glcarissa

[glcarissa]

Follow my Stage 4 Metastatic Breast Cancer journey on IG: @metastaticbreastcancer4

Abstract Artist with Stage 4 Breast Cancer: They say an artist becomes famous after they ...

[glcarissa]

Amazon.ca

[glcarissa]

A terminal cancer diagnosis is challenging and difficult to accept.

Follow the stage 4 breast cancer journey of a Toronto older Black woman abstract artist. I am blessed to still have the energy and determination to share my story and show my art, as I navigate a world of uncertainty and many life-changing challenges.

@gloriacswain | Linktree

Instagram: @metastaticbreastcancer4

gofundme: Fundraiser by Gloria C Swain : Please Help Me Fight Stage 4 Breast Cancer (gofundme.com)

[glcarissa]

I haven't posted for a few months due to major health issues. From March 12, 2023, when I first located the lump in my left breast, to the present, it has been heart wrenching and challenging. I no longer have my father or mother, both have sadly passed away, to help me through this. And I don't want to be a burden on my children. Siblings ... all blood is not necessarily family, which is the saddest part of going through this alone.

After being in remission from ovarian cancer surgery in 2018, I was just diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic breast cancer, that has spread to my bones.

The illness and treatment have drastically impacted my physical and mental health to the point where I have not been fully active for several months. It has taken a toll on me, to say the least. Everything has changed. I am sad to admit, also, that many people have also changed. This is a devastating and horrible disease that no one should have to journey alone. But 'it is what it is' and I must keep fighting, whether with support or on my own.

Below is the link to my gofundme page to help me along my cancer journey. If you are able to donate, thank you in advance. If you are not able to donate, please consider sharing my page. I appreciate you all and hope to live as long as possible with this life-changing illness.

Cancer takes away everything. Each day is a battle, but this is my journey and forward I must go.

Stay safe. Be kind. Be humble. Be human.

Gloria C Swain [May 23, 1956 - ]

[glcarissa]

Today [December 1, 2023] Toronto Transit [TTC] in partnership with Tangled Art & Disability, launched Transit as a Canvas.

The Transit as a Canvas project is an opportunity to use the poster spaces throughout the stations at the TTC to create an artistic intervention. They’re partnering with a number of artists throughout the year.

This is my 'final project for 2023' and I am proud to say that my artwork, [un]SEEN, is part of this amazing and city-wide project. I am hoping that 2024 will have more art opportunities for folks with disabilities and that my cancer journey will allow me to continue making art for years to come.

Thank you all very much.

[un]SEEN - About the Art

This square abstract painting prominently features the silhouette of a Black woman with a big afro hairstyle set to a colourful geometric pattern. The artist used black acrylic paint to craft the striking side-profile, accentuating her eyelashes, nose, and lips. The hair is textured, composed of a blend of black acrylic paint and natural soil, providing a tangible quality. The silhouette of the woman is adorned in a multi-colored top embellished with geometric cross stitching.

The woman stands out against a vibrant background of vertical streaks of yellow, green, teal, blue, red, and black spray paint to situate the silhouette in a dynamic backdrop. To make the clothing and background, the artist employed a technique using spray paint and painters tape to create hard-edge abstract geometric cross-patterns. Tape is first placed on the surface of the canvas before painting and then removed once the paint has dried to create striking geometric shapes, forms, and lines.

Titled [un]SEEN, this artwork is part of the artist’s 'Black Hair' series, centred around its tactile quality. The series delves into the connection between Black hair and untold stories, particularly those of Black women throughout history. The artist's use of soil in the textured hair symbolizes the link between stolen Black women from ancestral land, the forced reproduction of Black bodies, and the enduring struggle against racism and inequality today.

This piece encapsulates the artist's personal journey of self-expression and empowerment, inspired by their experiences with trauma related to race, sex, age, and invisible disabilities.

[glcarissa]

Collection of 6 - 40" x 60" unframed canvases paintings

Acrylic Paints. Abstract Geometric Art.

[glcarissa]

Full Collection of 14

Textured 16" x 20" Canvas

Acrylic Paints

[glcarissa]

"My work evokes the way Black culture has always found its strength and catharsis in movement. Geometric shapes in my work illustrate the rhythms of life, with sharp edges that collide and shatter to break through oppression.

My art practice is inspired by a legacy of intergenerational trauma and lived experiences as an elder Black feminist artist. I create large canvases of abstract and geometric paintings using lines and strong staged colours to look at what bodies are welcome in certain spaces and what bodies are unwelcome.

                                                                                      Gloria C Swain/2023

[glcarissa]

Welcome to my ‘Virtual Exhibit’

* My online gallery is now closed for viewing. *

Please join me in my first Virtual Exhibition, BETWEEN ART and LIFE, showcasing abstract geometric canvases.

