Talysha Bujold-Abu
Talysha Bujold-Abu (she/her) is an artist-illustrator, researcher and arts facilitator. She holds a Masters of Fine Arts (MFA) from the University of Windsor (2018) and is recent recipient of the Conundrum Press Mini-Comic Bursary for Black and Indigenous Creators (2021). Residencies include New Zealand Pacific Studio (2016), ArtsPond artist in residence (2020-2021) and the Pelee Quarry – Stone & Sky Artists Residency (2020). Bujold-Abu has spoken and exhibited at the Intersections | Cross Sections Conference in Toronto, ON (2018) on the conceptual hybridity of black bodies, and participated in the Structures of Anticipation Research Symposium and Exhibition in Windsor, ON (2019). Recent panels include: Reclaiming Hidden Histories: Researching, Writing, and Re-Imagining Community Narratives in Windsor, ON (2019) the International Women’s Day: Artists Panel Discussion in Windsor, ON (2020) and the Black Creators Series/Discussion with the Art Gallery or Windsor (2020). Selected exhibitions include: Art is a Living Thing in Masterton NZ (2017), The Truth Has Legs in Leamington, ON (2019), and The Body Electric – Diversity in Residency Education: Training in a World of Differences, Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons (RCPSC) Ottawa ON (2019). Publications include: “Unnatural, this Step.” [Fall 2020], Intermedialities, No. 34, and “What I hear I keep.” [March 2020], Ars Medica, Vol. 15 No. 1.
In Practice, Bujold-Abu explores the liminal space of mixed heritage identity, addressing shifting interpretations of perceived difference – blackness as both a label and state of being. Through this work, she interrogates both implicit and explicit racism, acting as participant and witness to shifting interpretations of racial hierarchies. Talysha Bujold-Abu is a second generation Canadian, of Ghanaian and French Canadian heritage.
