In this exhibition, Pixel Heller explores Black identity and resistance through costume design, performance, and photography, drawing inspiration from the masquerade (mas) tradition of Caribbean Carnival. During her residency at the gallery, Heller produced garments and accessories for three traditional mas characters—the Moko Jumbie, Midnight Robber, and Jumbies. She presents those pieces alongside photographs of costumed performances by the artist and her friends in various public sites around Oshawa, including Club Carib and Lakeview Park. As guardians, tricksters, storytellers, and ghosts, these characters excite and provoke unseen spectators whose reactions co-create the performance. Through this work, Heller conjures spaces of connection and tension, using the mask as both a shield and portal. She navigates what it means to embody her cultural lineage as a diasporic performer, moving through a landscape where Blackness can feel both hyper-visible and invisible.
Historically, masqueraders have occupied numerous liminal zones: the threshold between the material and spirit worlds; the fluid sequence between past, present and future; as well as spaces of socio-economic disparity and protest. Heller is engaged in cultural preservation, self-expression, and self-discovery when performing in traditional mas. Moreover, participating in the legacy of the artform as a form of post-emancipation social critique, she embraces traditional mas as a tool for building community and infusing the everyday with ancestral presence.
Artist Bio:
Pixel Heller is a multidisciplinary artist and designer based in Toronto, Canada. She earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Cross Disciplinary Studies with a specialization in Life Studies from OCAD University in 2024. During her time at OCAD U, Pixel was awarded the Joan and Clifford Hatch Foundation Scholarship in Life Studies in both 2022 and 2023. In her final year, Pixel received the Cross-Disciplinary Art Medal, the Nora E. Vaughan Award, and the Format Website Prize Career Launcher. Pixel’s work has been showcased at Gallery 1313, Meridian Arts Centre, Yonge and Dundas Square, and internationally at the Black Brazil Art Biennial. Her artwork is featured in The Wedge Collection and Stikeman Elliott Private Collection. She has performed at events such as Artist Project and the Waterloo Region Museum. Pixel has worked with HERMÉS Canada and participated in Vibe Arts NExT: Cohort 5.0.
