ArtBeat

A creative world shaped by family legacy, spirituality, and the power of colour—this is where Janna Watson draws you in during this episode of ArtBeat. With roots planted in an artistically rich upbringing, Janna shares stories from her childhood, filled with lessons from her painter grandfather and furniture designer grandmother, both of whom deeply influenced her creative spirit.

Her latest series, Speaking in Tongues, captivates with its use of colour, form, and space, designed to evoke emotion before interpretation. Janna also shares how tarot and spirituality shape her artistic lens, offering a fascinating perspective on the balance of light and dark, both in life and in her work.

From the disciplined rhythms of her studio practice to her reflections on how space—whether city or countryside—shapes her process, this episode offers an inside look at Janna’s evolving relationship with her art. But beneath it all lies something deeper: a story of personal growth, reclaiming spirituality, and transforming her studio into a sacred space of self-discovery.

Discover Janna’s work on Instagram at @jannawww and visit her website at jannawatson.com. You can experience her latest exhibition, Speaking in Tongues, at Laura Rathe Fine Art in Houston until November 21, 2024, with another solo show to follow at Sugar Lift in New York in Spring 2025. Janna’s work will also be included in a group exhibition presented by Bau-Xi Gallery at Art Toronto from October 25-27, 2024 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. 

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In this episode of ArtBeat, we’re joined by Mia Nielsen, Director of Art Toronto, who shares her fascinating journey into the world of art and her role in shaping the country’s most prominent art fair. Growing up between Ontario and Denmark, Mia’s early experiences with creativity—from her musical roots to her love for museums—laid the groundwork for her curatorial career. Her 12 years at the Drake Hotel saw her curate bold, experimental projects and foster collaborations with leading cultural institutions, experiences that have informed her approach to running Art Toronto.

Mia reflects on her time so far at Art Toronto, and how the fair continues to hold a vital place in the international art fair circuit, showcasing a distinctively Canadian perspective with an emphasis on diversity and inclusion, particularly through the work of Indigenous artists. She offers insight into this year’s programming, highlighting its public installations and immersive experiences designed to captivate audiences.

As Art Toronto celebrates its 25th anniversary, Mia considers how the art world has evolved, especially in a digital age, and what it means to encounter art in person. We also discuss the importance of collectors in sustaining the Canadian art market and how the fair creates meaningful connections between artists, galleries, curators, and collectors.

Join us as Mia offers a rich exploration of curating an art fair that engages audiences and nurtures the Canadian art ecosystem.

You can follow Mia on Instagram at @seekthesublime, Art Toronto at @art_toronto, or visit arttoronto.ca for more details. 

The fair runs from October 24-27 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, with a special opening night on Thursday benefiting the McMichael Canadian Art Collection. 

Get your tickets here and don’t miss this opportunity to experience the best of contemporary art!

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In this episode of ArtBeat, we sit down with Toronto-based painter Amelia Valentine, who opens up about how art became her lifeline during illness and depression. As a self-taught artist, Amelia reveals how themes of nature’s cycles, mortality, and technology shape her work, reflecting the tension between beauty and decay.

Amelia shares her journey as a late bloomer in the art world, describing how Toronto’s art community gave her the space to grow. She speaks candidly about mental health, the healing power of painting, and the balance between chaos and control in her creative process. 

Listen as Amelia reflects on what it means to create through darkness and how her work continues to evolve. You can find Amelia’s work on her website and Instagram.

Content warning: This episode discusses suicidal ideation and mental health themes.

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In this episode, Maxine McCrann reflects on her unexpected shift into becoming a full-time artist, a change that began in the stillness of early pandemic days. Before that, art was a private thing, something she did alone. But a friend's small request—a simple drawing—set something in motion. The realization that her work could bring happiness to others became the catalyst she didn’t know she needed.

