Group Exhibition by Members, Space 105
April 16 — May 9, 2026
Opening Reception
June 16, 5:00–8:00 p.m.
Roundtable: Beyond Paper? : Material, Matrix, Transformation
April 23, 5–7 p.m., Space 105. Description of the event here
Curator: Toko Hara
Member Artists: Souleima Basha, Zahra BuAli, Dominique Choquette, Dominique Desbiens and Ariane Valade, Elisabeth Eudes-Pascal, Roberto Godoy, Marc Guastavino, Samy Kiss, Alexey Lazarev, Kalina Lashkova, Le Lin, Paule Mainguy, Nicole Milette, Francine Metthé, Lucie Palombi, Hélène Routhier.
Printmaking is the transfer of a mark or image from a matrix to a surface. In order to prepare this matrix, substances of many worlds come together – copper, stone, grease, sugar, acid, diamonds, tar, pine resin…to name a few. But resoundingly, what is presented at the end is a sheet of paper. This edition of Atelier Circulaire’s annual members exhibition invites a renewed curiosity towards the practices we inherit in printmaking. How might we heighten our awareness of the materials we take for granted?
Paper provides less resistance for the print, both physically in holding the ink and in the availability and stability of the material. Thus, the presence of paper can become a given, an automatic answer. The artist members in this show responded to the challenge of dismantling one “essential” face of printmaking in order to gain new insights into its nature and essence. The diverse works presented in this show consider how such materials hold and shape meaning differently. Across artists’ books, sculptures, and functional objects, this exhibition celebrates the vastness of the spaces and forms that can be touched by print.
As the world changes rapidly around us, we ask: what do we wish to preserve, and what do we wish to imagine anew within our field and beyond? By shaping materials and being shaped in turn, we follow the current wherever it may lead us next.
-Toko Hara, curator
About the curator :
Toko Hara is a Japanese-Canadian sculptor and printmaker based in Tiohtià:ke/Mooniyang/Montreal. She holds a Bachelor of Design from OCAD University (2022) and develops a practice that explores the hidden fantasies in everyday materials and environments. She combines paper, copper, and found materials to create narratives that unfold through objects and spaces.
Her work has been featured in numerous exhibitions, including the Museum of American Illustration (New York, 2018), Mark Christopher Gallery (Toronto, 2021), Museum Ziemi Chełmińskiej (Poland, 2022), TIFF Bell Lightbox (Toronto, 2023), and Art Toronto / Galerie Hugues Charbonneau (Toronto, 2025). Her recent projects are supported by the Canada Council for the Arts.
Toko Hara is also the recipient of the 2025 Louis-Pierre Bougie Award from Atelier Circulaire. This exhibition project is made possible through funding from the DémART–Mtl program of the Conseil des arts de Montréal, which supports the professional development of immigrant artists and artists from culturally diverse backgrounds in Montréal.