Shapeshifters and Sunny Nestler at the Alternator

SKIM, 바리데기 이야기 알아요? He flew to guide them, 2025, lenticular print, Image courtesy of the artists.

The Alternator Centre for Contemporary Art is pleased to present two exciting new exhibitions: SHAPESHIFTERS curated by Carmen Levy-Milne, and Shadow Biosphere by Sunny Nestler, on view from September 12 through October 25, 2025.

In the Main Gallery, collaborative artist trio Kendell Yan, Chris Reed, and Romi Kim will explore the intersections of queer monsters inspired by myths and stories from their unique cultures. A common thread woven through Chinese, Cree, and Korean folklore is the notion of shapeshifters, fictional beings that can transform themselves from one physical form into another. Through a series of lenticular printed photographs, an exploratory film, a performance, and a community-centered workshop, the artists come to this project representing stories from their respective heritages while considering the intersections and compatibility between these folktales and their drag personas and gender identities.

SHAPESHIFTERS is presented in partnership with SUM Gallery.

Sunny Nestler, Cone Worm Builder, 2025, Mixed reality on head mounted display. Image courtesy of the artist.

In the Project Gallery, Sunny Nestler presents Shadow Biosphere. This work is inspired by the idea of the shadow biosphere, a hypothetical ecosystem that exists on earth but that we do not currently have the tools to detect; a world where life forms are not carbon-based but perhaps based on silicon or other material that we don’t yet understand. This realm theoretically exists and evolves alongside us, like a type of parallel universe. There might even be organisms that have components in both worlds simultaneously. In an extension of this idea of co-existent worlds, several of these pieces reference another type of parallel universe, which is personal to Nestler’s diasporic Jewish identity.

Both SHAPESHIFTERS and Shadow Biosphere will be on at the Alternator Centre for Contemporary Art from September 12 to October 25, 2025.

About the Artists

Shapeshifters are a multidisciplinary QTIPOC artist collective based on the stolen lands of the xwməθkwəy̓ əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and səl̓ílwətaʔ (Tsleil-Waututh) nations. Romi Kim (they/them) , Chris Reed (they/them), and Kendell Yan (she/they) are close friends, drag performers and accomplices. Also known as SKIM (he/him), Continental Breakfast (they/them) and Maiden China (she/they).

Shapeshifters have been collaborating since 2022. Their artistic practice is rooted in collective care, cultural and community histories, kinship, and queer liberation. Shapeshifters have exhibited work at Sum gallery (2022), the Vancouver Queer Film Festival (2023), James Black Gallery (2023), and Queer Arts Festival (2023).

Carmen Levy-Milne is a curator and cultural worker born and raised on the unceded land of the xwməθkwəy̓ əm people. As a diasporic Jewish settler, her practice is primarily concerned with the philosophy of tikkun olam (“the repair of the world”), where she sees her work in the arts sphere as responsible for uplifting reparative, decolonial, and critical artistic responses to our broader social, political, and cultural circumstances. She holds an MA in Critical & Curatorial Studies from UBC and a BA in Communication and Cultural Studies with a Minor in Religion and Cultures from Concordia University. Her work has been featured by the AHVA Gallery, the Burnaby Art Gallery, Centre A, Deer Lake Gallery, and the Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery.

Sunny Nestler lives on unceded Coast Salish territories, where they are an Assistant Professor at Emily Carr University of Art and Design. Nestler works in drawing, painting, illustration, book-making, new media, and social practice.

Their current projects center on ecological concerns in the Salish Sea watershed area, a type of parallel universe called the shadow biosphere, and Yiddish language revival. They are a co-founder of Bike Saviours Bicycle Collective, Tempe Zine Fest, the Vancouver Community Bike Shop Network, and VR Club, which are all spaces that work to make complicated tools and resources more accessible. Nestler exhibits at zine and alternative press fairs and has produced 14 publications under their imprint Megaspora Press.

Nestler is active in community-based organizations, such as the Bike Kitchen at UBC, Discorder Magazine, and UNIT/PITT Society for Art & Critical Awareness, and their practice has been supported by Canada Council and BC Arts Council grants and residencies at Banff Centre.

About the Alternator Centre for Contemporary Art

The Alternator Centre for Contemporary Art is a non-profit artist-run centre founded in 1989. We leverage knowledge, expertise, empathy and resources to support creative projects that nurture our community.

The Alternator Centre for Contemporary Art respectfully acknowledges its presence on the unceded territory of the syilx (Okanagan) people.

Alternator Centre for Contemporary Art
421 Cawston Avenue, Unit 103
Kelowna, BC V1Y 6Z1
www.alternatorcentre.com
info@alternatorcentre.com
(250) 868-2298

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Accessibility:
The Alternator Centre for Contemporary Art is situated within the Rotary Centre for the Arts, which is fully accessible.