Exhibitions

Pressing Futures

Studio Rat
September 11 - November 28, 2026
opening reception: Saturday, September 12 @ 2pm

Pressing Futures is a solo exhibition by Studio Rat that brings together material investigation and collaborative making with waste plastics. The presented work extends the duo’s ongoing inquiry into plastic as artefact– something to sort through, press, quilt and record rather than discard. Pressing Futures marks a material turn in Studio Rat's practice, the artists’ first major work built without air. The artists explore what plastic can hold when it is pressed, layered, and frozen in time.

At the exhibition’s centre is Lamination 1.0, an architectural intervention that diagonally bisects the gallery, drawing visitors through its surface to encounter its material qualities up close. Composed of 3,600 handmade tiles and more than 70 pounds of reclaimed sheet plastics and packaging, Lamination 1.0 gathers together years of collected material from Studio Rat’s archive and new contributions from community members who share the same habit of holding on. Each tile holds traces of the hands it has passed through, emerging as a living archive of waste and care, inviting us to reflect on the ways we handle, remember, and reimagine waste.

Artist Bio:

Studio Rat is the shared creative practice of artists Emily Allan and Dom Di Libero. Founded in 2018 as a site for investigation into plastics, inflatables, and community building, their collaborative work explores the playful and speculative potential of reclaimed plastics through soft sculpture and installation, often positioning inflatables as tools for soft resistance, ecological storytelling, and gathering. Studio Rat’s immersive body of work pushes against oppressive built environments with a prime directive of silliness and play, and has been featured in events and exhibitions across Canada, including Nuit Blanche (Toronto, 2025) and Arsenal Contemporary Art (Montreal, 2024). Both Emily and Dom hold bachelor degrees in Interior Design from Toronto Metropolitan University and live and work in Tio’Tia:Ke/ Mooniyang/ Montréal.

The expansive nature of pneumatics as medium prompts Studio Rat to think speculatively as they explore what new relations can emerge between plastic, craft and art. Looking to plastic as past, present, and future artefact, Studio Rat positions the material as a curious and amorphous conduit for queer ecological theory and broader systems thinking. By quilting and subsequently inflating plastic discards, Studio Rat not only directs our gaze towards plastic, but renders it habitable, expanding possibilities of what plastic is and could be.

Play, softness, and sustainability inform Studio Rat’s approach to space-making and DIY fabrication methods, which they engage with through a continuous cycle of rework and reuse. The artists iteratively repurpose discarded plastics and old projects to produce inflated works whose form and materiality suggest new possibilities for interaction with our human and non-human surroundings. Their process employs methodologies from quilting and other textile arts to craft hand-made realms where queer futures and landscapes can be imagined. Through material, process, and medium the artists explore the surreal and nostalgic nature of their desires and dreams.

Cross Pollination

Clear Eyes Collective

September 2023 


True community is inclusive and nurtures everyone, providing a safe space for all.

Cross Pollination is a commissioned mural by Clear Eyes Collective for the exterior outdoor exhibition platform of the Grimsby Public Art Gallery and Library. Over the course of the summer, the collective collaborated with the community by asking them to generate key words to inspire the artistic development and content of the mural. Some words were reflective of the physical characteristics of the Town of Grimsby; its connection with agriculture, proximity to Lake Ontario, and the Niagara escarpment. Others looked to honor less tangible connections like culture, multiculturalism, and LGBTQ2S+ allyship. After reviewing each prompt, and drawing from their own connection to the area, the collective refined their final design, culminating in Cross Polination, which was live painted onsite during the second annual Grimsby Arts Walk, September 23, 2023.  

Curated by Caitlin Sutherland

CLEAR EYES COLLECTIVE is a mural crew based out of Hamilton, Ontario made up of members Darian Poisson, Adam Bates and Josh Kellett. Their mission is to integrate the mysterious power of art into the plain cityscape, transforming ordinary spaces into an immersive gallery. Their approach to public art has always been rooted in creating vibrant visual environments that connect and uplift the community at large.

Clear Eyes Collective have been painting large-scale murals as a team for 10 years, and in that time they have had the opportunity to partner with local businesses, festivals, corporations and different municipalities and cities. They take tremendous care to make sure their designs are tailored to each project, while always maintaining a vibrant and bold style that naturally comes out of collaboration.