Video Evidence of a First Love by Hailey Rollheiser

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Video Evidence of a First Love by Hailey Rollheiser

Flipping through my old Blackberry photos from 2011, the one from high school, I found photos of at-home dye jobs that left the blondes—myself included—brassy, the brunettes closer to red. I smiled at how young we looked, frolicking in the freedom from ourselves that we found in plastic bottles of Smirnoff vodka. With alcohol we acted older than we were, escaping our teenage selves and emerging fearless. Later, we hid behind it: I didn’t mean it, I was just drunk. Our eyeshadow unblended, our foundation a tone off our skin colour, our crop tops and skirts hardly covering our bodies. We were gloriously unburdened.

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I Am Because They Were: A Review of Berlynn Beam and Chase Keetley's We Lost People: Diasporic Departures

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I Am Because They Were: A Review of Berlynn Beam and Chase Keetley's We Lost People: Diasporic Departures

Throughout the past two years of civil unrest, financial collapse, and pandemic, we have each been reminded of the frailty of both our systems and our bodies. Whether this frailty struck us in the form of lost loved ones and Zoom-sponsored funerals, or through government-sanctioned murder turned viral video, it has become undeniably clear that radical systemic change is needed to address the continued subjugation of the displaced and disenfranchised. For those who, thanks to the sacrifices of those that came before, march for a post-colonial future either in spirit or in the streets, survival has also reminded us to breathe, to grieve, and to remember. In the same light, We Lost People: Diasporic Departures by Berlynn Beam and Chase Keetley of Black Arts Vancouver – on view at UBC’s Museum of Anthropology as a part of Sankofa: African Routes, Canadian Roots – invites viewers to pause and consider the land we gather on, the places we come from, and the people we have lost.

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"Morning Shift" by Taylor Neal

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"Morning Shift" by Taylor Neal

Taylor Neal’s interpretation of their experiences rising for early morning shifts as they work as a support worker in the DTES. They would rise each morning to find the moon protecting them, and they would have these tender, quiet mornings alone before anyone else was awake, which allowed them to move into their day in a peaceful, protected state of calm.

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Slowing Down and Healing: An Exploration of TRS' Vulnerable Sound

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Slowing Down and Healing: An Exploration of TRS' Vulnerable Sound

When TRS turns on her camera, the glow of her sunset lamp lights up her face and arches across the walls behind her. It’s fitting for the warmth she exudes. She takes her time, answering each question with care and softly smiling or leaning forward with laughter; her energy is simultaneously grounding and uplifting, approachable and charming.

TRS’ music and songwriting are introspective and soulful. Her recent single, “Fallin’,” invites listeners into her personal reflection, as she recognizes her cycle of rushing into love, instead of taking time with herself. Listeners are immediately transported by the track’s sample to the sensation of slowly moving downwards, underwater, leading us to TRS’ silky vocals and into her world.

In “Fallin’,” TRS begins to recognize the ways she’s holding herself back from healing, but the work that follows is gradual and nonlinear. Her verses are accompanied by a piano part that attracts listeners into a separate realm–the bliss of being in love–and at other times, in moments of clarity and realisation, there is only the underlying drums and bass. Produced by FiveGawd, “Fallin’” is the second track of TRS’ upcoming EP “Respectfully,” which answers what comes after awareness: challenges, but also healing through oneself and one’s community.

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January Artist of the Month: Eleni Nikoletsos

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January Artist of the Month: Eleni Nikoletsos

It’s officially 2022, and instead of the endless resolutions and self-improvement projects that plague our minds every time the calendar hits January, why not have an aura check-in with yourself. Artist Eleni Nikoletsos, Vancouver’s only aura photographer (Hello Aura), has captured people’s energy in luminous colours that make for beautiful portraits since 2019.

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Cosmic Forecast January 2022

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Cosmic Forecast January 2022

As we cross the threshold into a new year, the planets start to stack up in Capricorn and make their way into Aquarius. This transition might feel a little shaky, a little unnatural. We move from the limitations and logical organization of material reality into the more conceptual realms of thinking about new possibilities and activating our imaginations.

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