Summer 2025 Exhibition at Latcham Art Centre

Extend Pride into your summer with an exhibition exploring the art of printmaking by artists from the 2SLGBTQI+ community.

Images (left to right): Michael Ciesielski, Lynn ft. Betty Crying, 2025. Woodblock, birch plywood. Michael Ciesielski, Lynn ft. Betty Crying, 2025. 43.25 x 55 in, Woodblock print, ink on paper.

Paper Mirrors: Anthea Black, Michael Ciesielski, Ron Siu

July 18 – September 6, 2025
Opening Reception: Friday, July 18, 7 – 9pm
All are welcome, and admission is free. Light refreshments will be available.

Paper Mirrors brings together the work of three artists who are pushing printmaking beyond traditional boundaries to present personal, innovative and, at times, playful artworks that express and investigate the artists’ experiences in the Queer community.

Anthea Black, Grieve Weave 9 (overlapping grief weave) / Bauhaus wallpaper Oujia tea set, 2023. Artists’ book: monoprint on coventry rag and somerset, asahi silk and iris rayon bookcloth.

Anthea Black, Michael Ciesielski and Ron Siu each present work that extends conventional ink on paper printmaking into experimental videos, sculptural books, and large format woodcuts, becoming a metaphor for the inversion and subversion of traditional gender norms and orientations. Through a range of representation and abstraction, the exhibition explores these artists’ deeply personal responses to subjects including drag culture, Queer histories, and the role of print and mass media in manipulating the visibility and perception of 2SLGBTQI+ communities.

Latcham Art Centre gratefully acknowledges the Town of Whitchurch-Stouffville for their generous support of this exhibition.

Ron Siu, Evil Smile, 2020. Monotype, ink on paper.

About the Artists:

Anthea Black

Anthea Black (b. 1981) is a Canadian artist, art publisher, and curator based in Toronto and San Francisco. Her studio work takes the form of prints, artist’s books, and limited edition publications to address feminist and queer histories, materiality, and archives. Black has exhibited in Canada, the US, Korea, France, Germany, The Netherlands, and Norway, and her artist publishing work is represented in over 60 libraries and galleries. Her artist-publication work includes the globally circulated art newspaper The HIV Howler: Transmitting Art + Activism, and HANDBOOK: Supporting Queer and Trans Students in Art and Design Education, a queer and trans pedagogy project that took form as a collaborative letterpress artist’s book. Black’s curatorial projects include The Embodied Press: Queer Abstraction and the Artist’s Book, No Place: Queer Geographies on Screen, PLEASURE CRAFT, and SUPER STRING. and her new book, The Embodied Press focuses on artist’s books by queer and transgender artists from the 1950s to today.

Michael Ciesielski

Michael Ciesielski graduated from the Queen’s University Fine Arts Program in 2017 specializing in woodblock printmaking. Following his academic training Michael attended the Spark Box artist residency in Picton, Ontario. This led to his acceptance as the Don Wright Scholar at St. Michael’s Printshop, St. John’s, Newfoundland. During this one-year residency he attended monthly workshops, worked closely with local galleries and developed meaningful connections. Wood carving is one of the oldest methods of printmaking and is what grounds Michael’s practice. The more he indulges in the intersection between traditional and contemporary art – a balance between the old and the new – the more it defines his work. Through this combination, he is exploring themes of personal queer identity, internalized homophobia and toxic masculinity. By referencing subliminal queer references in pop-culture (magazines, comics, movies), he is subverting the idea that these identities and lifestyles were not present in mainstream media. They are, and have always been, right in front of us.

Ron Siu

Ron Siu is an artist currently based in Tkaronto/Toronto, Canada. Siu’s practice incorporates painting, printmaking and animation elements to explore themes around Queer desire and fantasy. His work is informed by Western and Asian art historical canons, decorative art movements such as Art Nouveau, alongside more contemporary pop sources such as gay-themed Japanese romance manga (Yaoi), video games and supernatural horror. By making connections between seemingly disparate cross-cultural threads, Siu aims to express a contemporary sense of Queer imagination.

Siu graduated with his BFA in Drawing & Painting at OCAD University in 2019. He has participated in multiple residences nationally and his work has been in exhibitions across Canada and internationally in the UK and Germany. Siu is currently pursuing an MFA at the University of Guelph.

Ron Siu would like to gratefully acknowledge framing support from the Superframe Framing Fund and funding support from the Toronto Arts Council, Ontario Arts Council and the Government of Ontario.

About Latcham Art Centre:

Latcham Art Centre is a public art gallery that inspires the community to engage with arts and culture through dedicated exhibitions of contemporary art that reflect a range of artistic media and the cultural diversity of our province. Latcham Art Centre offers vibrant education programs that cultivate creativity and experimentation through classes, workshops, artist talks, and tours. Latcham Art Centre is located in Stouffville, Ontario, 45 minutes northeast of Toronto with free parking and is accessible via GO Transit. The Gallery is open to the public and admission is free.

Latcham Art Centre is accessible.

Gallery Hours:
Sunday: Closed
Monday: 10am – 5pm
Tuesday: 10am – 8pm
Wednesday: 10am – 8pm
Thursday: 10am – 8pm
Friday: 10am – 5pm
Saturday: 10am – 5pm

For more information please contact:
Jeff Nye, Curator
Latcham Art Centre
jeffrey.nye@latchamartcentre.ca

Latcham Art Centre
2 Park Drive
Stouffville, ON L4A 4K1
T: 905-640-8954
Free admission
www.latchamartcentre.ca

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