Christina Oyawale is a Black non-binary disabled lens-based Tkaronto/Toronto artist, dance artist, curator and creative director. They hold a BFA in Photography from Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly X University*). Their artistic focus is documenting radical occupation of space. Oyawale strives for community engagement by creating conversations that pertain to the human condition, growth, rebirth and investigations of self. Their practice includes experimental video, performance, photography and installation.
In their ideal (art) world, movement, love, sharing and community interdependence is paramount. These principles are prioritized in their curatorial work and art practice in works. Their human-first ethos is a reflection of the disability and queer justice principles championed by the likes of Audre Lorde, Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha, Alice Wong and many more disabled/queer elders and anestors that have come before them.
In their ideal (art) world, movement, love, sharing and community interdependence is paramount. These principles are prioritized in their curatorial work and art practice in works. Their human-first ethos is a reflection of the disability and queer justice principles championed by the likes of Audre Lorde, Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha, Alice Wong and many more disabled/queer elders and anestors that have come before them.
*I use the placeholder of ‘X University’ in solidarity with Indigenous communities and students of TMU, as the namesake was an architect of the residential school system.
Photograph by Tyler Da Silva
Photograph by Tyler Da Silva