memorial, Two, open and free to play in the first stage of decay when life still clings to you, ephemeral scents and senses, Three, fresh, sweet and with fully developed seeds. The first two each with two goblets as you commune with the after life, the third with just one simple cup, as those who choose this are still engaging in life. This piece honors the healing work my living family have done in their lifetimes, in a ritual that communes with those who have passed with the wounds we are healing, inviting all to share in the medicines from the bloodlines of the artist’s living heritage. Where something new is created at the crossing, something that only Ning could hold into existence.
(As a sustainable way of teaching pedagogies, I had challenged myself to practice what I teach, by tackling the same given project to the students, not only it creates a sense of community in class, but rethinks the colonial power structure in classrooms, and reflects on the idea that we all learn from each other beyond students, faculties, ages, communities, and culture. It is a wholistic, equitable way of learning, thinking, and exchanging information. Also addressing OCAD U’s Wholistic Approach to the OCAD U Indigenous Learning Outcomes which are guided by the principles of Respect, Relationship, Reciprocity, and Responsibility.)
Julius Poncelet Manapul
“Bakla na Anghel ng Patay” (Queerious Angel of Death)
Program: Faculty of Arts, Integrated Media, Life Studies, Art & Social Change. Medium: Photography, Photoshop, iMovie, Image consists of Artist Wearing Paper Sculpture from Queer Erotic Images, Butterflies and Feathers from Homonormative Queer Porn Images, Templates of Butterflies that are Indigenous to the Philippines, Basmati Rice, Filipino Whitewashing Products, Altar at Mosque-Cathedral Monumental Site of Cordoba from Andalusia south of Spain. Scale: Varies in Space and Projection Wall Duration: 00:02:08 Date: Summer 2026
This work reflects on colonial religious symbolisms through queer narratives, re-imagining, and re-translating the concepts of death as a symbolic gesture that lingers amongst queer people of colour, and re-articulating ideologies of necropolitics within queer diasporic communities. These series explore the queer figure as the Angel of Death crafted from Queerious fantasy construction of resilience after death. It is a photo documentation of my portrait wearing paper wings constructed from representations of the Homonormative exotic queer bodies. We see these muscle queer male figures amalgamated on the wearable paper sculpture of the eight-winged head piece and butterflies enveloping the face. Questioning what happens if Queer narratives were interpreted within its own historical context in religious faith and its systemic suppression towards the community within history. This work evokes the same male forms seen in contemporary Queer media that travels through the past, present, and futurity. Queerious Butterflies Series crafted from Queer exotic images transformed into butterflies indigenous to the Philippines. The wings are dismembered to create decorative coverings of the subject that is covered pushing back and forth between revealing and concealing through bodily taxonomy while cues on transformation comments on the colonial historical impact. At the backdrop we see an image of the Altar at Mosque-Cathedral Monument Site of Cordoba from Andalusia, south of Spain. The photo documentation was taken back in July 2025 from my south of Spain trip pilgrimage as I address the starting point of Spanish Colonialism to the Philippines and the Americas. Through my adolescence and adulthood nightmares had always been following my sleepless nights like a dark shadow lingering, waiting, longing for my demise. Most likely the effects of the adversities of racism, bigotry, and the racism and homophobia that also exists within the queer communities itself that upholds values of homonormative male cis representations or cultural tokenism.
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Credits:
Julius Poncelet Manapul