rahelelias.com
raluye@gmail.com
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
January 2025 | In Due Time, CRY BABY Gallery, Toronto, ON.
Sept 2024 | MULCH MULCH MULCH, Mulch Collective exhibition, the fifty fifty collective, Victoria, BC.
July 2024 | MULCH MULCH MULCH, Mulch Collective exhibition, Deer Lake Gallery, Burnaby, BC.
June 2024 | MULCH MULCH MULCH, Mulch Collective exhibition, Island Mountain Arts, Wells, BC.
February 2023 | Within and Without, group ceramic exhibition, with support from Canada Council for the Arts, Whippersnapper Gallery, Toronto, ON.
February 2020 | WAVE 1, multimedia installation, hosted by Scarborough Arts, Scarborough ON.
November 2019 | Physical Space, still image projection display, Hashtag Gallery, Toronto, ON.
June 2016 | Animated Democracy, film festival, hosted by Fox Theatre, Toronto, ON.
FELLOWSHIPS AND PROGRAMS
2019 - 2020 | Wave Art Collective Year 1, with support from Toronto Arts Council, Toronto, ON.
2015 - 2016 | Animating Democracy: East Mentorship Program, Scarborough, ON.
PROJECTS
2024 | “Earthen Kinetics”
- I made ceramic forms that were shaped through an intuitive and unstructured process. An interplay between mind, body, and clay. Exhibited at various galleries in BC and CRY BABY Gallery in Toronto.
2023 | “Untitled”
- For this project, I sculpted African headrests made of clay and flowers made of algae-infused bioplastics. This was a meditation on the genealogy of sustenance, dream worlds and the rituals that hold us. Supported and funded by Canada Council for the Arts. Exhibited at Whippersnapper Gallery.
2020 | “Punk Noir”
- An experimental 35mm analog film photo series exploring the afro-punk and hardcore music scenes through the lens of black youth living in Toronto. This project was supported by the Wave Art Collective Year 1 program.
2019 | “Nonlinear”
- This project was a collection of 35mm analog film photographs documenting a series of strangers from faceless angles during the years of 2017-2019. Exhibited at Hashtag Gallery in Toronto with support from Make Room Inc.
2016 | “How to be Funny”
- A documentary film short that was shot and edited by me. The film follows Toronto stand-up comic, improv performer, and comedy writer Ify Chiwetelu. This conversation-style documentary explores stand-up comedy scene through the eyes of this Black, female comic. This film was funded and made with the help of the Animated Democracy: East Mentorship Program.
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
2023 | Handbuilding Instructor, Objects of Nourishment, Clay Space Studio
- I lead a ceramic handbuilding workshop in collaboration with the group show Within and Without.
2022-2023 | Handbuilding Instructor, United Spirits Ceramic Studio
- I taught adults and children how to create basic ceramic handbuilt forms. These workshops were hosted weekly.
- I assisted in teaching an afterschool children's ceramics program. This program was partly funded by the city and located in the longstanding Alexandra Park Co-op community in Toronto.
2021-2022 | Assistant Handbuilding Instructor, United Spirits Ceramic Studio
- I shadowed and was taught by different ceramic instructors during their handbuilding workshops.
COMMISSIONS
2022 | Punk Noir for It’s Ok* Studios
- A commission to display my photo series Punk Noir at the exterior storefront of It’s Ok* Studios in Toronto.
MEDIA
2023 | “‘Within and Without’ - Chiedza Pasipanodya, Laneigh Ramirez, Rahel Elias, Sarah Edo, Shannon Weston”, CMAG, 5 July 2023,
https://cmagazine.com/articles/within-and-without-chiedza-pasipanodya-laneigh-ramirez-rahel-elias-sarah-ed
2020 | “Scarborough’s Wave Art Collective Shows Stories People Don’t Often Share, Scarborough Mirror, 31 January 2020,
https://www.toronto.com/news/scarboroughs-wave-art-collective-shows-stories-people-dont-often-share/article_211c3203-7012-58cf-b50d-089e24efebac.html?