EDUCATION
2016
Doctor of Philosophy, Art History and Visual Culture, York University, Toronto, Canada
Thesis: “Total Work of Fashion: Bernhard Willhelm and the Contemporary Avant-Garde”
2009
Master of Arts, History and Culture of Fashion, London College of Fashion, University of the Arts London, United Kingdom
Thesis: “Girl Nerds: The North-American Asian Contingent, Society and Style”
2004
Honours Bachelor of Art, Art History and Visual Studies, University of Toronto, Canada
PROFESSIONAL APPOINTMENTS
2019–2020
Visiting Scholar, School of Art and Design History and Theory, Parsons School of Design, The New School, New York
2018–2019
Andrew W. Mellon Post-Doctoral Curatorial Fellowship, Performa, New York
2016–2018
Post-Doctoral Fellowship, School of Art and Design History and Theory, Parsons School of Design, The New School, New York
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
2021
“Contemporary Avant-Garde Fashion.” Routledge Companion to Fashion Studies. Eds. Veronica Manlow, Eugenia Paulicelli and Elizabeth Wissinger. London and New York: Routledge.
Exhibition Rev. of “Diedrick Brackens: shape of a fever believer,” frieze. 5 April 2021.
Exhibition Rev. of “Haegue Yang: Emergence,” frieze. April 2021, p. TBD.
Exhibition Rev. of “Howie Tsui: From swelling shadows, we draw our bows,” Artforum. March 2021, p. 185.
2020
Exhibition Rev. of “Native Art Department International: Bureau of Aesthetics,” frieze, no. 215, November/December 2020, p. 152.
Exhibition Rev. of “Bridget Moser: My Crops Are Dying But My Body Persists,” Artforum. Vol. 59, no, p. 181.
Book Rev. of Saturation: Race, Art, and the Circulation of Value, Canadian Art. 15 July. Online.
Exhibition Rev. of “2 Lizards,” The Brooklyn Rail. July/August 2020, p. 86.
Exhibition Rev. of “FIVE.,” The Brooklyn Rail. July/August 2020, p. 89.
“Taste and Transgression: Gender and Sexuality in the Contemporary Avant–Garde Fashion of Bernhard Willhelm.” Fashion Theory: The Journal of Dress, Body & Culture. Vol. 24, no. 1, pp. 5–31.
2019
Performance Rev. of “Embassy of Imagination: Sinaaqpagiaqtuut/The Long Cut,” Performa Magazine. 16 October. Online.
“How Pierre Cardin’s Futuristic Fashion Infiltrated Everyday Life,” The Atlantic. 26 July 2019. Online.
Performance Rev. of “Hannah Black and Juliana Huxtable: Penumbra,” The Brooklyn Rail. July/August 2019. pp. 62.
Performance Rev. of “Björk: Cornupcopia,” Performa Magazine, 29 May. Online.
Exhibition Rev. of “Berna Reale: While you laugh / Enquanto Você Ri,” The Brooklyn Rail, May 2019. pp. 56.
Exhibition Rev. of “Refiguring Binaries,” The Brooklyn Rail. April 2019. pp. 47–8.
Performance Rev. of “Okwui Okpokwasili and Peter Born: Odaku’s Revolt,” Performa Magazine, 20 March. Online.
2018
“Against ‘Fashion-Time’: Bernhard Willhelm, Regional Folk Dress and the contemporary.” Visual Typologies from the Early Modern to the Contemporary: Local Contexts and Global Practices. Eds. Lynda Klich and Tara Zanardi. London and New York: Routledge. pp. 229–244.
Exhibition Rev. of “Lorna Mills: The Great Code.” Canadian Art, Vol. 35, no. 2, pp. 116–117.
2017
Exhibition Rev. of “Sara Berman's Closet,” Journal of Curatorial Studies, Vol. 6, No. 2, pp. 259–262.
Exhibition Rev. of “Ian Cheng: Emissaries,” The Brooklyn Rail. May 2017. Online.
2016
Exhibition Rev. of “Dreamlands: Immersive Cinema and Art 1905-2016,” The Brooklyn Rail. 6 December, p. 54.
2015
Exhibition Rev. of “Is Toronto Burning?” Fashion Theory: The Journal of Dress, Body & Culture, Vol. 19, No. 4, pp. 541–547.
2014
Book Rev. of “Art & Textiles: Fabric as Material and Concept in Modern Art from Klimt to the Present, Marcus Brüderlin (ed.),” Journal of Curatorial Studies, Vol. 3, No. 2/3, pp. 423–426.
