James Legaspi

James Legaspi’s video work Magnolia is about the loss of the artist’s Lola (Grandmother), and links the process of grieving over a loved one to grieving over lived racial trauma. Legaspi’s work is informed by research of historical atrocities, specifically events the artists Lola witnessed including the Japanese occupation of the Philippines in World War II and America’s intervention. Legaspi aims to balance three pillars of trauma through this work, similar to the way petals form a magnolia flower on a magnolia tree. For the artist, Magnolia is a reminder of the tree that stood as a landmark for his Lola's house in Toronto.

Based in Brampton, Ontario, James Legaspi is an emerging Filipino-Canadian multimedia artist who is currently completing an undergraduate degree at the University of Toronto Mississauga and Sheridan College. Legaspi’s work has been exhibited at the Art Museum at the University of Toronto and Gallery 44. He has previously worked at the Blackwood Gallery, and is currently completing an internship at Vtape, and a residency at Visual Arts Mississauga.