Exhibition No. 18

April 21 - May 14, 2023

The SPAO Centre Gallery proudly presents Exhibition No. 18, featuring the 2023 graduating class from SPAO’s two-year college diploma program.

Over this last challenging year, our students have worked tirelessly in order to create innovative installations and portfolios that showcase their individual photographic practices. This diverse group of emerging talent is pushing the boundaries of the photographic medium, working with new technologies, experimental camera techniques, site-specific installations, and digital pigment prints. From technological interruptions on the body, to explorations of shame, to our relationship with the world around us, this exhibition encapsulates the fragmentary nature of contemporary society. 

Exhibition No. 18 is a testament to our students’ ability to use the challenges that face them as opportunities for creative and nuanced portfolios. It is the celebration of a milestone that marks their journey into the future of photographic arts. SPAO is proud to present this new generation of contemporary photographers and photo-based artists who are more ready than ever to engage in what lies ahead.

Curated by:
Katie Lydiatt

YU-SHENG CHIU

Yu-Sheng Chiu is a Taiwanese photo-based artist residing in Ottawa, Canada. She dedicates her work towards the navigation of self through the theme of solitude that dominates most of her projects. She also utilizes her interest in feminism as a tool to examine the obscure relationship between identity, gender, and external matters that impact her purpose as an artist through genres like self-portraiture.

JAIME NESRALLAH

Jaime Nesrallah is a queer photo-based artist on the traditional unceded land of the Anishnaabeg People, in Ottawa, Canada. They employ analog photographic processes to speak on the intersection of their gender and sexual identities, trauma, and healing. Their work brings a compassionate yet critical dialogue to our everyday conversations about our relationships with our bodies - how fraught, alienating, and how complex these relationships can be.

Their work has been exhibited at the Hull Underground Film Festival (HUFF’22), the School of the Photographic Arts in Ottawa, and as part of the CONTACT Photography Festival in Toronto (May 2023).

ÉMILIE KLEMM

With the use of her run down analog equipment, émilie KLEMM observes the hidden details within her surroundings; whether it’s at home, in her neighbourhood or within her peers. She plays with emotional shifts and transforms them visually into a poetic narrative.

In her archives, she is seen documenting curious corners, or day-to-day quirks, sequencing her artwork to reflect on past memories, and the present reality. Residing in the Ottawa Valley, KLEMM can also be found photographing the local music scene on late nights.

CZESIA CZYCZYRO

Czesia Czyczyro is an Ottawa-based artist whose images reflect her perspective, her viewpoint and her sense of curiosity. She photographs to remember the places she has been, people she has met and the experiences that she has lived. Learning to unpack who she is not only as an artist but as a person, has allowed her to learn more about herself and the things that influence her today. The search for her own voice is an ongoing process. As a result, her work is in a constant state of experimentation.

RUTH LESS

Ruth Less is a queer artist working in analog photographic process. She chooses to integrate a combination of historical processes and experimental techniques in cyanotype print. Exploring identity, chronic illness in portraiture juxtaposed to the environmental impacts of the printing process.

Started in 2021 under the title Reclaim, extending today in print and installation as Portals and It was all a dream. Both an exploration of memory, disembodiment, and the cyclical experience portrayed through the use of tonal variances, form, movement, repetition and colour to create fiber based print and sculptural installations.

KELLY MCDONALD

Kelly McDonald, a School of Photographic Arts (SPAO) graduate, is a lens-based artist and educator based in Ottawa, Canada. Since 2016, she has offered photography workshops for young adults with Down syndrome, providing space where participants can develop their artistic expression.

Her work focuses on the life cycle of botanicals, with a particular interest in the latter stages. McDonald explores the unique beauty that a once glorious spent botanical offers.

During the summer of 2021, she was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. The diagnosis initiated an interest in living in the now and the notion of ‘letting go’. Her practice has taken on a more contemplative approach. It also advanced her exploration of the calming and rejuvenating qualities of water. Just as this element relieves the impact of Parkinson’s for her, it rejuvenates botanicals. With this awareness, she often marries them with water.

LINH VH NGUYEN

Linh VH Nguyen is an interdisciplinary queer artist exploring interconnectedness and multiplicity in regards to healing and identity. Using a variety of techniques including historical photographic processes, digital manipulation, and generative AI tools, they create dreamlike images, often meshing different elements together.

Probing the shifts in meaning and value of images as archives/databases/technology advances, Linh hopes to find insights that will help us navigate complexity better. They draw inspiration from their Vietnamese-Canadian heritage, dance performances, movement practices, and many other artists such as Sara Cwynar, Michiko Kon, Lana & Lilly Wachowski. Find out more at linhnguyen.ca.

TYLER NYKILCHYK

Tyler Nykilchyk is a queer and autistic, interdisciplinary artist, working with photographic processes, filmmaking, drawing, sculpture, woven textiles and sound. Nykilchyk has exhibited at the Ottawa Art Gallery, on AlternativeProcesses.org, in Toronto as part of the ‘23 Scotiabank Contact Photography festival, and has screened their short animated film “Dissociative Blue'' at HUFF ’22.

He's interested in combining traditional craft practices with alternative processes and technology, resulting in a unique visual story. Integrating the past, present and future Nykilchyk’s work exists within the intersection created by themes of identity, environment, memory, and sustainability.

PATRICIA PARSONS

Patricia is not esthetically invested in the way the dominate culture sees photography. She likes to experiment, investigate vision, perception even optics. Trichrome stretches the vision spectrum.

DION PRINTS

Dion Prints uses photo-based media to form visual languages through scannography, painting and collage. Building from a paternal passion, at a young age, she taught herself the art of video editing and photography. She attended a technology concentrated program at École Catholique Secondaire Garneau, inspiring her to further her skills in photography and design.

Her work is intended to exude a safe space and a sense of identity for the Black community as she tackles her quest to self-discovery.  Her photographs Do You Remember was showcased in the exhibition How I Love You at the Ottawa Art Gallery in 2022.

LILIANA DEL VELDOVA

Liliana Del Vedova is a multidisciplinary artist who employs historical cameras and darkroom processes in her work. She frequently engages in experiments with light, chemigrams, set design, and growing crystals onto photographs. Her art delves into themes of spirituality, transformation, and healing. Despite the often-somber tone of her subject matter, Liliana's work ultimately celebrates life and the resilience of the human spirit.

CAMILLE WEST

Camille West is a lens-based artist located in Ottawa, Canada. Her photography explores the emotional and physical relationships between humans and animals. Through her own lived experiences of substance use disorder, West appreciates the impact that animals can have on one’s mental and physical health.

She aims to capture a unique perspective on the connection between people and one of our closest companions - the canine. West creates a visibility and tangibility to something seemingly invisible; she transforms unconditional love into visual poetics. 

Iconoclasm
Noun: the action of attacking or assertively rejecting cherished beliefs and institutions or established values and practices.

SPAO’s first year students have spent the year using a variety of photographic techniques, both traditional and experimental, to hone their individual artistic styles. For Exhibition No.18, these students chose work which together evoke a subtle skepticism.

Interested in applying to our two-year college diploma program? Learn more about the program, the work of past students, and alumni achievements by clicking any of the images below.