Much to our pleasure and satisfaction, the same day the Toronto Friends of the Visual Arts recognized Michèle Pearson Clarke as an Artist Prize Award Finalist for 2019, she was appointed as the second Photo Laureate of the City of Toronto. Michèle works in photography, film, video and installation to explore personal and political connections to longing and loss.

After practicing as a social worker, she decided to become an artist and took her MFA at U of T in Documentation Media. A Trinidad-born artist, Michele works in photography, film, video and installation. Using archival, performative, and process-oriented strategies, her work explores the personal and political possibilities afforded by considering experiences of emotions related to longing and loss. She expresses in her film and videos the issues she encountered personally with the death of her mother and the issues she encountered when working with her community. While most portrayals of the emotional lives of Black people focus on grief that is rooted in pain and suffering, her portraiture depicts subjects whose grief is rooted in longing and loss, or even irritation.

We offer our sincere congratulations!