CAMILLE ROJAS (b. 1993 Toronto; lives and works in Toronto) is a multidisciplinary artist & artist-researcher working with film, photography and contemporary dance.
Her work uses movement as the primary vehicle to dissect ideas and emotions. Recent interests include art economics, stock market drama, self-care and computer vision science.
Camille currently sits on the Board of Directors at Gallery TPW where she serves on the Fundraising committee.
→ info@camillerojas.com
→ @camiillerojas (ig)
EDUCATION
2017 BFA in Photography Studies | Toronto Metropolitan University School of Image Arts
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2018 Sothebae’s, Erin Stump Projects, Toronto
2017 System of a Gesture, Ryerson Image Centre, Toronto
2016 The Whistler, Curated by Heather Rigg, Alliance Française Gallery, Toronto (CONTACT Photography Festival)
SELECT GROUP EXHIBITIONS + SCREENINGS
2019 An Archive, But Not An Atlas, Curated by Liz Ikiriko, Critical Distance Centre for Curators, Toronto (CONTACT Photography Festival)
2019 Poems for Impending Doom, Curated by Lucy Pauker & Alessia Dowhaniuk, Centre for Art Tapes, Halifax
ONLINE PROGRAMMING
2020 Moving Ether Way, Curated by Holly Chang and Karina Iskandarsjah, Trinity Square Video, Toronto
2020 MOVEMENTS, in collaboration with Sofia Mesa, Gallery TPW, Toronto
ARTIST RESIDENCIES
2022 Pilot Episodes, Toronto Dance Theatre
2017 Art Gallery of Ontario, Sub Residency with Emilia-Amalia working group
PERFORMANCES (INDICATES SOLO)*
2022 c(o)rporeal dissssonance, DAZIBAO, Montréal *
2020 Les Gestes Flottent, S’empilent et Éclatent, Curated by Maude Johnson & Florence-Agathe Dubé-Moreau, Regart Centre D'artistes en Art Actuel, Lévis*
2020 Performance in response to the exhibition Handle With Care by Wedge Curatorial Projects, Curated by Emilie Croning & Maria Kanellopoulos, Gladstone Hotel, Toronto
2019 Algorithm, Ryerson Artspace at 401 Richmond (Nuit Blanche), Toronto*
2019 System of a Gesture, Critical Distance Centre for Curators, Toronto
AWARDS + GRANTS
2021 Career Catalyst, Ontario Arts Council
2021 Research and Creation, Canada Council for the Arts
2020 Arts Response Initiative, Ontario Arts Council
2019 Visual Artist Creation, Ontario Arts Council
2019 Visual Artist Creation, Toronto Arts Council
2018 Exhibition Assistance, Ontario Arts Council
2015-16 SF Award, Ryerson University School of Image Arts
FUNDRAISERS
2020 2020 In-Residence, Online Artist Benefit, led by Kevin Boothe & Robert Wainstein
2015-21 Photorama, Gallery TPW, Toronto
2017-20 Salon 44, Gallery 44, Toronto
PUBLICATIONS
2020 CBC Arts: COVID Residency, by Lise Hosein
2020 Blackflash Magazine: “Online Exhibitions and the Long Game of History”, by sophia bartholomew
2019 Canadian Art: Review for Algorithm (performance), by Dallas Fellini
2019 Esse Magazine: Review for System of a Gesture (performance), by Heather Rigg
2018 Public Parking, “Body in the Plural: In Conversation with Camille Rojas”, by Luther Konadu
PRESENTATIONS
2021 The Other NFT Report, Trinity Square Video, Online
2018 Artist talk to thesis students, Ryerson University School of Image Arts, Toronto
2018 Artist talk, in response to Tanya Lukin Linklater’s “Slay All Day”, mama projects, Toronto
2018 Lecture, “The Art of Public Speaking”, Presented by Trampoline Hall, Curated by Aley Waterman, Toronto
2017 Artist talk to thesis students, Ryerson University School of Image Arts, Toronto
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
2022-Present Project Manager, Artist-Run Blockchain, Trinity Square Video
2022-Present Board Member, Gallery TPW
2020-2022 Co-Artistic Director: The Toronto Dance Community Love-In
2020-2021 Jury Member, Canada Council for the Arts
Excerpt from review by Heather Rigg on ESSE
Children’s hand clapping games form the foundation of Camille Rojas’ System of a Gesture (2017–2019), included in the group exhibition An Archive, But Not An Atlas presented at the Critical Distance Centre for Curators (CDCC). Curated by Liz Ikiriko, the exhibition sought to “explore personal and social histories as they are unearthed through movement, gesture, language, and land,” while challenging the “incompleteness of the archive.” Rojas, whose background in classical ballet informs her multidisciplinary practice, choreographed the work, which was performed by her and two other dancers. The work’s first iteration, shown on a monitor in the gallery, is a three-channel video originally recorded on 16mm film. The dancers’ movements focused on their hands, which mimicked the actions of the children’s games, and these gestures gradually expanded to the rest of their bodies. The gentle and sensual motions of their hands and intertwining bodies made for a stark contrast to the institutional architecture of the public school behind them. Yet, this space of learning provided a fitting backdrop because it is in the schoolyard, outside of the institutional constraints of the classroom, that some of the most important moments of learning takes place; it is where one learns about one’s body, about physical communication, and where our socialized selves begin to take shape.
Children’s hand clapping games form the foundation of Camille Rojas’ System of a Gesture (2017–2019), included in the group exhibition An Archive, But Not An Atlas presented at the Critical Distance Centre for Curators (CDCC). Curated by Liz Ikiriko, the exhibition sought to “explore personal and social histories as they are unearthed through movement, gesture, language, and land,” while challenging the “incompleteness of the archive.” Rojas, whose background in classical ballet informs her multidisciplinary practice, choreographed the work, which was performed by her and two other dancers. The work’s first iteration, shown on a monitor in the gallery, is a three-channel video originally recorded on 16mm film. The dancers’ movements focused on their hands, which mimicked the actions of the children’s games, and these gestures gradually expanded to the rest of their bodies. The gentle and sensual motions of their hands and intertwining bodies made for a stark contrast to the institutional architecture of the public school behind them. Yet, this space of learning provided a fitting backdrop because it is in the schoolyard, outside of the institutional constraints of the classroom, that some of the most important moments of learning takes place; it is where one learns about one’s body, about physical communication, and where our socialized selves begin to take shape.
System of a Gesture (#2)
2 hour durational performance
Featuring sarah koekkoek, Paul-John Elisha and Camille Rojas
2019
Documentation by Setti Kidane
