NEWS & PRESS
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Nuit Blanche TO 2024 x George Brown College: The Home I Never Knew
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I am excited to share that I am working on an art installation for Nuit Blanche Toronto!
This project is possible thanks to the support and generosity of George Brown College and the guidance and help of an incredible team in the School of Design, Ana Rita Morais, Joseph Zettler, Gary Hanrahan, and Matthew McColl Poon. I am forever grateful for their trust and excitement about this project and for bringing it to life in the best way possible.
“The Home I Never Knew” video installation follows my most recent art exhibition. It explores the emotional connections we create with places and reflects on the idea that the only true distance is physical.
I cannot wait to share a little piece of Venezuela with you.
Join us on October 5 from sunset to sunrise on the Orchid balcony at the School of Design (3 Lower Jarvis St) in the never-ending journey of rediscovering home.
The Home I Never Knew–Solo exhibition at Toronto Public Library
Bloor Gladstone Branch
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The exhibition will run from August 3 to August 30 and will be accessible throughout the month based on the library's hours and event programming.
After being away for 10 years, I became curious about the places I had grown up hearing about from my dad’s stories when he travelled around the country in the early ‘80s.
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Inspired by the power of generational storytelling, I embarked on a journey to rediscover my home country. Using several reference pictures, I created my own interpretations of these places through paintings. The paintings seem blurred and hazy, symbolizing my sense of unfamiliarity and discovery, revealing the unexpected connection we form with places, even without physically being there.​
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Tours: Contact me via email if you'd like a tour of the exhibition.
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Library hours:
Monday to Friday, 9 am to 8:30 pm.
Saturday, 9 am to 5 pm.
Sunday, 1:30 pm to 5 pm.
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Location: Toronto Public Library–Bloor Gladstone Branch (1101 Bloor Street West)​
Sunlight- Solo exhibition at Toronto Public Library- Yorkville Branch
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A series of photographs that conceptualize the ephemeral aspect of thoughts and moments. Sara’s solo exhibition brings attention to the small things in life using natural light and shadows as reminders of what is always present around us, but we sometimes take them for granted. The non-representational paintings shown under the intervention of light and shadows are captured to allow others to witness these moments.
“Sunlight” is a direct reference to Sara's first solo exhibition at Runnymede Library (2016), where her ongoing project “Shadows” started.
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The exhibition will run through the entire month of September. Read Akimbo post here.
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Closing reception
Date: Thursday, September 28, 2023
Time: 5 pm to 8 pm
Location: Toronto Public Library- Yorkville Branch (22 Yorkville Ave)
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Hope to see you there!
'Light Source' will be featured during Nuit Blanche 2023!
(Story Arts Centre, 951 Carlaw Avenue)
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'Light Source' is a two-story installation mural measuring approximately 22’ tall and 95’ long which integrates traditional and digital art by including photographs of natural light and shadows over mixed media non-representational paintings. The artwork symbolizes a story being told along the wall by images that were captured to allow others to witness a unique instant in time. The photographs were printed and dry-mounted onto aluminum panels.
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You are invited to the Nuit Blanche celebration:
Date: Saturday, September 23rd, 2023
Time: 7 p.m. – 7 a.m
Location: Centennial College- Story Arts Centre, 951 Carlaw Avenue
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Visit anytime, during the event or contact me for a guided tour at sara.vargas.nessi@gmail.com
"art in the park" Art Fair
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Date: Saturday, June 10th, 2023
Time: 11 am to 4 pm
Location: Memorial Park, Stouffville, ON. (Parking is available)
Near the Whitchurch-Stouffville Leisure Centre
(2 Park Dr, Whitchurch-Stouffville, ON L4A 4K1)
This is a unique opportunity to check out my artwork in person. I will be showing a combination of new, past, and never-seen-before paintings and art prints.
My ✨NEW✨ Limited Edition art prints from
the Shadows collection will be debuting at this event!
I hope to see you there or at my upcoming events!
Storyteller In-Depth Podcast
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I am honoured to be part of the new Storyteller In-Depth podcast episode! I had a great time talking with Pat about my art practice and my participation in the RBC Emerging Artist Network with The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery.
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"In this episode of Storyteller In-Depth, we speak to Fine Arts Studio graduate Sara Vargas Nessi, who has always wanted to be an artist since she was young. Listen as Sara shares her reaction to being selected as one of 25 RBC Emerging Artists, her creative process and life as an artist."
Listen to the full episode here: https://storyteller-in-depth.castos.com/episodes/rbc-emerging-artist-sara-vargas-nessi
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Or click the button below.
Storyteller Newsletter
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I am honoured to have been featured in April's 2023 Storyteller edition. I was invited to talk about my experience and participation in the RBC Emerging Artist Network as well as my art practice.
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"Sara Vargas Nessi, a 2016 Fine Arts Studio program graduate, was selected as one of 25 participants in the 2022-23 RBC Emerging Artist Network – an eight-month program that provides emerging artists with mentorship, networking, professional development, skill-building opportunities, and more.
