Gladys Lou

Breathe Easy is a meditative performance inspired by the idea of a mantra. I collaborated with songwriter Davrielle and music producer Ahmed Hegazy to create a piece that helps audiences calm down and focus during anxiety-induced panic attacks. The colours flicker and change to mimic shifting mind states and uncontrolled thought streams that arise from anxiety. Sounds of ripping paper and hitting objects represent my personal associations with emotional release while waterfalls and candle flames are elements that bring me peace of mind. The choreography follows the music’s rhythm and lyrics to amplify the emotionality.

Shadow: A Monologue is a story of identity told from the perspective of a shadow. It poses questions around existence, expectations, and the meaning of selfhood. The work is inspired by my experiences with social anxiety, and the psychological barrier built up around me. This video collage was made by overlaying clips of my choreography with obscure objects around my flat, emphasising ideas of hiding and burying. A reading of my original poem is accompanied by my singing, sounds of water, and piano melodies to create moments of dissonance, peace, and chaos.

Gladys Lou is a Hong Kong-Canadian artist and writer, currently pursuing her degree in Art & Art History in the joint University of Toronto and Sheridan College program, with minors in Psychology and Professional Writing and Communication. She works with experimental media and new technologies, including video and digital art, to challenge the boundaries between visual art and performance. Passionate about storytelling, Gladys combines art and writing to visualise emotions and explore the unconscious. Her work revolves around the themes of identity-seeking, mental health, and existentialism. Presented as a mystery to be solved, her work invites the audience to decipher it with their own minds. Gladys is a mentee artist-in-residence in the LOVE Lab at the Art Gallery of Mississauga and ACCIDA Brampton. Her art has been exhibited at the Peel Art Gallery, and her short fiction and journalism have been featured in publications, including the Varsity and the Medium. She has been awarded with the Catherine Quesnel Prize in Art and Art History by the University of Toronto, the C Magazine Award for Excellence in Art Writing, and a Killam Fellowship by Fulbright Canada with a placement at the University of Washington, where she plans to study Digital Arts and Experimental Media.