Maxine speaks about her evolving style, how the pursuit of realism once defined her art, but over time, it gave way to something more alive, more spontaneous. Joy replaced perfection, and her work began to reflect the simple beauty of everyday moments—shared meals, the closeness of family, fleeting gatherings that linger in memory.

You can discover Maxine’s work on her website, follow her on Instagram, or browse her paintings and prints on Peggy and Tacit.

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Jake Kimble’s story doesn’t begin in a gallery, or even near one. It begins in Treaty 8 territory, where traditional art spaces felt distant. During trips to Edmonton, it was the glossy tabloid magazines in grocery store checkout lines that gave him his first glimpse into the visual world—a preview of what would later become his language as an artist.

Now based in Vancouver, Jake identifies as two-spirited, a truth about himself that shapes his art and worldview. It influences how he sees, how he moves through the world, and ultimately, how he tells stories. His practice—spanning photography, self-portraiture, and curation—blends humour, personal history, and the gravity of lived experience.

In this episode, Jake opens up about grief and how photography became a tool for survival, a way to process the unbearable. We also explore his concept of “queering the lens,” how he turns traditional photography inside out, challenging colonial narratives and reimagining gender and identity. Content warning: This episode briefly discusses grief and suicide at 32:57.

As Curatorial Director at Ceremonial/Art Gallery, Jake’s work expands outward, focusing on creating space for Indigenous voices, both his own and others, voices that need to be heard. We discuss the ongoing challenges Indigenous artists face in the Canadian art world—the systems in place, the weight of histories that never quite leave—and how he’s working to shift and disrupt them, in large and small ways.

You can explore Jake’s work on his website and follow him on Instagram. His upcoming exhibitions include Picturing Ourselves at The ACT Arts Centre Gallery, running until December 21, 2024, and his participation in Art Toronto with United Contemporary from October 24-27, 2024, where he will also talk about his practice.

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In the first episode of ArtBeat’s third season, Mony Zakhour reflects on his journey from Halifax to Toronto, where he shifted from business school to bartending, eventually dedicating himself fully to art. From his first show in Japan to curating Cry Baby Gallery, Mony’s work balances abstract “designed chaos” with layers of meaning. 

With Cry Baby Gallery set for Scope Art Fair at Art Basel Miami and Mony’s art soon to be featured in cities like New York, DC, and Detroit, he will also take part in the Art Gallery of Ontario's (AGO) Art Bash gala on September 26, 2024.

Find Mony at Gallery 133 and on Instagram.

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There's a certain cadence to Kim Dorland's voice—a rhythm that speaks of survival and a life lived on the edge of things. It’s the cadence of someone who has seen existence from the margins, where he grew up amidst a backdrop he calls abject poverty. Kim doesn’t sugarcoat his beginnings. He doesn’t need to. The harsh, unvarnished reality of his youth forms the very canvas upon which his art is laid bare.

As we close out our second season, we bring you a conversation that cuts through the noise. In an art scene that can often feel overly refined to the point of sterility, Kim’s work stands apart, unapologetically visceral. His paintings live in between abstraction and representation, navigating a terrain that defies neat categorization. He isn’t chasing beauty; rather, his work grapples with the uneasy tensions between love and loss, between the remnants of grief and the haunting echoes of his past.

As he prepares for his upcoming exhibition, "Nothing is good anymore," opening on September 14th, 2024, at Patel Brown Gallery in Toronto, you get the sense that this show is different. The paintings are stripped down, drained of colour. They reflect his current preoccupation with grief, but Kim doesn’t dwell in sadness—he confronts it, stares it down, and in doing so, discovers an unexpected kind of beauty.

You can find Kim’s work at Patel Brown Gallery, Equinox Gallery in Vancouver, and on his Instagram.

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From a bunkhouse in Northwest Ontario to the ancient forests of Vancouver Island, Kyle Scheurmann's journey unfolds with an unyielding need to bear witness, to transform what he sees and feels into something concrete, something that communicates when language falls short. His paintings become living records, artifacts of a world teetering on the edge, yet still clinging to its fragile beauty.

