The Visible Witch: Narratives of Strength, Resilience and Traditional Knowledge
Curatorial Statement
What is a visible Witch? Many of those who identify as Witches choose to be invisible for protection; sometimes society renders them invisible by ignoring or mocking their existence. How then do Witches find their strength and power to follow a path that is ambiguous and often solitary? How are those narratives shared so that the next generations of Witches may learn from the wisdom of lived experience?
What is shared and what is kept private within these works suggests the struggle between the external pressure of a larger non-magical environment’s inability to accept Witch culture and the subsequent internalization of denial of identity within the Witch community. The resultant communal invisibility of the Witch presence in contemporary society creates a formidable barrier of access to an unbroken chain of history and knowledge.
Centered on the dichotomy and intersections between self and other, this exhibition endeavors to explore issues of visibility, capacity and identity through the unique artistic language of Witches. The exhibition works towards creating communal awareness and ongoing dialogues so that traditional wisdom and narratives may be shared openly and between all Witch and non-Witch identities and generations.
Monica Bodirsky
This show was coordinated, curated, and juried by Monica Bodirsky, Stephanie Dayes, and Shelley Carter.
Stephanie Dayes
Stephanie Dayes (she/her) is a settler of Germanic and Celtic ancestry living in Tkaronto. She identifies as a Witch and practices under the mentorship of Monica Bodirsky and in the company of the Dark Moon Coven. She is an educator, and currently works in the writing centre at OCAD University and teaches Communications at Conestoga College. Stephanie is the founder of Spellcaster Books, a new online shop specializing in spiritual tools and books about witchcraft and earth-based spirituality. She has volunteered with WITCHfest North since it began in 2017, assisting with festival administration, event organization, social media, and programming for our gallery exhibitions and virtual show, and is thrilled to be celebrating the festival’s 5th anniversary!
Shelley Carter
Shelley Carter has been a practicing witch for about 25 years. She lives in the beautiful, magickal village of Elora Ontario. She describes her practice as eclectic, drawing from various traditions, and modalities. She is primarily a solitary witch, but practices community witchery, via teaching, community celebrations, and creating spellwork for community members. She is the co-ordinator /creator of the Elora Tarot Deck and is the co-ordinator of the Elora Tarot and Witchery festival.
Monica Bodirsky
Artist, author, advisor, chartered herbalist and Witch, living on the traditional Indigenous treaty 13 lands of the Anishnaabe, Dish with one spoon wampum of the Haudenosaunee, Mississaugas of the credit, the metis, inuit and many others who have called Tkaronto (Toronto) home for over 15,000 years. Her current art work and writing are for the creation of tarot, oracle and Lenormand decks and books which explore themes of spirituality and shadow work. She is the author and artist of the Shadowland Tarot, The House of Shadows Lenormand, and the Shadowland Lenormand. The pen and ink and watercolour renderings are illustrative art reminiscent of Edward Gorey and Tim Burton.
A sought after speaker she has given workshops and lectures at local and international conferences, has been a film consultant for several productions, taught at OCAD University, and created and programs the WITCHfest North Festival of Arts and Culture.
The Artists
Susan Clarahan
My name is Susan Clarahan and I am a nature lover from the Rocky Mountains of Alberta. I grew up in the Bow Valley, near the town of Banff where the Sleeping Buffalo mountain rests. It is the homeland of the Stoney Nakota, Blackfoot, Tsuut’ina, Kootenai, and Métis Nations and I sincerely acknowledge all the teachers and caretakers that have cared for this place and shared with me in so many ways, I endeavour to be a good Treaty partner.
In my practice, I have spent most of my time in wild places developing my skills in the backcountry, bathing in the healing frequencies of glacial lakes, and alpine forests, and listening intently to the more than human realm. Through countless hours of exploration, I've learned to move very very slowly and quietly through the forest, creating an alert focus and attunement to the natural world -- and in these times spontaneous awakenings have snared me.
I am compelled to contemplate and connect and name these spontaneous, although enduring, experiences of the Holy Spirit, Unity, the Unified Field as I develop my relationship to the more than human realm.
It feels akin to learning a lover, slowly, over time with deep reverence.
When nature offers me these gifts, I want to celebrate her and make love to her with adoration and ritual and a long long long time of worship.
I use these two themes: transcendent natural phenomena, and relationships of an erotic nature.
From this place, I also consider an expanded expression of love and lust and sexuality, specifically sapphic. Making love to the landscape, often layering many signifiers of the feminine on top of each other. For me, this expression of sexuality feels natural, and I research the ways nature expresses itself in a queer way to the compulsory heteronormative overculture.
I am currently based in Tkaronto and an MFA candidate at OCADU.
