Toronto, ON, CANADA - Scroll through this submission from Toronto Artist, M.C Cruz, to hear about a fascinating COVID quarantine tale and see some incredibly vibrant and moving pieces.

Bio from the Artist: M.C Cruz a.k.a Chris is a child of Chilean immigrants turned nomadic artist. Who was born, raised and is currently based in Toronto but has also lived two years in Chile and more recently completed an Artist Residency in Morocco and Spain. They attended Etobicoke School of Arts and majored in Visual Arts before moving to Vancouver to study film and video production at Capilano University. They facilitated filmmaking workshops for marginalized communities as part of Fright Film Academy and Fright Film School. They have written, directed and produced several live action and animated short films including “Vampyric PSA”, “La Llorona” and “Root Causes”.The animated film “Root Causes” screened at OCAD in a special preview and Rendezvous with Madness Film Festival with an invitation to join a filmmakers panel.

Their painting series “Refuge From Home” has been showcased at the University of Toronto and Toronto City Hall this past October 2019 as well as at TMAC for Being Scene 2020. Recently they created and presented paintings for “Unusual Spaces” a virtual art party by Hercinia Arts Collective. This work was done in Asilah, Morocco during the Covid 19 pandemic and addresses the strange times and circumstances we are in. The Cruz Herrera Museum in Spain also featured their latest artwork in a special online video presentation. They were recently awarded a 15,000 dollar grant from the ISO Solidarity Fund to research and write a screenplay. Their goal is to continue creating work that challenges the status quo while being visually and narratively compelling. Animals need to breathe, fish need to swim and Chris needs to create art in this life. It’s that simple and that beautiful.

The Covid 19 Pandemic has affected me and my practice in myriad ways from the beginning because it caught me in Morocco and I ended up stuck in the Sahara desert for over five months! It did give me the chance to sketch and draw my graphic novel with little to no distractions. I have made videos about this unique experience and you can watch them on YouTube! The difficulty was returning to Toronto and finding that everyone and their dog is applying to any and all arts opportunities. So it’s been harsh considering how expensive this city is. You have to hustle hard to survive especially during a pandemic! The struggle is real for this Hispanic artist.

Find more from M.C Cruz on their Instagram, Twitter, and Youtube.

Description from the Artist: My recent work explores being in between spaces not only physically but spiritually and mentally. In 2016 this meant painting about the refugee and migrant “crisis” happening across the globe. It affected me on a personal level because I know what it means to leave a homeland mired in violence to seek a safe haven elsewhere. The work questions whether we are finding a safer place and if we can truly leave behind ancestral lands and connections. In 2020, I participated with Hercinia Arts Collective in “Unusual Spaces”. I created new paintings for the occasion that look at how the current pandemic is causing all of us to live as strangers in a strange land. I want to continue exploring these issues of how we are traveling in unfamiliar terrain. I always hope that my artwork will inspire certain feelings in the viewer, feelings of empathy and connection with human beings from different cultures and lands.

The painting series “Refuge From Home” was showcased at the University of Toronto and Toronto City Hall in October 2019 as well as at TMAC for Being Scene 2020. Recently they created and presented paintings for “Unusual Spaces” a virtual art party by Hercinia Arts Collective. This work was done in Asilah, Morocco during the Covid 19 pandemic and addresses the strange times and circumstances we are in. The Cruz Herrera Museum in Spain also featured their latest artwork in a special online video presentation.