Toko in the Intaglio space, January 2026
Toko Hara is the recipient of the 7th Louis-Pierre Bougie Grant for Emerging Printmaking Artists. Her 12-month research-creation residency began in September 2025.
During this residency, she is developing an experimental series of etchings that reconsiders the materials central to the printmaking process. Through this project, she explores how etching can engage with space in new ways—integrating sculptural elements into prints and transferring etched imagery onto sculptural forms. Rooted in a spirit of storytelling, the series examines the tensions and imagined possibilities embedded in everyday moments of human interaction with the environment.
Toko Hara is a Japanese-Canadian sculptor and printmaker based in Tiohtià:ke/Mooniyang/Montreal. Her practice draws on the latent fantasies within common materials and environments. By weaving together paper, bronze, and found materials, she creates narratives that unfold across objects and spaces. She received her Bachelor of Design from OCAD University in 2022, along with the program medal for illustration. Her work has been exhibited at the Museum of American Illustration (New York, NY, 2018); Mark Christopher Gallery (Toronto, ON, 2021); Museum Ziemi Chełmińskiej (Chełmno, Poland, 2022); TIFF Bell Lightbox (Toronto, ON, 2023), Art Toronto Galerie Hugues Charbonneau (Toronto, ON, 2025). Her recent projects have been supported by the Canada Council for the Arts.
Toko’s work