September 21 – December 1
All Islands Touch (2024) is a newly commissioned installation consisting of a large-scale painting and several heart-shaped paper-mâché sculptures arranged around it. When placed on the ground, the painting and sculptures create a personal map that depicts the relationship between the body and the land, presenting a landscape that visitors can walk around. The artworks address the impact of human disruption on nature and the devastation of ecosystems. Tessa drew inspiration from a traditional Haitian lullaby she came across after moving to the Netherlands in 2020.
Tessa Mars’s work focuses on gender, landscape, Haitian history, and the African Caribbean diaspora. Through painting and sculpture, the artist challenges colonial narratives and traditional ideas of identity and geography, embracing alternative forms of collective belonging. Many of the characters in her work emerge from the soil, symbolizing regeneration, survival, and the transmission of knowledge.
Commissioned by the Toronto Biennial of Art and made possible with the generous support of the Women Leading Initiative.
Bio
Tessa Mars (b.1985; she/her) is a Haitian visual artist born and raised in Port-au-Prince. She completed a Bachelor’s degree in Visual Arts at Rennes 2 University in France in 2006 after which she returned to live and work in Haiti. Mars’s work presents her efforts to reconnect to a Haitian perspective of the world. Her paintings and papier-maché objects have been shown recently in the exhibitions “Your presence does not escape me” at Tiwani Gallery in London and “Who Tells a Tale adds a Tail” (2022) at the Denver Art Museum in Denver. Mars is an Alumn of the Rijksakademie Van Beeldende Kunsten in Amsterdam (2020-2022), she currently resides in Puerto Rico.
Location
- Accessibility
Collision Gallery
Accessible Entrance
The ramp for accessing Collision is found inside 30 Wellington St, past the revolving doors, on your right. Please note that the ramp is narrow.Wheelchair Accessible
Washrooms available on Concourse Level in PATH Network
Building is AODA-compliant
Parking: If you require parking, Commerce Court has parking available just off of Wellington Street with the entrance being west of Yonge Street.
- Getting There
Collision Gallery
If you’re accessing the gallery from King Street – you will find the entrance on the south east side of the courtyard, just beyond the fountain. Entrance is to the far left, beside Jump Restaurant.
If you’re accessing the gallery from Wellington Street – the building will be on the north side. Follow the signs to Jump Restaurant and enter through the rotating doors, heading up the stairs. The gallery will be on your left side, to the left of the restaurant.
By subway: Exit at King Station which is directly connected to Commerce Court. Follow the signs to Commerce Court South, then go up the stairs just to the right of Pantry. The gallery is on the courtyard level, up two staircases to the left.
By streetcar: Take the 504 King Street streetcar and get off at the Bay St stop, on the north side of the building. Walk south on Bay St and turn left onto Wellington St W, with the building on your left. Follow the signs to Jump Restaurant and enter through the doors, heading up the stairs. The gallery will be on your left side, to the left of the restaurant.
By car: Take the Bay Street exit off the Gardiner Expressway and head north towards Wellington Street. If you require parking, Commerce Court has parking available just off of Wellington Street with the entrance being west of Yonge Street.
Donors & Supporters