“As a senior Black woman abstract geometric artist, who is fast approaching my 70′s, my experience with racism and ageism in the art world is challenging and has inspired and motivated me to continue with my passion to create work that open real conversations about social issues, especially faced by older Black women artists.

Instead of stressing about the limited spaces, and/or a lack of support from art organizations, I have found that utilizing virtual art spaces is how I will continue to share my work with a wider audience of art lovers and art collectors.

I hope I empower other older Black artists. Art doesn’t ask your race or your age but welcomes and rewards your creativity.” ~ Gloria C Swain/2023

Click the link below to enter my art exhibition:

https://assets.artplacer.com/virtual-exhibitions/?i=10725

Opening: 29 May 2023             Closing: 06 June 2024

This project was fully funded and supported through Toronto Arts Council - Black Arts/2022.

Artist Statement

Born in the mid-50’s and having grown up in the American South where racism was prevalent, as a Black community, we knew our place. We came from an environment where we had to learn to advocate and stand up for ourselves.  I went through a lot of childhood trauma and art was a way to deal and express myself. I became an activist at a very young age and I knew I wanted to channel my advocacy through my voice and art.  

I’ve experienced a lot of disrespect that I still see happening in world today and I know what it feels like to be mistreated.  Being a senior artist in the community I often feel neglected and not included, but that doesn’t stop me from doing what I love to do.

To me, my [Black] joy is the resistance - the resilience that we’ve experienced and the coming together that I see currently in the Black Community which is manifesting in a shift in the new generation.  The strength of the youth today is Black Joy. The resistance is not allowing anything to pull you back from following your dreams - even at my age, I still have dreams.  

“My message to you is to have hope and faith in yourself by embracing your inner strength. There is no age limit to what you can dream.” ~ Gloria C Swain

Art Statement

Using the mediums of installation, painting, performance and photography, I challenge systemic oppression against Black women and ageism and racism in the artworld. My work centers my own experience as an older Black feminist artist, facing exclusion while navigating through unwelcoming art spaces.

PURCHASING INQUIRIES: gloriacswain@gmail.com

[glcarissa]

Between Art and Life [publication]

Using art as a vehicle to empower other older Black women artists, I work in painting, photography, film, installation, and performance. My art reflects a unique technique of layered and textured abstract and geometric compositions using lines, shapes, and colours. My non-figurative paintings address issues of colonialism, police brutality, inequality, racism, the historical impact [intergenerational trauma] of enslavement on Black mental health, and stereotypes about Black women and aging.

Order your copy here:

https://www.amazon.ca/Between-Art-Life-Gloria-Swain/dp/B0BQ9N768P/ref=sr_1_1?crid=I13TCLO90ZA0&keywords=gloria+c+swain&qid=1675728886&sprefix=gloria+c+swain%2Caps%2C829&sr=8-1

Publisher: ‎ Independently published (Dec 19 2022)

This project fully funded and supported by Canada Council for the Arts https://canadacouncil.ca/ 

[glcarissa]

Exhibit Title: Transforming Grief: Loss and Togetherness in COVID

Mixed Medium, Acrylic Paints, Spray Paints, Modeling Paste, Netting, and Craft Glue. Varnish. Natural Collage Materials – dried flowers, dried leaves, seashells, stones and soil.

This work is fully funded and supported through Toronto History Museums.

[glcarissa]

BLACK HISTORY MONTH 2023

Union Station Presents I Am Still Here: Black Joy is Resistance

Union Station art exhibition, I Am Still Here: Black Joy is Resistance, sponsored by TD, to kick off Black History Month, is now closed.

February 6 – May 31, 2023

[glcarissa]

BLACK HISTORY MONTH 2023 - Ottawa, Canada

[glcarissa]

BLACK HISTORY MONTH 2023

Diasporas: Threads Connecting Our Origins is now closed.

https://themuseum.ca/exhibitions/current-exhibitions/diasporas/

[glcarissa]

BLACK HISTORY MONTH 2023

Black Women in Leadership

City of Toronto Archives Black Women in Leadership an exhibition that celebrates and highlights contributions from Black women leaders across sectors including arts and culture, business, health and wellness, and activism.

[glcarissa]

ART PRACTICE

Texture is an important component to my art practice and hints at the unspeakable stories that lie underneath the surface of both the art and the artist.

The geometric patterns in this work illustrate the range of movement associated with the process—sharp edges colliding, shattering and realigning— and allude to the ways that oppressed groups might eventually break through.

[glcarissa]

I don’t paint because I have to, I paint because I want to. ~ Gloria C Swain