Seeking something missing, missing something left behind

Ariana E. Fraser

February 10 – April 6, 2024

Essay by: Francis Pitsadiotis

Ariana E. Fraser’s interdisciplinary practise emphasizes conceptually narrative paintings considering sentimental reflections on queer memory, desires and feelings of belonging/non-belonging. Combining personal histories with a practise that oscillates between painting, fabrication and assemblage, the installations work to bridge the seemingly disparate and allude to spaces and scenes of encountered intimacy. Situating reconstructed narratives within temporal dwellings, Fraser operates within the intersection of the ephemeral and the tangible to reveal experience witnessed through the fragmented remnants of queer desire.

Artist Bio:
Ariana E. Fraser is an interdisciplinary artist living and working in Toronto, Canada. Emphasizing conceptually narrative painting, her practise thematically investigates the intersections of queer memory, desire and feelings of belonging/non-belonging within the dwelling. Her work has been exhibited at the Small Arms Gallery and the Ontario Society of Artists along with various online exhibitions. Fraser holds a BFA in Drawing and Painting from OCAD University.

Image ID:
“Image depicts a diptych featuring two 4” x 5” flesh coloured canvases side by side. On the left canvas, an ornate ring rests alongside an abstract finger tattoo in the lower left half of the canvas. The adjacent canvas on the right showcases a simple ring paired with another similarly abstract finger tattoo on the upper right half of the canvas. Together they subtly allude to the contours of two hands reaching towards one another, without explicitly depicting the figure.”

All photo documentation by Em Moor