As an artist for several years now, with an installation you can find in the main foyer of our Story Arts Centre, Sara was elated to be selected from more than 150 applicants. She’s excited to learn new and different skills that she can implement in her art practice, in addition to the connections she'll make."
RBC Emerging Artist Network with The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery Toronto
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I am humbled to be part of a fantastic group of artists and to participate with them in this year's RBC Emerging Artist Network 2022-23 with The Power Plant!
About the program: from The Power Plant's press release
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"The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery and the RBC Foundation are thrilled to launch the second edition of the RBC Emerging Artist Network with the announcement of its 25 participants.
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The Network includes a robust calendar of engaging programs that spans eight months. It was developed to provide dynamic professional development opportunities for local artists, creating new ways for them to meet, exchange, learn and take advantage of The Power Plant’s diverse resources for mentorship, networking with exhibiting artists, as well as guest speakers and arts professionals.
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The aim of the program is to assist emerging artists to advance their careers in ways that are appropriate to The Power Plant’s mandate as a non-collecting, contemporary art institution. In addition to studio visits and constructive workshops with The Power Plant’s team, the emerging artists will be connected with thought-leaders in the arts community.
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The program encourages a broad range of skill-building, from talks by leading private art collectors, conservationists, and commercial galleries, to workshops on financial planning and grant writing. Participants will also receive a year-long membership that gives access to members’ events, including exhibition previews and tours, discounts on publications, editions, and merchandise from The Power Plant’s Shop, and free entry to museums and galleries across North America.
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The shortlisted participants were announced following an open call in July 2022, which resulted in more than 150 applications received. The selection committee comprised of Adelina Vlas, Head of Curatorial Affairs, and Muna Cann, Head of Public Programs & Outreach, at The Power Plant; and Chiedza Pasipanodya, artist, curator, and educator. This is the second edition of the RBC Emerging Artist Network following the first cohort in 2020.
About The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery
The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery is Canada’s leading public gallery devoted exclusively to contemporary visual art. It is a vital forum for the advanced artistic culture of our time and offers an exceptional facility and professional support to diverse living artists, while also engaging equally diverse audiences. The Power Plant pursues its activities through exhibitions, publications, and public programming that incorporate other areas of culture when they intersect with visual art. For more information, please visit thepowerplant.org.
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The participants of the RBC Emerging Artist Network 2022 are: Allison Morris, Amanda Kung, Ayan Melikli, Chantal Khoury, Christina Anna Trutiak, Claire Heidinger, Emkay Adjei-Manu, Gladys Lou, Hajar Moradi, Heidi Holmes, James Rollo, Jill Smith, Joel Rodriguez, Kassandra Walters, Lingxiang Wu, Mahsa Alikhani, Malik McKoy, Mihyun maria kim, Nora Rosenthal, Olivia Brouwer, Paula McLean, Ramolen Laruan, Sara Vargas Nessi, Soka Lazara, and Vladimir Kanic."
Nuit Blanche 2022
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I am so excited to announce that I participated in Nuit Blanche with TWO installations!
I was part of IN VIEW artists for Nuit Blanche East Danforth AND Light Source installation was included in Centennial College- Story Arts Centre's Nuit Blanche celebration.
1. IN VIEW: Memories (Broad Lingerie, 1763 Danforth Ave.)
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Art Statement
Memories invites viewers to dig inside and bring forward precious memories that happened to us in East Danforth. Whether from our childhood or yesterday, the exploration is meant to go beneath the surface of our recollection. While you look at this installation, I invite you to remember the moment of your first kiss, eating ice cream with your sibling, or celebrating a special birthday. These memories are part of what constitutes the history of East Danforth, and they are hiding beneath us in the architecture, landscape, and roads. These memories live and just as shadows, sometimes go unnoticed. But how do we keep a moment from vanishing away forever? The shadows captured in this installation show moments frozen in time. Silhouettes of the flora that compose East Danforth, while the hanging circles represent the fragility of the memories. These are being suspended just like they are in our minds. However, the shadows act as a reminder that they can slip away the moment we forget them.
From hanging mobiles to photographs of temporary things, this installation invites visitors to reflect on what lies beneath us, and the experiences from places that give shape to memories.
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2. SPACE ODDITY: Light Source (Story Arts Centre, 951 Carlaw Avenue)
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The Space Between Us invited artists to transform the city by creatively sharing stories about their connection to place while bridging cultures and connecting with communities and the environment.
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Art Statement
The story of colour, light and shadow is interrupted by silence (white spaces), as the narrative develops along the wall. The open spaces (windows) translate as the realistic fragments of the stories that intertwine with the fantasy.
During your journey at the Story Arts Centre, you will face fears, win battles, and ultimately find success through your hard work. The intention of ‘Light Source’ is to accompany you and mirror the stories you are telling each day with your art. Challenges and victories will be part of this journey just as light and shadows are part of the images.
My art process begins with acrylic brushstrokes on a blank canvas and finishes with
photographing the unique intervention of sunlight and shadows over my paintings. To add a
time-related element to every piece, the light source of my images is always the sun as the shadows change every passing minute. The purpose of the photographs is to allow others to witness a unique moment in time.
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Follow the latest news and updates on my Instagram @SaraVNArt