Lisa Cristinzo
Lisa Cristinzo (She/her) is a queer painter and installation artist and first-generation Canadian settler living in Tkaronto, on Turtle Island, the traditional territory of the many diverse First Nations, Metis, and Inuit peoples. Lisa’s work investigates the by-products of humanity and their mythic significance, through large-scale paintings that traverse natural history, climate hazards, materialism, and magic. She identifies as a Witch and practices earth-based spirituality with a group of people of various genders, identities, ages and abilities guided by a mentor. She has a BFA in drawing and painting from OCADU and is currently an MFA candidate at York University. Since 2007, she has managed several arts programs and community cultural hubs across the city through her work with Toronto Artscape Inc, including Artscape Gibraltar Point, an artist residency and event space on Toronto Island. She has exhibited locally and internationally since 2004 and currently has a solo exhibition at Likely General called FIRE IS THE SPIRIT OF MATTER for the month of October 2021.
Duchess of Lore
Behold the mystical Duchess of Lore,
Who has a penchant for the days of yore;
She'll craft you a pattern,
For your sweet witchy cavern,
With a dash of bygone folklore
Ya’ara Eshet
Ya'ara Eshet was born in Israel.
Studied at the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design in Jerusalem.
Illustrated for daily newspapers, magazines and literary publications.
Eshet illustrated over 30 children, youth and adults books.
She worked with advertising agencies and design studios on various projects.
Eshet has shown in numerous exhibitions in museums and galleries, in solo and group exhibitions and art fairs in Israel and Canada.
Ya'ara Eshet has lived in Toronto since 2003 with her family and a variable number of cats.
Ivanka Haney
Ivanka Haney is an interdisciplinary filmmaker and folk artist residing in Tkaronto. Her works draw from her Ukrainian heritage, including practices passed down from her family’s roots in the Carpathian Mountains.
Rowena Katigbak
I am a Settler / Immigrant of recent Filipinx descent living in gratitude in Tkaronto on Turtle Island. I honour and give thanks to the many Sovereign Indigenous Peoples and their ancestors, the defenders of this sacred land. I live on the traditional territories of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation, the Anishnaabe, the Haudenosaunee, the Chippewa, and the Wendat. Tkaronto is also home and gathering place for many First Nations Peoples, the Mètis and the Inuit. I honour and give thanks to the Indigenous Peoples and their ancestors from the land of my birth and those all over this world who have fought and are still fighting to protect their sacred land. Pugay.
I create objects that honour and nurture our connections and deep appreciation of our resources.
Over the past 5 years, I’ve been exploring ideas of identity, sovereignty, spirituality and connection through my work. I delight in exploring various media and disciplines. I see the beauty in imperfection and repurpose materials as part of my practice.
I am also a witch and proud member of the Dark Moon Coven. We follow the Shadow Path Tradition and are mentored by the incredible and talented Monica Bodirsky (www.monicabodirsky.com) who has shown us how to face our shadows with love and strength in order to shine our light ever brighter. Thank you, Monica, for being an inspiration, modelling how to be strong and compassionate, showing us how to stand in our truth, to be a light in the darkness, to face the shadows with strength and empathy, and how to help others to do the same when called.
Lydia Knox
Lydia Knox, is an artist who resides on the Bruce Peninsula, Ontario, Canada. She has been painting for over 30 years and participates in group shows in the area and as well in Toronto. A graduate of the George Brown Collage fine arts, she also holds a BA in English Literature. Using oil paints, her focus is on figurative and landscape, rendered in a painterly style. Her aim is to speak of the times we are in, reflecting on isolation that we are all going through the current time. Nature, and humans speak out through symbol and allegory.
Ella Mazur
Ella is a Toronto-based artist and illustrator who works mainly with pen and ink. Her art is inspired by the magic all around her, in the details of nature and people. The great diversity of our planet, the graceful and bizarre creatures and plants that inhabit it, the endless depths of the ocean waves, the enchantment of the forests, and the mysteries of the stars in the sky all serve to create new worlds that she hopes will awaken the imagination of the viewer.
Churla Mitchell
Churla Mitchell is a multi- media, bi- polar performance, visual artist maker of things. She studied painting and sculpture at The Alberta College of Art and Fashion Design at George Brown College. Her media include watercolour, indigo and other natural dyes, wax encaustic, embroidery, knitting, crystals, oil paint and plant matter. She grew up under the influence of the Northern Lights in Alberta and moved east at the age of nineteen to follow her artistic dreams. She reads Runes as a divination method for personal spiritual growth and has a crystal practice as well as being an avid gardener.
Esther Rabinovitch
Esther Rabinovitch is an artist, author, and intuitive based out of Stouffville, Ontario. Her work explores themes of spirituality, self-development, and The Other. It is Esther’s goal to help others experience greater ease during challenging life transitions through divination and the arts.