Roaming
TONIA DI RISIO

FEBRUARY 16, 2022 - MARCH 12, 2022

The Red Head Gallery is pleased to present, Roaming, an exhibition by Tonia Di Risio.

What started as a paper collage project in 2015 has now developed into an immersive experience of recycled magazine cut-outs, found objects, and miniature pieces that have been secured onto repurposed mirror panels. The ensemble of mediums come together to form unique reflective biomes that place viewers directly inside of the art which are a result of Di Risio’s time at home during the COVID-19 pandemic. Cascaded along the walls and floor of the gallery, Roaming has become a series of mixed media mirror installations that speak to consumer culture and introspection.

In Roaming, visitors can explore and question this consumption in a comfortable and serene manner. By placing this message onto mirrors, Di Risio has allowed viewers to get a sense of the spaces around them and to be more cognitive of how they occupy those spaces. In turn, viewers will also consider how these spaces, or the objects inside, occupy them.   

An exhibition essay by writer and curator Ignazio Nicastro will accompany the exhibition. You can read the essay online here.

Tonia Di Risio employs photography, video, collage and installation in her practice. Her work has developed through a critical engagement with ethnicity, home maintenance, food preparation, and interior design. Her practice also includes organizing an international artist residency program with Claire Tallarico titled, Alchemy, which is devoted to the exploration of the synergy between artistic practices, cooking and the sharing of locally cultivated food.

During the exhibition, the Magic Gumball Machine of Fate project located at The Red Head Gallery, curated by Catherine Heard, (with Lyla Rye and Kim-Lee Kho), will feature an artist multiple collectible by Di Risio.

BIOGRAPHY

Tonia Di Risio is a multimedia artist. She received a BA in Art and Art History from the University of Toronto and Sheridan College and an MFA from the University of Windsor. She has exhibited across Canada and has been the recipient of Canada Council, Nova Scotia, and Ontario arts grants.

For more information visit: www.toniadirisio.com | @toniadirisio
Alchemy Artist Residency:  www.makealchemy.com | @alchemyartistresidency

Red Head Gallery is situated on Treaty 13 lands and territory of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nations and the traditional territory of the Anishinaabe, Huron-Wendat and the Haudenosaunee. Toronto is currently home to many different First Nations, Inuit and Métis people. The artist acknowledges that her home and studio is located on Treaty 14 and Treaty 22 lands and she thanks the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nations, the Treaty holders, for being stewards of this land.