Toni Hamel
In Lieu of Better Days
Toni Hamel In Lieu of Better Days
"In Lieu of Better Days" is a new narrative-driven body of work that reflects on the absurdities and paradoxes of contemporary life. It offers a sharp yet poignant commentary on the world's beauty and contradictions by exploring how our actions, desires, and decisions interweave with broader environmental and social contexts.
Sharp-witted, rich with irony and satire, this series continues the discourse first introduced in my "The Land of Id" collection of works (2015), and further expanded in "High Tides and Misdemeanors (2017)" and "Exotic Fruits" (2019). As in my previous works, the juxtapositions of historical references, popular culture, anachronistic elements and contemporary palettes are intended to evoke cognitive dissonance in the viewer, while promoting a sense of timelessness and deeper introspection.
Viewed under this light, "In Lieu of Better Days" is then not just a visual experience but a dialogue, proposing a subtext that urges us to reconsider the current ethical and moral compass that guides our behavior.
Toni Hamel
CK CONTEMPORARY
Ikebana IX (The withered) Oil on canvas
18 x 18 in
Ikebana VIII (the offering)
Oil on canvas
16 x 20 in
Kabuki I
Oil on canvas
20 x 24 in
Kabuki II (the performance) Oil on canvas
20 x 24 in
The Tinder Trap Oil on canvas
24 x 24 in
Night Robbers Oil on canvas
18 x 18 in
In Lieu of Better Days
Oil on canvas
18 x 18 in
Good Intentions
Oil on canvas 18 x 18 in
Ikebana X (foxglove)
Oil on canvas
18 x 18 in
The Flock Oil on canvas
24 x 24 in
The Arrival Oil on canvas
12 x 12 in
Drought Oil on canvas
20 x 16 in
Der Blaue Reiter II
Oil on canvas
36 x 36 in
The Space Between Oil on canvas
20 x 24 in
Patchwork
Oil on canvas
24 x 24 in
The Loot
Graphite, watercolor, and thread on paper 22 x 30 in
As Beautiful as Rainbows
Graphite, watercolor and hand stitched sequins 22 x 30 in
The Migration
Graphite, watercolor, hook, and thread on paper 16 x 22 in
The Doll Maker
Graphite and watercolor on paper
19.50 x 19.50 in
The Planner
and watercolor on paper
19.50 x 19.50 in
Graphite
The Gardeners
Graphite and watercolor on paper
15 x 18 in
The Unearthing
Graphite and watercolor on paper 15.50 x 17 in
The Rescue
Graphite and watercolor on paper
18.50 x 15.75 in
Toni Hamel
mel was born in Italy in 1961, though she lives and works of Toronto, Canada. Hamel sees her work as “an illustrated ntary on human frailties“ Rooted in story-telling, her art draws from personal experiences and outward tions to create thematic bodies of work that reflect and t the psychological unease characteristic of our age and vices, the holy and the profane, all share equal weight, pply an infinite source of material for her investigations. points to historical and psychological references, creating es that question our behavior and alert us to the ssions of our current thinking models.
holds a BFA from the Accademia di Belle Arti of Lecce 83), a post-graduate Certificate in Computer Graphics eridan College (Canada, 1991), the Golden Key National Society Award from the University of Toronto (Specialist mme in Psychology, 1997), and the Lubiam Prize (Milan, amel is the recipient of many awards and three Ontario uncil grants (2011, 2012, 2014) Her work has been exhibited eums and galleries in Canada, USA, and Europe, and is d in the public collections of J.J. Abrams, the Archives of Government of Ontario, the Robert McLaughlin Gallery, mer DeSerres Corporation as well as many private ional collections. Hamel’s work is often featured in ional Arts & Culture magazines, including American Art r (USA), Hi-Fructose (USA), The Big Issue (Taiwan), cence Culturelle (France), CBC Canadian Broadcasting tion (Canada), and Lodown (Germany) among many