Kareem-Anthony Ferreira

Kareem-Anthony Ferreira explores experiences of cultural divergence through his artistic practice. Informed by his experiences as a first-born Canadian with strong ties to his Trinidadian roots, Kareem-Anthony’s black portraiture investigates patterns of intersecting personal, familial and social identities. Integrating elements of non-indigenous patterning and mixed media collage into the surfaces of his works, the attire of Kareem-Anthony’s figures embodies a North American ideal of ‘island life’. As he describes,

“I explore the island imaginaries through a personification of repetitive flora and fauna patterning, which sits in contrast to the emotional sincerity I convey through the human figures and expressions. My reverence for my hybridized community is conveyed through my portraits of the black body as individuals or groupings, the family unit or community gathering to participate in the everyday lived experiences.”

Though painting has become his primary medium, Kareem-Anthony just completed a larger-scale screen print – the first of his professional practice – in Smokestack’s Analog Studio. “Untitled (family archive)” presents the results of this collaborative print project: an excited new direction for his visual vocabulary.

Kareem-Anthony Ferreira holds a BFA from Hamilton’s McMaster University, and an MFA from the University of Arizona in Tucson, AZ in the United States. His work has been exhibited in solo and group exhibitions in Canada and internationally in the United States and the Caribbean. He is currently based in Hamilton, ON.