This solo exhibition marks the debut of Toronto-based artist Omar Badrin at Union House Arts. Viewers of his work are often drawn to his eerie, whimsical fibre sculptures that frequently evoke feelings of otherness through the use of colour, scale and unconventional materials. Primarily using the medium of crochet in his practice, Badrin’s work often straddles the line between fine art and craft.
In Resurfacing, Badrin offers a selection of works that examine concepts within the theme of family; including loss, belonging, and recurring history. The artist’s recollections of his upbringing as a person of colour in Newfoundland, as well as his deep connection to his adopted family and culture, are the starting points for the work in the exhibition.
Omar Badrin is an interdisciplinary artist born in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Badrin obtained his MFA at the Ontario College of Art and Design University, where he was awarded a graduate medal for his work in the Interdisciplinary Master’s in Art Media and Design program. His practice is based on his personal history and examines identity formation through the lens of transracial adoption (i.e. the adoption of a child into a family in which the race of the adoptive parent(s) is different from their own). Badrin has received project and travel grants from the Toronto Arts Council, Ontario Arts Council and Canada Council for the Arts. He currently lives and works in Toronto.
We gratefully acknowledge the support from Canada Council for the Arts, ArtsNL and the government of Newfoundland and Labrador for our 2024 FAMILY Programming