“Bernhard Willhelm: The contemporary and sartorial remembrance,” Critical Studies in Fashion & Beauty, Vol. 5, No. 2, pp. 295–312.
2013
Exhibition Rev. of “Experts: doomsday predictions have no basis in fact or history,” Journal of Curatorial Studies, Vol. 2, No. 2, pp. 267–270.
“Resist the List: A Problem of Politics in the Evaluation of Contemporary Art,” C Magazine, Summer 2013, No. 118, pp. 24–27.
2012
Exhibition Rev. of “Public: Collective Identity | Occupied Spaces,” Canadian Art. 10 May. Online.
2011
Exhibition Rev. of “Hussein Chalayan: From Fashion and Back,” Fashion Theory: The Journal of Dress, Body & Culture, Vol. 15, No. 1, pp. 93–98.
2010
Exhibition Rev. of “Pieter Hugo,” PUBLIC, Winter 2010, No. 42, pp. 146–7.
2009
Exhibition Rev. of “Ryan Gander: Things that mean things and things that look like they mean things,” Canadian Art. 10 December. Online.
Exhibition Rev. of “Tate Triennial,” C Magazine, Summer 2009, No. 102, pp. 52–3.
Interview with Sarah Thornton: Seven Days in the Art World, Canadian Art. 12 April. Online.
Exhibition Rev. of “Elmgreen + Dragset,” Canadian Art, Spring 2009, Vol. 26, No.1, pp. 89–90.
Exhibition Rev. of “Jin-meYoon: Passages Through Phantasmagoria,” Canadian Art. 12 February. Online.
2008
Exhibition Rev. of “Lee Bul,” Canadian Art, Summer 2008, Vol. 25, No. 2, pp. 87–8.
2007
Exhibition Rev. of “Luc Tuymans,” Canadian Art, Fall 2007, Vol. 24, No.3, pp. 135.
Exhibition Rev. of “Marla Hlady,” Canadian Art, Spring 2007 Vol. 24, No.1, pp. 98–102.
2006
Exhibition Rev. of “Where Are We Going? The François Pinault Collection,” Canadian Art, Winter 2006, Vol. 23, No. 4, pp. 72–3.
HONOURS AND AWARDS
2013–2014
Doctoral Fellowship, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), Government of Canada
2011–2013
Ontario Graduate Scholarship, Government of Ontario
2010
York Graduate Scholarship, York University, Toronto, Canada
2007
Harold Tillman Scholarship for MA Studies in Fashion, London College of Fashion, University of the Arts London, United Kingdom
GRANTS, RESIDENCIES, WORKSHOPS
2021
Participant, Art Writing Workshop, International Association of Art Critics (AICA-USA) and The Andy Warhol Foundation Arts Writers Grant
Visual Arts Project Grant; Presentation, Ontario Arts Council (OAC)
2020
Explore and Create: Concept to Realization Grant, Canada Council for the Arts (CCA)
Visual/Media Arts Projects Grant, Toronto Arts Council (TAC)
Fellowship, Banff International Curatorial Institute (BICI), Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, Alberta
2019
Exhibition Implementation Grant, Coby Foundation, New York
Visual Arts Project Grant; Curatorial Research and Development, Ontario Arts Council (OAC)
2014
Writer-in-Residence, Est-Nord-Est Artist-Run Centre, Saint-Jean-Port-Joli, Quebec
INVITED TALKS AND PANELS
2021
“Subversive Stitches: Costume, Obscenity and the Body in Contemporary Performance,” MA Costume Studies, New York University (NYU), New York. April 1.
“Unruly Bodies: Fashion, Costume and Vulgarity in Contemporary Performance,” Department of Fiber Science and Apparel Design, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York. March 30.
2020
“Hot Takes” talk with Bridget Moser, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto. December 10.
2019
Conversation with Narcissister and Francesca Granata, Parsons School of Design, The New School, New York. December 13.
Conversation with Lap-See Lam, Swedish Pavilion, Performa 19, New York, November 17.
Roundtable discussion “Bauhaus at the Margins: Gender, Sexual and Queer Politics” with Beatriz Colomina and Elizabeth Otto. Performa 19, New York, November 15.
Conversation with Pauline Batista and Ana Kuzmanic. Residency Unlimited, Brooklyn, New York, May 13.
“Unruly Bodies: Feminist Polemics, Abjection and Obscenity in Contemporary Avant-Garde Performance/Art,” Parsons School of Design, New York, April 24.
“Making Art While Asian: Intersections Between Art, Race and Technology,” Fordham University, New York, April 12.
“Total Works of Fashion: Intersections Performance (Art), Costume and Fashion,” Parsons School of Design, The New School, New York, April 11.
