LETITIA FRASER

THIS IS MY FABRIC

October 26—29, 2023
Art Toronto, Portrait Gallery of Canada
Booth #A4
Metro Toronto Convention Centre

Painting of a girl in a yellow fabric swimsuit of patterned pineapples, sitting half-submerged in water, frowning at the viewer. The painting is bordered on the left and right by large blue fabric panels with a horizontal yellow stripe in the middle — *East Coast Shores,* 2023
acrylic on quilt, 91.4 cm x 122 cm

East Coast Shores, 2023

acrylic on quilt, 91.4 cm x 122 cm

Painting of a young boy looking towards the viewer wearing a large adult size hat, holding it up above his face. The background of the painting has vertical fabric stripes, including a floral pattern — *Auntie’s Boy,* 2023
acrylic on quilt, 91.4 cm x 122 cm

Auntie’s Boy, 2023

acrylic on quilt, 91.4 cm x 122 cm

A painting of a woman looking down while while preparing some food with her hands. The background is yellow and brown, and partly fabric — *Abundance Everlasting*, 2023
acrylic on quilt, 183 cm x 183 cm

Abundance Everlasting, 2023

acrylic on quilt, 183 cm x 183 cm

Painting of the face and upper body of a child smiling and looking towards the viewer, wearing a blue top with fabric patterns. A lobster sits on the child's head with blue bands around its claws — *Lighthouses and Lobsters*, 2023
acrylic on quilt, 122 cm x 91.4 cm

Lighthouses and Lobsters, 2023

acrylic on quilt, 122 cm x 91.4 cm

Portraiture is quite literally representation: as such, issues related to race, gender and class are inextricable from the genre. Who is portrayed, by whom, and for what purpose are the questions that we ask ourselves whenever we encounter these works.

Johanna Mizgala: curator’s statement ▶

Painting of a woman in a yellow top and a beige hat, sitting in front of fabrics, her arm resting on a table covered in a purple tablecover — *Civil Boom*, 2023
acrylic on quilt 76.2 x 76.2 cm

Civil Boom, 2023

acrylic on quilt 76.2 x 76.2 cm

Painting of a boy in a purple shirt looking towards the camera, arms folded and resting on a patterned surface. The painting is bordered by blue, yellow and green floral patterns and stripes — *Covered Path,* 2023
acrylic on quilt, 91.4 cm x 122 cm

Covered Path, 2023

acrylic on quilt, 91.4 cm x 122 cm

Letitia Fraser is keenly aware of the weight of representation, and of the importance of her project to capture, to celebrate and to write into a collective history the people that matter to her as part of a deeper, richer storytelling from North Preston, in Nova Scotia, and in Canada writ large.

Johanna Mizgala: curator’s statement ▶