The Creative School debuts new interdisciplinary exhibition at CF Eaton Centre

The Creative School at Toronto Metropolitan University, in partnership with CF Toronto Eaton Centre, proudly presents "Faculty Highlights."

The interdisciplinary exhibition delves into the work of three faculty members at The Creative School. Located in the exterior windows of CF Toronto Eaton Centre on Yonge Street south of Dundas, the exhibition runs from February 19th to April 30th. Featured artists include Fashion Assistant Professor Tanya White, Performance Assistant Professor Debashis Sinha, and Interior Design Sessional Lecturer Jeffrey Halstead.

The exhibition marks the fourth collaboration between The Creative School and Cadillac Fairview as part of their commitment to showcasing student and faculty work in a premier Toronto location. The partnership offers a platform for creators to share their creative endeavors, contribute to the cultural landscape, and communicate their perspectives to a broader audience.

Faculty Highlights

“Beauty Tells Us About God” by Tanya White, Assistant Professor, Fashion, is inspired by a quote from Notre Dame Cathedral's Rector Olivier Ribadeau-Dumas. The display offers a surreal take on traditional religious imagery and features paintings and architectural friezes reimagined with ornate rose borders and mannequins dressed in voluminous garments inspired by the revered statues of Saint Veronica. All the elements are knitted using computing textile technology and digital fabrication of recycled material supplied by the Fashion School, Design + Technology Lab, and industry collaborators MYANT and Viking Recycling.

“As my creative output is a blend of fashion, textiles, and art-to-wear, having alternative and non-academic platforms to disseminate research is essential,” White expressed. “The opportunity to exhibit my knit design in an accessible and high-traffic commercial space breaks down the barriers to sharing research broadly; it democratizes and makes faculty work more relatable.”

“Hoard, Churn” by Jeffrey Halstead, Sessional Instructor, Interior Design, portrays a visual collapse of emerging digital modelling techniques such as camera manipulations and 3D scans against real-life depictions of everyday scenes like people, animals, and architecture. These UV-cured paintings invite the audience to ponder on the complexities of contemporary digital visual culture and the intricate techniques employed to translate multi-faceted data into comprehensible visuals.

Also showcased is an original piece of music, “Yellow” (2024) by Debashis Sinha, Assistant Professor, Performance. Sinha custom-made the piece for the exhibit, drawing inspiration from the prevailing colours showcased in the visuals created by White and Halstead, which were predominantly yellow.

“The importance of bringing art to public spaces can’t be understated,” said Sinha. “It’s an opportunity to invite our communities to consider how they see the world and to show the many different ways we can understand it beyond the confines of what we are told is valid.”

The exhibit is on display until April 30, 2024, in the exterior windows of CF Toronto Eaton Centre on Yonge Street just south of TMU.

The Creative School at Toronto Metropolitan University

The Creative School is a dynamic faculty that is making a difference in new, unexplored ways. Made up of Canada’s top professional schools and transdisciplinary hubs in media, communication, design and cultural industries, The Creative School offers students an unparalleled global experience in the heart of downtown Toronto.