Sabbatical Presentations - Michelle Forsyth, Anda Kubis, and Derek Sullivan

Michelle Forsyth presents:

When I Close My Eyes, I See Orange

I am interested in the way disability reorganizes my material world. Objects that might otherwise seem neutral begin to take on new meaning when they are relied upon repeatedly, repositioned for access, modified, or brought close enough to my body to grab. I have been taking photographs of these things; I want to slow down the act of looking and ask what such objects can reveal about the lived textures of disability. The seemingly ordinary things that are often overlooked. In addition to these photographs, I also completed a manuscript for a memoir entitled: When I Close My Eyes I See Orange. I am still searching for a publisher.

Anda Kubis presents: 

The Path

Rooted in the rhythms of rural Ontario, where my studio is situated, my practice has grown through walking, close observation, seasonal change, and material experimentation. Through these daily rituals, I seek a deeper connection to place and a more vivid sense of presence.

Patience lies at the heart of my work. Beneath the quietude of rural life, anxieties still emerge. Perceived threats from new technologies, the encroachment of phones, and the relentless news cycle remind me that presence must be continually sought and recovered through my studio practice. A prolific year immersed in conventional and digital painting, watercolour, eco-dyeing, and explorations connected to cycles of time and natural elements became a dialogue between intention and spontaneity, discovery and uncertainty—a way of learning through materials and becoming more attuned to the world directly around me.

The Path is a practice of attention, care, and discovery – a way of sustaining health.

Derek Sullivan presents: 

Several Trailheads: January to June 2026

My sabbatical research began with a specific place: the rural studio that my partner and I built together in 2020–21 near Tamworth, Ontario. From there, my walking took me further afield, including time spent in the University of Toronto libraries, work with historic type and printing presses through a Massey College Fellowship, and travel to London and Yorkshire in the UK.

Neil and I had spontaneously begun organizing stones dislodged during construction into a dry-stone wall. Our wall became an orienting device for exploring the history/technique of this form and its connections to colonization in rural Ontario and beyond.

Through this research, I initiated new works in drawing and sculpture, completed a new relief print edition, and realized a two-person exhibition with Ella Gonzales, and has opened several routes to continue exploring.