As Kyle prepares for his upcoming solo exhibition at Bau-Xi Gallery in Vancouver, "Falling Stars Made of Ashes," he reflects on the emotional and spiritual undercurrents that have influenced this new collection. Unlike his previous show in Toronto, “Split My Full Moon Heart”, which concentrated on the immediate, palpable realities of climate collapse, this exhibition explores the ephemeral, the deeply personal, and the intensely remembered. The show opens on September 14th, 2024 and promises to be a powerful exploration of memory, fear, and the relentless passage of time.

Kyle is also gearing up for the third annual Art Auction for Old Growth, happening online from September 19th to 26th, 2024. This year, a new group of artists has come together to support the preservation of British Columbia's most endangered ancient forests. You can visit the auction's Givergy page, now live for registration and a full preview of the artwork. Since its inception in 2022, the auction has raised over $60,000, with all proceeds going to the Nature-Based Solutions Foundation (NBSF). NBSF is dedicated to protecting Canada’s most threatened ecosystems by supporting the creation of new protected areas, with a strong emphasis on Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas.

You can find more of Kyle’s work at Bau-Xi Gallery in Toronto, on his website and Instagram.

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In conversation with Vickie Vainionpää, an artist whose work navigates the spaces where the artificial meets the natural, we find ourselves exploring what it means to create in an era saturated with technology. Her journey began in the basement of her childhood home, a place where curiosity first took root, eventually leading her into the realm of generative art. Her work questions the very concept of ‘natural,’ revealing how the lines between human and machine often dissolve into ambiguity.

As the dialogue deepens, Vickie reflects on the philosophical underpinnings of her art. She speaks of a world where the artificial and the natural converge, where technology no longer stands apart but entwines our daily existence, creating a seamless reality. Her perspective carries an assurance, a belief that art, even in this digital age, continues to provoke, to mirror society, and to ask the questions that matter.

Vickie’s embrace of technology in her creative process reflects a vision that reaches beyond conventional boundaries, engaging with a world that is vast and interconnected. In her work, the distinctions blur, and the inquiry remains: what does it mean to create in a world where the tools of creation are shaped by both human hands and digital codes? Vickie offers no definitive answers, only the idea that art, at its core, is a reflection of the complex, evolving world we inhabit.

Vickie will be showing her Gaze Paintings with Olga Korper Gallery at The Armoury Show in New York this September 2024. You can find Vickie’s work in Berlin at Future Gallery, in Montreal at Patrick Mikhail Gallery, and in Italy at Nicola Pedana Gallery.

You can also view more of Vickie’s work on her Instagram and website. 

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Ernesto Cabral de Luna's artistic evolution unfolds like a map of lost and found memories, each piece a marker of the shifting landscapes of identity and cultural hybridity. As a Mexican lens-based artist, Ernesto navigates the fluid and often elusive boundaries of memory, drawing us into a world where images are captured, reshaped, and reimagined, prompting a deeper consideration of ownership and perception.

In this conversation, Ernesto reflects on the path that led him to earn his BFA in Photography from OCAD University in 2024, a period marked by the Barbara Astman Photography Award and a residency at Gallery 44. His work, currently featured in the group exhibition "It comes to me in waves" at Patel Brown Gallery in Toronto until September 7, 2024, explores the layers of diasporic identity and the immigrant experience.

Ernesto’s approach to art is deeply rooted in the desire to manipulate and reshape perception, crafting new narratives from the fragments of the past. He discusses his recent projects, including a mural at Finch Station as part of the Luminato Festival, which will be on display until the end of August 2024, the design of a reusable bag for Walmart, to be distributed nationwide during Latin Heritage Month, his upcoming exhibition at Ignite Gallery on September 4, 2024, and his participation in the 2024 Art with Heart auction collection this October 2024.

You can explore Ernesto's work on his Instagram and website.

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