Current Exhibitions
SUMMER 2026
The artLAB Gallery is closed for install, we reopen on Thursday, June 11 from 5-7PM for the opening reception of "Lamenting Through Objects." The Cohen Commons remains open with Friend of Dorothy’s!
Lamenting Through Objects
Jennifer Joan Marion Hamilton, MFA Candidate
artLAB Gallery
Exhibition: June 11-25, 2026
Reception: Thursday, June 11 from 5-7PM
The conservation of domestic knowledge gains access to conversations that overstep time and space. Like most objects we utilize every day, we fail to notice them beyond their function until something causes a repositioning and a resonance to emerge. In the exhibition Lamenting Through Objects, I respond to the items I inherited after my mother’s death by utilizing mark-making as rumination––allowing care, repetition and embodiment to present itself as form. Once her creative collaborator, her sewing machine and I connect on paper, communicating with each other through our marks, visually referencing sorrow as labour. Together, interacting with these objects as conduits, we document the presence of her absence––archiving and honouring grief as a perceptual interference––connecting us with the deepest parts of ourselves. These drawings are communications utilizing process, time and observation to birth witness to a continual connection that lives in the liminal space of mourning.
Friend of Dorothy’s
Stefania Dragalin
Exhibition: May 22 - June 25, 2026
Reception: Friday, May 22 from 5-7PM
Cohen Commons
Friend of Dorothy’s is an exhibition that explores queer identity, intimacy, and self-expression
through personal visual narratives. Borrowing its title from the historic coded phrase used within
the LGBTQ+ community, the exhibition reflects on how queerness has existed both openly and
in secret, creating spaces of connection, recognition, and belonging. Through a collection of
artworks created by myself, Stefania Dragalin, the exhibition examines sexuality not as a fixed
category, but as something fluid, emotional, and performative.
The works included in this exhibition investigate themes of desire, vulnerability, memory, and
the human body. Using imagery that ranges from intimate and tender to playful and
confrontational, the pieces challenge traditional ideas surrounding gender roles, sexuality, and
social expectations. By centering queer experiences, the exhibition aims to celebrate the
multiplicity of identities and relationships that exist outside heteronormative structures while
also acknowledging the histories of concealment and coded language that queer communities
have relied upon for survival.
As an artist, I am interested in how art can serve as both an intimate form of self-expression and
a shared reflection of collective experience. For that reason, these works are rooted in lived
experience while remaining open enough for viewers to see aspects of themselves within them.
“Friend of Dorothy’s” invites audiences into a space that is honest, vulnerable, and unapologetic,
encouraging conversations surrounding identity, connection, and the freedom to exist
authentically. Through this exhibition, I hope to create an environment that feels both celebratory
and introspective, honouring queer histories while embracing contemporary expressions of
sexuality and selfhood.
