For the multidisciplinary artist Cassils, who joined the Daniels Faculty’s Visual Studies department as an associate professor last summer, practicing art is a long game requiring passion, imagination and vision.  “You also have to have strategy, tenacity and a thick skin,” they say.

Among those qualities, skin is an especially apt reference point for the transgender artist, who makes their own body “the material and protagonist” of their work. Incorporating live performance, film, sound, sculpture and photography, it has been performed and exhibited in galleries and performance venues from Philadelphia to Perth, garnering prestigious grants and awards along the way.

On March 5, Cassils (pictured above) will present an overview of their multifaceted oeuvre, which they characterize as “a form of social sculpture,” as part of the Winter 2024 MVS Proseminar series. The talk, which is free of charge and open to all, will take place in the Main Hall of the Daniels Building at 6:30 p.m.

In anticipation of the event, Cassils took the time to ruminate on their experience at U of T so far, their desire to enhance somatic learning at Daniels and more.

You joined the Daniels Faculty as an associate professor in July. What has your experience been like so far?

The students at Daniels are so big hearted, open minded and gracious. I have felt lucky to work with them.

What will your talk on March 5 cover?

It will be an overview of my art practice as it intersects with performance, protest, community building and the fostering and importance of compassion and love in dark times.

For the uninitiated, how would you characterize your practice? What themes or issues are addressed by it?

I am a transgender artist who makes my own body the material and protagonist of my performances. My art contemplates the history(s) of LGBTQI+ violence, representation, struggle, survival, empowerment and systems of care. I see performance as a form of social sculpture: Drawing from the idea that bodies are formed in relation to forces of power and social expectations, my work excavates historical contexts to examine the present moment. 

What will some your priorities be as an instructor at Daniels?

I am interested in utilizing my many years as an embodied practitioner to support somatic and experimental ways of learning that heighten the creative process. I hope to be a force of solidarity and for marginalized students and to bring with me a pedagogy informed by real living artist practices that operate outside traditional cis, white, colonized, heterosexual norms. 

The Visual Studies department at Daniels is unique within the Faculty and among university programs generally. How do you see your role within it? And what would you say to any budding artists or curators who are thinking of studying with us?

My role it to model what it takes to be a real living artist operating in the world as well as to foster the unique vision and talents of each student. Art is a long game and you have to have passion, imagination and vision. You also have to have strategy, tenacity and a thick skin.

Being a Visual Studies student allows you access to a cohort of peers. The best way to get things done as an artist is to shuck the ego-based emphasis of certain aspects of the art world and build your own community, your own networks of mutual aid. Working together in and outside class gives us a unique opportunity to foster these connections. We are stronger together.

Portrait by Robin Black