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Artist Statement
As a child of the Pacific Northwest Coast, I have spent my life immersed in the primordial elements. The water, wind, earth, and light of this place have permanently imprinted within me an awareness of the dualities implicit in nature and by extent, life. Behind every great beauty can lie terrible danger and all that gives can take away. The juxtaposing concepts of light and dark, healing and harmful, organic and synthetic, mythical and modern, among others, play major roles in my life and work as I continue to examine the concurrent evolution of cloth and humankind, attempting to discern the symbiotic from the parasitic within the components of our dynamic. As we shape cloth, so too has it shaped us, physically, economically, spiritually, and environmentally.

Bio
Toban Ralston is currently a student of the BFA Textile program at NSCAD University, having recently graduated from the Textile Arts Diploma Program at Capilano University. BLKWRK is the working name for his textile & fashion exploration, named after "blackwork" embroidery, a style of hand stitching that mirrors front to back, using rich black thread on a pale ground cloth. The innate duality of BLKWRK's namesake is a key component of the BLKWRK aesthetic; looking back to look forward, using something old to create something new, digging deep down to go somewhere high up.

Curriculum Vitae
Group Exhibitions & Presentations
Mar 2015               Pacifico Nightclub, Wearable Art Show, Halifax, NS
Dec 2014               Anna Leonowens Gallery, RE: (reclamation) A joint NSCAD Queer and Feminist Collectives Group Show, Halifax, NS
Nov 2014               Port Market, Creative Nova Scotia Awards Ceremony, Halifax, NS           
May 2014              Ferry Building, Capilano University Textile Arts Department Grad Show, West Vancouver, BC
May 2014              Studio East, Down From The Mountain, Vancouver, BC
Nov 2013               Baron Gallery, The Best of Everything, Vancouver, BC
April 2011              F As In Frank, Get Raw!, Vancouver, BC

Awards
Mar 2014               Sheryl Lynn Katagai Memorial Award
Nov 2014               Capilano Program Award

Education
April 2016              Bachelor of Fine Art, Major in Textiles/Fashion, NSCAD University, Halifax, NS (in process)
April 2014              Textile Arts Diploma, Capilano University, North Vancouver, BC
Aug 2009               Fashion Merchandising Diploma, Blanche MacDonald Centre, Vancouver, BC
Contact
tobanralston(at)gmail(dot)com

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