Leftover Ingredients Art Workshop Series

Leftover Ingredients: Explore Food Culture through Overlooked Materials

Various Dates | April 7 – April 28, 2025
Learning Hub, Room 417, University of Toronto

The “Leftover Ingredients” workshop series focuses on the theme of surplus and waste generated in everyday life. Through storytelling and artmaking, the participants will explore the underappreciated aspects of current food culture, such as mistakes as an essential part of cooking, food as embodied experiences, and recipes as a tool for community building. Join us for some snacks and discussions, to tell stories with overlooked materials through creative imaginaries.

More information on the workshop will be available during the upcoming weeks. Follow us on Instagram @leftover_ingredients to stay up to date!

Workshop Lead:

Jingshu Yao is a creative writer and researcher who is having doubts: In her recent project on recipes and heritage, she found written text useless in capturing sensory memory and documenting practical knowledge. The research process of gathering information and formalizing it into academic writing damages the quality of the story shared by the community.

In participating in this exploratory workshop, you can either restore her faith in heritage documentation through storytelling or give her hope in finding alternative ways of sharing knowledge through the arts.

Could you help her?

Workshop 1: Playful Sculpture with Anran Guo
Monday, April 7 | 4pm – 6pm
Register here

In this hands-on workshop, participants will transform everyday waste—cardboard, plastic bags, tin cans, textiles, and magazine paper—into imaginative sculptures. Through playful construction and unexpected combinations, we will explore how making, like cooking, embraces trial and error, improvisation, and the passing down of knowledge. No prior experience in sculpture-making is needed.

Artist Bio:

Anran Guo (b. Dalian, China) is a queer female artist and art educator based in Hamilton and Toronto. She holds a Master of Visual Studies in Studio Art and an HBA in Art and Art History from the University of Toronto. Guo’s practice centers on sculpture and installation, employing metaphor and playfulness to offer layered critiques of social and political systems. Her work has been exhibited at the Art Gallery of Mississauga, Hamilton Artists Inc., Centre[3], and the Art Museum at the University of Toronto, among others. Her practice is generously supported by the Ontario Arts Council.

Workshop 2: From Junk to Jewel with Chu Winne Cheung
Thursday, April 17 | 4pm – 6pm
Register here

In this jewelry workshop, participants will transform discarded materials, such as cardboard, plastic vinyl and tin cans from juice boxes, food packaging or dessert boxes, into vibrant and wearable pieces. It’s a playful encounter between cuisine and adornment, where everyday foods are reimagined and turned into tangible and portable objects. Participants will create bracelets, pendants, necklaces or rings, using materials that reveal what we consume, and turning traces of meals into colorful and personal accessories.

Artist Bio:

Chu Winnie Cheung is a Chinese female artist and translator based in Toronto. She holds a MFA in Jewelry and Metalsmithing in Rhode Island School of Design. By juxtaposing rigid socio-cultural norms with the raw energy of nature, Cheung reimagines the ancient perception for nature in contemporary jewelry, while critiquing modern tendencies to dominate it, further challenges the centralized patriarchy to enfeeble the ruling elite’s authority. Cheung has participated in exhibitions worldwide, including Japan, United States, Canada, Chile, etc, and held solo exhibitions in Shanghai and Toronto.

Workshop 3: Edible Stories Zinemaking with Melanie Yan
Monday, April 28 | 4pm – 6pm
Register here

“Edible Stories” is a hands-on zine workshop inviting participants to share their personal food stories through zine-making. The session will introduce the concept of zines, explore storytelling techniques using both visuals and words, and feature a diverse collection of zines from around the world. Participants will have the opportunity to create their own zine, celebrating their connection to food and memories.

Artist Bio:

Melanie (Lixiyue) Yan (she/they) illustrates stories and creates zines about hypnagogic memories, surreal adventures, and ephemeral moments from an Asian-diasporic queer feminist lens. Their illustrations and zines have been recognized by acclaimed institutions and organizations in North America. Currently, Melanie travels between lands seeking creative inspiration.

Workshop Location
Learning Hub, Room 417
University of Toronto, Faculty of Information
Bissell Building, 140 St. George Street
Toronto, ON M5S 3G6

About the Organization
The Group of Ontario Emerging Museum Professionals (GOEMP) Committee acts as a voice and a resource for emerging museum professionals across the province. We provide programming, communications, and resources digitally and in-person to foster a supportive, professional network among individuals within the first 10 years of their museum careers.

Email: ontariogoemp@gmail.com
Website: goempbeta.wordpress.com
Instagram @goemp.ca

This workshop is funded by Hart House Good Idea Funds at the University of Toronto.