COME IN AND GET LOST!

2022 | Self Portrait | Acrylic and Ink on Canvas | 12” x 24”

From my core visual memory of moving to Canada in 2010, I use the dazzling facade of once stood the nostalgic Honest Ed’s discount and bargain store in Toronto, and insert myself as the subject of searching for my racial belonging and identity through fashion brands and gendered clothing. For instance, the Bass Pro Shops trucker hat is stereotypically seen within the rural/trucker/hunting aesthetic outside the Greater Toronto Area, whereas the black Canada Goose puffer jacket is racialized within the archetype of a Toronto “wasteyute.” The clashing of different articles of clothing along with my placement at this commercialized consumer site, conflicts with my identity as a “true” Canadian on a personal, social and economic level. On the right, the distinct blue street sign of Bathurst Street alludes to the settlement of the Filipino community in the city of Toronto.

John Ephraim Velasco. Come in and Get Lost!, 2022

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Himbo On Elm Street (2023)