weLCOME TO THE GALLERY
A space where death is not conveniently avoided and grievers can self-determine how they talk about it.
Last summer, my cat passed away. She was only 5 years old, but in those 5 years, she saved my life multiple times. Sprite supported me as I navigated the onset of COVID-19, came out as queer, obtained multiple physical and psychiatric diagnoses, and lost all of my grandparents. A month after she passed, my partner (now fiancée) lost one of their childhood best friends.
My personal grief journey, combined with watching… *gestures broadly to our current reality* through my phone screen, became the inspiration for my Master of Digital Media thesis research at Toronto Metropolitan University. Supervised by Carmen Galvan, I explored publications related to grief prevalence, death rituals, legacy work, grief-tech, art therapy, protest art, social media advocacy, and theories of grievability, grief supremacy, technological determinism, disability justice, critical-making, practice-based research, and more.
As a creative output of this research, I developed a virtual gallery of death-related art & writing that related to my thesis question: how can digital media tools be used to creatively support an individual and self-determined relationship with grief, legacy, and death? I curated this gallery through an open call on social media and a mission to destigmatize discussions of death and protest against the oppressive & capitalistic systems which control how we are allowed to grieve & dictate who is worthy of legacy.
Please be reminded that this is a space for open, honest, and raw expressions of a theme that can be quite intense for some people. Be kind to yourself – take breaks and reach out to someone you trust if you need support during or after viewing this work. The Government of Canada has also curated this list of local mental health resources which you may contact directly as needed. I do not have any affiliations to the Government of Canada nor the resources on this list, and am not providing advice or recommendations regarding mental health.
Please note that the gallery is best navigated using a keyboard and mouse (it is not optimized for touch screens)