Ferreira’s intimate works refer to real people and events, but they’re entirely fictional tableaus. Using Photoshop, Ferreira scans and layers elements of the source images into new configurations. Through his reassembly, timelines shuffle and characters repeat—some appear twice in a single frame, but at different ages. Once the compositions are digitally complete, he translates them into canvas paintings.

The paintings’ surfaces reveal layers of torn paper, clothing, cardboard packaging, and other found elements. Ferreira likens his collection methods to a Caribbean sensibility, where everyday items are reused and repurposed, or kept to remember loved ones. The physical accumulation of personal materials imbues his works with texture and history. However, the combination of photography, painting, and collage is a deliberate blurring of fact and fiction—perhaps suggesting a process we all undergo as we attempt to make meaning of our lives. Naturally, like Ferreira’s paintings, our perspective builds, complexifies, and expands over time.

Kareem-Anthony Ferreira (born 1989 in Hamilton, Ontario; lives in Hamilton) received a BFA from McMaster University and an MFA from the University of Arizona. He recently presented a solo exhibition at Nino Meier Gallery, Los Angeles, and has participated in exhibitions at Johannes Vogt Gallery, New York; Alice Yard Gallery, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago; the Tucson Museum of Art; and the Workers Arts & Heritage Centre, Hamilton.

WORK IN GTA21:

Untitled, 2021

Oil, mixed media, canvas

Untitled, 2021

Oil, mixed media, canvas

Courtesy Nino Mier Gallery, Los Angeles and Towards Gallery, Toronto.