McMaster Museum of Art is pleased to announce the the recipients of the 2022 SUMMA awards for emerging artists participating in the BFA graduating exhibition, Taking Space.

McMaster School of the Arts faculty and exhibition curator Sahra Soudi presented the awards to students during a presentation of artist talks.

The Curator’s Award, selected by Taking Space guest curator Sahra Soudi, was presented to Hanan Abbas. According to Sahra, “It has been an absolute joy working with Hanan. She continues to show a level of initiative and desire to create even during challenging times and I have no doubt she’ll be successful.”

Artist Statement

Hanan is an Iraqi-Canadian multidisciplinary artist based in Mississauga. Her work is conceptually driven and aims to explore how digital and cultural identity collaborate. Thanks to her grueling screen time, she has been interested in exploring the colloquial nature of the digital and understanding its modes of communication.  The open-source nature of the digital realm comes with endless means of utility. She tries to explore those resources and ways of using the web, and question how and why people use it the way that they do. This can be seen in her 3arabi? (Arabic) work – when tools were limited in the early stages of personal computing, how did certain groups of people navigate the digital space to adhere to their own needs?

The Faculty Award, selected by the McMaster School of the Arts faculty, was presented to Serena Walk. Serena was selected “for her achievements in actively exploring new work, and taking risks with new materials and approaches right up to the time of the final exhibition”.

Artist Statement

Serena Walk (she/her) is an interdisciplinary artist of mixed Chinese descent currently living in Toronto and Hamilton, Ontario. Her practice spans painting, drawing, sculpture, illustration, animation, and digital 3D rendering. Her works are rooted in explorations of her Chinese heritage with an emphasis on second/third generation immigrants’ loss of tradition and culture. Her practice seeks to communicate the tension between her ancestry and the western world in which she resides. Serena is currently completing her BFA at McMaster University.