bitter/sweet

SPAO is pleased to present bitter/sweet, an exhibition featuring the photo-based work of Joi Arcand, Kaya Comeau, Dion Prints, and Leah Schretenthaler.

Each of the artists in this exhibition are engaged in a process of remixing. Through acts of appropriation, intervention, and deliberate perversion, they unravel tidy narratives around themes such as childhood, chronic pain, and the tourism industry.

bitter/sweet invites viewers to sit with the contradictions—where tenderness and discomfort, beauty and harm, are closely intertwined.

Featuring the work of
Joi Arcand
Kaya Comeau
Dion Prints
Leah Schretenthaler

Curated by:
Katie Lydiatt

Exhibition On View:
Saturday, September 20 - Sunday, November 2, 2025
Gallery Hours:
Wednesday - Sunday, 12PM - 5PM

Reception:
Friday, October 17, 5PM - 8PM
The SPAO Centre, 77 Pamilla St. 

Joi Arcand

Joi T. Arcand is an artist from Muskeg Lake Cree Nation, Saskatchewan, Treaty 6 Territory, currently residing in Ottawa, Ontario. Her practice includes installation, photography and design and is characterized by a visionary and subversive reclamation and indigenization of public spaces through the use of Cree language and syllabics. 

Kaya Comeau

Kaya Comeau (she/they) is a nonbinary artist based in Ottawa, whose practice centres on documentary and self-portraiture. Kaya’s work engages with the complexities of sexuality, focusing on the ways harm, exploitation, shame, and stigma shape lived experience. Through a combination of self-portraiture and documentary approaches, they address issues such as grooming, cycles of abuse, and the dehumanizing narratives that often surround sex and sex work.

Dion Prints

Dion Prints is a Haitian-Nigerian-Canadian self-taught photo-based artist from Ottawa that uses scanography, painting and collage in her work to form new visual languages. Dion’s work is rooted in a commitment to artistically showcase Black Canadian culture, particularly Black individuals in their natural, purest and most joyful forms.

Leah Schretenthaler

Leah Schretenthaler was born and raised in Hawaii. She holds a MA in art education and an MFA. Her work uses traditional photography and research to create a connection between land and material. Recently she was named as a finalist for The Aftermath Project Grant. In 2020 she won the Mary L Nohl Fellowship for Emerging artists and the College Art Association Fellowship.