2015 grad Toko Hosoya has her first ever solo exhibition opening tomorrow evening at Graven Feather on Queen St West, Press release below:
Emerging Toronto artist Toko Hosoya’s exhibition Burial opens at Graven Feather this week starting Wednesday, with a reception on Thursday January 21st, 7-9 pm. As young as she is, only 18, her drawings reveal unmistakable talent and a rare, comprehensive view of a world full of unfamiliar characters and expectations. In this most recent work she explores ideas related to her coming-of-age, relationships with place and questions of identity and truth.
Hosoya sites the influence of childhood illustrators Tove Jansson, Edward Gorey and Winsor McCay. Children are strangely powerful in her world, hybrid and almost as wild as the other beasts that populate the landscape. Imaginative narratives invite the viewer to consider the nature and rules of the place. Viewers can read a range of complex emotions addressed throughout these fantastic scenes including expressions of fear, shifting reality, and the search for belonging.
In describing the roots of her work, Hosoya speaks of truth as a fragile thing, constantly evolving and easily transformed. “The illustrative scenes imply grandiose narratives of epic adventures, but they are grounded by the thick roots of the forest. They remind us that no matter how far we go, we all wind up in the earth in the end. Burial is meant to be both a celebration and mourning of the death of the child. ” says Hosoya.
Join Graven Feather and friends Thursday January 21st 7-9 pm for a reception and to meet the artist. Up for two weeks only, January 20-31st 2016, visitors will be entranced and delighted by Hosoya’s characters and the world they inhabit.
https://www.facebook.com/events/188512371502880/