Please join us in welcoming Vanessa Godden to the RBC Emerging Artist Residency Program!
During their residency, Vanessa will create a series of new works in mixed media and performance. Exploring themes of immersion, acceptance, and joy, this work will embrace the complex layers of queer and diasporic identities. In particular, their research will consider how materials, cultures, and geographies can together serve as an insightful lens for understanding oneself and their place in the world. Seeking connection and support from other members of the Trinidadian diaspora in Durham Region, Vanessa’s project will be presented in the form of an exhibition and live performance.
Vanessa Godden is a non-binary Queer Indo-Caribbean and Euro-Canadian artist, educator, and curator. They are a sessional lecturer at universities across the Greater Toronto Area and a cofounder of the curatorial collective Diasporic Futurisms. Godden holds a PhD from the Victorian College of the Arts (Melbourne, Australia; 2020), an MFA from the Rhode Island School of Design (Providence, USA; 2014), and a BFA from the University of Houston (Houston, USA; 2012). Their transdisciplinary practice explores how the relationship between the body, personal histories, and geographic space can be conveyed in multi-sensory performances, videos, and installations.
Tune in to our Instagram account on July 10 for Vanessa’s “Welcome to the Studio” Artist Talk and on September 17 for a “Residency Check-in.” Both virtual studio visits will be at 12:00pm EST @rmgoshawa.
