This original artwork is a 1 of 1 acrylic photo transfer onto two sheets of corrugated metal. It is from my series Mining For Some Sort of Continuity. A study of the fleeting nature of memories, this series focuses on how personal archives construct a mobile, personal, and ephemeral archive that is fundamental to the construction of diasporic identities. This artwork features an same image of my aunt at a birthday party in the 1970s, which has been transferred onto two sheets of corrugated steel. The original image was taken as a long exposure, which has captured the motion of the event while blurring faces long the way, turning the image into a hazy recollection rather than a clear memory. The green-yellow tone of the image is a product of its age, but the transfer onto the corrugated metal adds a new layer of meaning, with the rusted texture of the steel reflecting the erosion of time and the uncertainty that often surrounds childhood memories, especially those intertwined with migration. The figures in the photograph are blurred and indistinct, granting me creative freedom to reinterpret the scene and reconstruct a narrative that may not align with the actual events. This piece questions the reliability of memory and how distance—both temporal and geographical—affects our recollection of past events. The work embodies the idea of constructing a diasporic reality from fragments of memories, where truth is fluid and shaped by both loss and imagination.

Ernesto Cabral de Luna

Message

Follow

Ernesto Cabral de Luna is a Mexican lens-based artist working in Toronto. Utilizing both analog and digital processes, he merges experimental techniques with sculpture and installation, printing onto unconventional and manipulated surfaces to emphasize the multi-dimensionality and materiality of the image. His work centers around altering perception through image manipulation – providing new ways to experience recognizable imagery in unconventional manners and outside of their intended purpose. Ernesto's practice is interested in the fragmentary nature of memory, both individual and collective - and constantly seeks new ways to manipulate these alternative histories he is creating. Ernesto received his BFA in photography from OCAD University in 2024, where he received the 2024 Barbara Astman Photography Award and the 2021 Wendy Coburn Art and Social Change Scholarship. A recipient of the 2024 Gallery44 Residency Award and the 2024 Partners in Art's Artist-Direct Grant, Ernesto has exhibited at Patel Brown, Ignite Gallery, Ada Slaight, Xpace Cultural Center, and Abbozzo Gallery. Ernesto was selected for the Toronto Raptors’ 2022 Welcome Toronto Creators Program. He has worked closely with notable companies such as The Toronto Raptors, Coors Light and Walmart Canada. In summer 2024, he was commissioned for a public mural by Luminato Festival at Finch Station, as well as a public billboard outside Artscape Youngplace for Critical Distance Centre for Curators. His work is a part of Casey House Foundation's 2024 Art with Heart auction. Ernesto’s thesis project has been supported through funding by OCAD’s RBC Centre for Emerging Artists, The Ontario Arts Council and Partners in Art Canada.