By Her Hand, A Mother–Daughter Exhibition

Foy House, Toronto

© Suparna Ghosh, Synthesis, acrylic on canvas. Courtesy of Shayona and Shahan Panth.

Group Show: By Her Hand, A Mother–Daughter Exhibition

May 10 – 31, 2026
Opening Reception: Mother’s Day, Sunday, May 10, 2026, 3pm
Open House – Doors Open Toronto: Saturday, May 23 & Sunday, May 24, 10am – 5pm
Foy House, Toronto

Foy House presents By Her Hand, A Mother–Daughter Exhibition. Three pairs of mothers and daughters draw viewers into an electric visual dance through their art. Foy House, Toronto, is the perfect venue for these mother-daughter artists because, like them, this historical Victorian mansion near Church and Isabella Street has many stories to tell. Those who enter can sense the lives of past inhabitants, just as the art in By Her Hand is a living testament to the women who created it.

The idea for this event has been percolating for more than two decades. The artists are longtime friends who have exhibited independently and together at other group shows. They would often agree, with a collective sigh, that they had to exhibit exclusively with each other someday.

In March of 2025, one of the artists, Suparna Ghosh, passed away unexpectedly. An urgency came out of that. The group of mothers and daughters got to work, and out of the sorrow of loss, a powerful exhibition grew—a true celebration of life.

There are three grand rooms at Foy House where the main exhibition will take place: the Parlour, the Gallery Room, and the Piano Room.

Suparna Ghosh and Shayona Panth will display their paintings in the Parlour. Here, the viewers will see a beautifully charged dialogue between mother and daughter. It is clear in these images that these women are inextricably connected; the language of Suparna’s art informed Shayona’s vocabulary in mysterious and startling ways.

In the Gallery Room, Yvonne Lane and Naomi Lane will exhibit their work together for the first time. Their story begins with Yvonne, a young lady in England who sewed handmade clothes for Naomi to wear for the photos they needed to immigrate to Canada. Naomi grew up to study Fine Art in England and Environmental Architecture in Canada. Their work, seen together, is storytelling come alive. Naomi’s paintings and Yvonne’s textile art speak of a search for home within the mystery of everyday objects. A creative journey yet unfolding.

The Piano Room features the hypnotic and sublime work of Holly Briesmaster and Clara Blackwood. Holly’s painted fans are meditations on colour. Clara’s paintings bring us back again to the theme of storytelling. Their work, shown together, seems to open a portal to other realms, both spiritual and exploratory, quietly intense.

Audiences who attend the show will be embarking on an emotional journey. By Her Hand is, in turn, playful and curious, otherworldly and luminous. Three rooms, six women, connected by lineage, friendship, memory, and art.

© Shayona Panth, If Only In Spirit, acrylic on canvas. Courtesy of the artist.

Related Events

By Her Hand: Poetry Inspired by Mothers
Sunday, May 17, 2026, 2 – 6pm
Feature Readers TBA, followed by Open Mic
All Welcome, Pay What You Can

Open House – Doors Open Toronto
Saturday, May 23 & Sunday, May 24, 10am – 5pm
Foy House, Toronto
Free Admission

During Doors Open Toronto on Saturday, May 23, and Sunday, May 24, Shayona and Suparna’s work will be moved to an upstairs dining room, named the Suparna Ghosh Dining Room by Foy House director Georgia Wilder. The Parlour Room will, fittingly, feature information and photographs detailing the rich history of Foy House.

© Naomi Lane, Heritage Building on Reclaimed Wood, acrylic on wood. Courtesy of the artist.

Suparna Ghosh (1942–2025) was a true renaissance woman, training extensively for many years under the tutelage of the eminent Indian artist Abani Sen, whose work can be seen at Toronto’s Royal Ontario Museum. She won a scholarship to study art in Australia but opted to earn her MA in Mathematics at Delhi University. Suparna has exhibited her work in galleries in Toronto, New York, San Francisco, London, Seoul, Mumbai, and New Delhi. An award-winning painter and poet, her works have been featured in numerous national and international juried shows. Toronto was her beloved home for over fifty years, a milestone she celebrated in her last solo exhibition, Theatre Unlimited, at the Arts and Letters Club of Toronto in 2024.

Shayona Panth is a Toronto-based painter with a background in art, as well as early childhood education and children’s mental health. With her mother as her earliest drawing teacher, she learned mural and fine art painting hands-on through apprenticeship and ongoing studio study. She has taught painting and drawing to beginners of all ages, and currently creates murals and pet portraits commercially while continually working on her own original art.

Naomi Lane was trained as an Artist, Architect and Architectural Conservationist. She works as a heritage advisor in Montreal, Canada, and her mission is to “bring new awareness and appreciation to old buildings through contemporary paintings,” with an emphasis on preservation and repurposing materials. Her work can be seen at her website, on Instagram, and in other publications.

Yvonne Lane has dedicated her working life to civic contribution and raising a daughter in England and then Toronto. Throughout this time, she has continued to create textile art with unique quilt designs, which can be described as ‘still-life’ representational compositions and colourful explorations in geometry. She has also approached gardening with the same creative eye, which combines a sense of order with a playful palette. She lives in Port Hope, Ontario.

Clara Blackwood is a visual artist and poet from Toronto. Her artwork has appeared on the covers of many books by Canadian authors, and her paintings have been exhibited at galleries in Toronto, including Propeller Gallery, The Women’s Art Association of Canada, and the Super Wonder Gallery. Her third book of poetry, Pomegranate Heart, was published by Ekstasis Editions in 2023.

Holly Briesmaster received her B.A. in Fine Arts from the University of Toronto and has worked as a tour guide at the Art Gallery of Ontario. Working in oil, acrylic, and watercolour, she has exhibited in numerous galleries, including solo shows at Gallery Hittite, Q Space Gallery, and Gallery 814 in Toronto. She has been a part of many group shows, including the Varley Art Gallery, the Heintzman House Art Show, and Toronto Art for Peace – Canadian Society for Art of Imagination. Her interest in painting on fans is relatively new. Part of the attraction is the changed format from the rectangular canvas to the pleated folds. The arc shape presents new challenges and opportunities for the arrangement of forms and colours—also combining aspects of decorative and formalist art to be brought into our living space.

Foy House is a non-profit arts and community space dedicated to fostering creativity, inclusivity, and cultural engagement within the historic Foy-Smith mansions.

Foy House
92 Isabella Street
Toronto, ON M4Y 1N4
www.foy-house.com
admin@foy-house.com
Director: Georgia Lee Wilder

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Accessibility:
Foy House requires the use of stairs for entry and is listed as not accessible for barrier-free access. Limited parking is available on the driveway. There is a Green P parking lot at 13 Isabella Street and at 50 Charles Street East.