RAQUEL MENDES

Photo by Shannyn Porter
ABOUT
Raquel Mendes is an interdisciplinary artist from Brazil based in Toronto. Her work is informed by her subjectivity as a queer woman, a mother, and an immigrant. She explores themes like feminism, spirituality, community, and nature, with a material approach that is varied and process-based, which often highlights natural elements. She works in a variety of different media to express her relationship with the world, including painting, drawing, printmaking, photography, video, performance, installation, and poetry. She has a BFA from the Universidade de Brasília in Brazil, and an MFA from OCAD University in Canada.

Photo by Wenwei Chen
ARTIST STATEMENT
“Through my work, I hope to incite contemplation around the ways in which we can better connect to ourselves and the material world around us. Artistic creation has the potential to form a link between daily life experiences and deeper aesthetic and spiritual inclinations, bringing mindfulness and meaning to simple actions. Seemingly mundane processes and images can provide valuable connective experiences through intentionality, sensibility, and presence. I work intuitively with any kind of material that might access the level of profound connectedness I am seeking. My research methodology is not preemptively defined, but it is always rooted in a desire for harmony and balance.”