“Collecting the Contemporary Fashion Avant-Garde: Bernhard Willhelm at the ModeMuseum, Antwerp,” Parsons School of Design, The New School, New York, February 20.
2018
Journal launch panel for Fashion Studies. Panelists: Kathryn Church, Lesley Hampton, Kisha McPherson, Elizabeth Semmelhack, Toronto Metropolitan University, Toronto, Canada, June 25.
“The ‘Porn-Again Avant-Garde’: Art, Image and Fashion in the Contemporary Vanguard,” Fordham University, New York, April 20.
2017
Book launch panel for Experimental Fashion: Performance Art, Carnival and the Grotesque Body. Panelists: Francesca Granata and Bernhard Willhelm, Parsons School of Design, The New School, New York, March 16.
2016
“Diasporic Asian Art: Home, Identity and the In-Between,” Fordham University, New York, November 28.
“Gesamtkunstwerk: Bernhard Willhelm and the Total Work of Fashion,” Parsons School of Design, The New School, New York, October 27.
2013
“Criticism,” talk with Amish Morrell, C Magazine launch, YYZ Artists’ Outlet, Toronto, Canada, June 26.
2012
“Total Work of Fashion: Bernhard Willhelm and the Contemporary Avant-Garde,” Toronto Metropolitan University, Toronto, Canada, December 3.
2011
“Asian North American Girl Nerds: The ‘Unlook’,” MA Fashion, Toronto Metropolitan University, Toronto, Canada, March 30.
2009
“Bring it: Toronto Alliance of Art Critics Says Make Face Mofos,” Double Double Land, Toronto, Canada, December 2.
2009
“Girl Nerds: The Asian North American Contingent,” School of Fashion, Toronto Metropolitan University, Toronto, Canada, March 27.
CONFERENCES
2019
Presenter, “Unruly Images: Female Bodies and Feminist Polemics in the Contemporary Avant-Garde.” College Art Association (CAA) Annual Conference, New York City, United States, February 13–16.
2018
Presenter, “The ‘Porn-Again Avant-Garde’: Transgression and the Contemporary Fashion Vanguard.” Unruly Design: Making, Changing and Breaking Rules, A Colloquium at Parsons School of Design, New York, United States, March 2–3.
2017
Presenter, “Taste and Transgression: Gender and Sexuality in the Contemporary Avant-Garde Fashion of Bernhard Willhelm.” Association of Dress Historians (ADH) Annual Conference, London, United Kingdom, October 26–27.
2015
Session Chair, “Fashion and the Contemporary Avant-Garde.” College Art Association (CAA) Annual Conference, New York City, United States, February 11–14.
2014
Session Co-Chair, “Intersections between Art and Fashion.” Universities Art Association of Canada (UAAC/AAUC) Annual Conference, OCAD University, Toronto, Canada, October 23–36.
Presenter, “Capital of the Contemporary Fashion Avant-Garde: Antwerp and Happy Birthday Dear Academie.” American Comparative Literature Association (ACLA) Annual Conference, New York University, United States, March 20–23.
2013
Presenter, “Bernhard Willhelm: The Contemporary, Sartorial Remembrance and Folk Dress.” Fashioning Identities: Types, Customs, and Dress in a Global Context Symposium at Hunter College, City University of New York, United States, October 18–19.
Presenter, “Artist-Engineer: Arcangelo Sassolino’s Cybernetic Devices.” Association of Art Historians (AAH) 29th Annual Conference, University of Reading, United Kingdom, April 11–13.
Presenter, “Contemporary Avant-Garde Fashion and Placeness.” American Comparative Literature Association (ACLA) Annual Conference, University of Toronto, Canada, April 4–7.
