November 7-December 7 | Reception: Friday, November 7 from 6-8pm

SCENE Metrospace | 110 Charles St. East Lansing, MI

Gallery Hours: Thursdays-Sundays, 12-5pm

Portraiture is more than a likeness—it is a negotiation of identity, memory, and perception. In this cross-border collaboration, students engaged in an extended dialogue to translate a stranger’s presence into a work of art. Over weeks of exchanges—both digital and physical—each artist constructed a portrait shaped by conversation, shared objects, and creative intuition.

The process began with digital communication, as students interacted with their counterparts across national and state borders through messages, video chats, and written reflections. The U.S.-Canada border served as both a geographical division and a conceptual framework, underscoring themes of distance, separation, and connection. To move beyond the limitations of technology, each participant sent a collection of personal objects—photographs, notes, and ephemera—offering fragments of their world.

These materials, imbued with meaning, became a starting point for interpretation. Through this exchange, the portraits evolved as an exercise in connecting—a process that required both close physical observation and a deeper engagement with another person’s values, creative philosophy, and sense of place. The artists did not just look; they listened, imagined, and constructed meaning from layered impressions. The resulting works reflect not only a likeness but a negotiation of presence and perception. The artists were tasked with representing someone they had never met in person, bridging the gap between personal history and the political landscape. Their work reflects the tension between familiarity and foreignness, home and displacement, surface and depth.

The unexpected and charged political climate—marked by tariffs, policy conflicts, and economic uncertainty—added an unexpected layer of creative and contextual tension. This intimate portrait project underscored the importance of cross-border engagement, fostering personal connections, budding friendships and critical dialogue between students in Canada and the United States.

______________________________________________________________________

Participating Institutions:  OCAD U, Michigan State University (MSU), State University of New York (SUNY) at Geneseo

The Museum Studies students from SUNY Geneseo assisted with the curatorial work, wrote exhibition texts, and collectively created a digital augmented-reality version of this show. Their work offers another layer of interpretation, considering how portraiture functions as both an artistic practice and a form of storytelling.

The initial project partnership was established by d’Ann de Simone, Professor of Studio Art at the Department of Art, Art History and Design, Michigan State University. De Simone received funding under the auspices of an International Strategic Partnership Grant from the MSU Canadian Studies Center and invaluable assistance from its Director, Dr. Rebecca Malouin.

This Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) was designed and taught by Candice Chovanec (MSU), Morgan Hill (MSU), Dr. Alla Myzelev (SUNY Geneseo), and Ilene Sova (OCAD U), with support from OCAD U International Partnerships and Projects, the Faculty of Art Office at OCAD U, the Canadian Studies Centre at MSU, and the Art History Department at SUNY Geneseo.