COME IN AND GET LOST!
2022 | Self Portrait | Acrylic and Ink on Canvas | 12” x 24”
A self-portrait taken from my core memory of moving to Canada in 2010 using the dazzling facade of what once stood the nostalgic Honest Ed’s discount and bargain store in Toronto., I am subject to searching my racial belonging and identity through fashion brands and gendered clothing. For instance, the Bass Pro Shops trucker hat, which is stereotypically seen within the rural lifestyle outside the Greater Toronto Area, whereas the black Canada Goose puffer jacket symbolizes an urbanized and racially diverse demographic of Toronto. The different articles of clothing along with my placement at this commercialized consumer site questions with my identity as a “true” Canadian on a personal, social and economic level. On the right, the distinct blue street sign of Bathurst Street alludes to the settlement of the Filipino community in the city of Toronto.

John Ephraim Velasco. Come in and Get Lost!, 2022