lwrds (pronounced ‘lords’; they/them) is an interdisciplinary artist, designer, independent researcher, and 2019 OCAD University graduate (BFA Integrated Media) living and creating in Tkaronto. Their ARTivist practice is informed by frameworks of Decolonial Critical Theory and is intersectional, anti-racist, anti-oppressive, sex-positive, trauma-informed, and grounded in disability justice. With a focus on Critical Design and decolonial research practices and pedagogies, they have been working as a freelance artist/designer for the past 10 years. Their studio practice conjures performance, sculptural, illustrative, poetic, and remediated mixed-media outcomes, emerging from a foundation of transgressive witchy knowledge and traversing the multiple realms of their idiosyncratic spirituality. lwrds’ work as an artist responds to their personal journey of healing sexual trauma at the intersections of gender variance, Blackness and Indigeneity (complicated by an imposed latinidad they reject due to its colonial underpinnings), and disability for reasons of neurodivergence and chronic illness. A born storyteller with a deep commitment to healing personal and collective traumas, their art-making approach is an intuitive process of learning with other non-human beings, valuing energetic exchanges with all that exists.
Programs
Storytelling at Small Arms Inspection Building
Location: Small Arms Inspection Building
Join us at the Small Arms Inspection Building in Mississauga for Storytelling sessions led by lwrds duniam and Nicole Markland. Storytelling sessions combine modes of conventional interpretation with artist-led, narrative and embodied responses. Storytellers offer weekly guided sessions, informal conversations, and spot tours to intergenerational audiences at TBA’s main sites.…
TBA 2022 Closing BBQ and Book Launch
Location: Small Arms Inspection Building
The Toronto Biennial of Art will celebrate the closing of the 2022 edition with a family- and youth- friendly BBQ for neighbours and those further afield. Enjoy great food and an array of participatory activities including Storytelling tours of the exhibition at the Small Arms Inspection Building, interactive walks focusing…
High Park Sacred Spaces Workshop
Location: High Park Nature Centre
Taiaiako’n Historical Preservation Society’s Director and Elder Donna Powless and her son, Troy Powless (Snipe Clan, of Cayuga of Six Nations) will lead this informative series of workshops at High Park Nature Centre for participants interested in the Indigenous histories and land stewardship practices of High Park’s sacred spaces, where 57 ancient…