2015 – 2017
Stencil Light Paintings
In Bring to Light, I use elements of both painting and photography to create work about the absence of cultural diversity in Canadian art. The technique involves flashing light through handmade stencils while the camera takes a long exposure shot. While my assistant controls the camera, I move around the location flashing light through stencils. Because of the shot’s length, the camera only captures the light, and I moves around unseen. I am a part of the landscape, yet invisible in the photographs. In my place, I leave light prints of henna designs. While I find henna to be a part of my personal narrative, it is incorporated universally as a symbol of festivity, celebration, femininity and craft. The images of the cityscape with the henna patterns reflect my desire to integrate the concepts of my place in both the city and in the artistic expression of the city.
By photographing, beautifying and transforming the landscape that I live in, Flemingdon Park, I want to infuse Canadian identity, which is so related to the landscape, with patterns familiar to the many immigrants who make up Canada’s population and nationality. This series broadens the associations we make when thinking about both ‘Canadian art’ and the Canadian landscape.
Funded by Ontario Art Council
Tasneem Dairywala 