Please join us in welcoming Austin Henderson to the RBC Emerging Artist Residency Program! To learn more about Austin Henderson’s artistic practice and his plans for the artist studio, visit his profile and read his blog post below!
Over the last couple of years, I’ve been developing a body of work that explores the imagined relationship between myself and my maternal grandfather, Philip Lakas (1920–1988). The son of Greek immigrants, Philip lived in Oshawa for most of his life. He worked at the family restaurant, Victory Billiards on Simcoe St. N, served as President of the Oshawa Garden Club (then the Oshawa Horticultural Society), volunteered with the Oshawa Museum, and he was even an early admirer of the RMG.
There were so many things about my papou (Greek for “grandfather”) that fascinated me. I always thought we would get along quite well, if I ever had the chance to meet him.
After coming out as gay to my family in my mid-twenties, I learned my papou was, too. However, I didn’t learn this because of his life, but through his death. Philip passed from complications related to AIDS at the height of the HIV/AIDS epidemic that affected millions globally. Although the discovery – a secret for many years – felt surreal at the time, it ignited my curiosity to learn more about him, to consider the conversations we could have shared.
Through drawing, painting, printmaking (lithography), collage, and other multidisciplinary methods, I use materials from familial and public archives to illustrate our imagined bond as queer grandfather and grandson. With a focus on my papou’s life, I consider how the cracks in our family portrait may be mended through artistic exploration and research. Rather than focusing on the tragedy in death, my work highlights my grandfather’s abundant life.
During my time at the RMG, I will be creating more paintings and drawings, while also experimenting with new multidisciplinary methods with printmaking and textiles. Using photographs, family objects, and other archival materials, I will think about how shame, secrecy, and grief can be sensitively uplifted into portraits of joy.
While my family is the point of departure for this growing body of work, I will also be spending time during my residency to consider the broader and ongoing impacts of HIV/AIDS across so-called Canada, starting locally. I look forward to visiting the McLaughlin Branch of the Oshawa Public Library to review their archives, as well as the Oshawa Museum and other collections in the GTA.
Many families have stories similar to mine, and queer communities still deal with shame and stigma as a result of fears that were spread during the epidemic. Despite many artists working through these issues since the 1980s, there is much to be uncovered about this recent moment in our collective history. If you have a story about a family member or loved one and you’re willing to share it with me, I would love to hear from you while I’m in town.
With family roots in Oshawa and a long held soft spot for the RMG (I co-led summer camps in 2015 and 2016), this residency feels like a homecoming on many levels. I’m so thankful to be making this work here as a part of the RBC Emerging Artist Residency. If you’re visiting the gallery, please feel free to pop by the studio to say hi!
- In this room in Athens, Lithograph, 11” x 15”, 2025
- Philippos (In Other Words), Lithograph, 11” x 15”, 2024
- Embrace, Oil on canvas, 12” x 12”, 2025
- Talking to Papou, Acrylic on canvas, 12” x 12”, 2025