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
2022
Sessional Lecturer, Art, Media and Culture, University of Toronto Scarborough, Canada Course: Curatorial Perspectives II
2020
Sessional Lecturer, Graduate Studies, OCAD University, Toronto, Canada Course: Issues in Criticism and Curatorial Studies
2016–2018
Lecturer, School of Art and Design History and Theory, Parsons School of Design, The New School, New York
2015
Course Director, School of the Arts, Media, Performance & Design, York University, Toronto, Canada
Course: Art in the City
Teaching Assistant, Faculty of Liberal Arts and Professional Studies, York University, Toronto, Canada
Courses: Television as Communication; Television as Culture
2010–2016
Teaching Assistant, Faculty of Fine Arts, York University, Toronto, Canada
Courses: Art in the City; Modern Art: 1750 to the Present; Introduction to Art History; The Photographic Experience
2014
Lecturer, Faculty of Arts and Humanities, Department of Visual Arts, Western University, London, Ontario
Course: What (Not) to Wear: Fashion, Textiles and Art II
2009–2013
Instructor, The Chang School, Communication and Design, Toronto Metropolitan University, Toronto, Canada
Courses: Fashion, Culture, and Society; History of Costume I
2009–2010
Graduate Teaching Assistant, School of Fashion, Faculty of Communication and Design, Toronto Metropolitan University, Toronto, Canada
Courses: Fashion Culture - Suffragettes to CEOs; History of Costume I; History of Design; Introduction to Fashion II
CURATORIAL PROJECTS
2023
Curator, Jawa El Khash: Nature’s Algorithm, Evergreen Public Art Program, Toronto, Ontario
2022
Co-Organizer, CAR SHOW, Erin Stump Projects, Toronto, Ontario
Co-Curator, Mare Liberum: In Which We Create a People’s Map of the Don River Valley, Evergreen Public Art Program, Toronto, Ontario
Curator, Laura Grier: Native North American Food Plants, Evergreen Public Art Program, Toronto, Ontario
Curator, Sarah Davidson: Swamp Walk, Evergreen Public Art Program, Toronto, Ontario
Co-Curator, Joar Nango and Ken Are Bongo: “Post-Capitalist Architecture-TV: On the Ravines,” Evergreen Public Art Program, Toronto, Ontario
2021—2022
Co-Curator, Stories and Storefronts, Toronto, Ontario
Co-Curator, Sandra Brewster: Roots, Evergreen Public Art Program, Toronto
2021
Curator, Hot Vax Summer Collection, YOUar
2019
Co-Curator, Chou Yu-Cheng: Chemical Gilding, Keep Calm, Galvanize, Pray, Ashes, Manifestation, Unequal, Dissatisfaction, Capitalize, Incense Burner, Survival, Agitation, Hit, Performa 19 Biennial Commission, New York, New York
Co-Curator, Otherworldly: Performance, Costume and Difference, Sheila C. Johnson Design Center, Parsons School of Design, New York, New York
Assistant Curator, Huang Po-Chih: Heaven on Fourth, Performa 19 Biennial Commission, New York, New York
Assistant Curator, Lap-See Lam: Phantom Banquet , Performa 19 Biennial Commission, New York, New York
Assistant Curator, Yu Cheng-Ta: FAMEME Performa 19 Biennial Commission, New York, New York
Co-Curator, Shu Lea Cheang and Matthew Fuller: SLEEP1237 , Performa 19 Biennial Commission, New York, New York
Curator, Fashion Television, Radical Broadcast video streaming program on performa-arts.org
OTHER SELECTED EXPERIENCE
2021—present
Curator, Public Art, Evergreen Brick Works
2020
Curatorial Consultant, YOUar, Toronto
2019
Mentor, Artist in Residence Program, Textile Arts Center, New York, New York
Visiting Critic, New York Art Residency and Studios (NARS) Foundation, Brooklyn, New York
Visiting Critic, Kunstraum, Brooklyn, New York
Visiting Critic, Residency Unlimited, Brooklyn, New York
2018–2019
Managing Editor, Performa Magazine, New York, New York
2014
Writer-in-Residence, Est-Nord-Est, Saint-Jean-Port-Joli, Québec, Canada
2012–2018
Board of Directors, Mercer Union: a centre for contemporary art, Toronto, Canada; President (2015–2016); Vice President (2014–2015); Treasurer (2013–2014)
2009–2010
Curatorial Assistant, Textile Museum of Canada, Toronto, Canada
2008
Research Assistant, Textiles and Costume, Department of World Cultures, Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, Canada
2007
Junior Assistant, Claerbout Studio, Antwerp, Belgium
2005–2007
Administrative Assistant, Canadian Art Foundation, Toronto
2005–2007
Publicity and Promotions Coordinator, V tape, Toronto
PRESS
2019
Andrea K. Scott, The New Yorker. “Otherworldly,” December 16.
2018
Rachel Sugar, The Goods, by Vox. “The aesthetics of the resistance are blood, sweat, and tears,” November 6.
Jocelyn Silver, PAPER. “The History Behind Melania Trump’s Controversial ‘Colonialist’ Outfits,” October 8.
Gaby Del Valle, The Goods, by Vox. “The backlash to Melania Trump’s safari outfit, explained,” October 8.
Gaby Del Valle, The Goods, by Vox. “Why we get so angry over $500 faux-distressed clothes,” September 25.
2017
Ellie Violet Bramley, The Guardian. “Distressed fashion: making sense of pre-ripped clothes,” August 18.