Biography
Sunny Babcock is an queer, neurodivergent, settler multimedia artist based in Kjipuktuk (Halifax, NS), originally from the Sinixt, Syilx, and Ktunaxa territory of Nelson, BC. Working in a variety of mediums including sound, games, performance, and sculptural media, their practice investigates queer and transgender metaphor through technologies and embodied mechanics. They have been involved in numerous exhibitions including their solo show “Phasephoria”. In their hometown Nelson, BC, they have previously exhibited and worked in various artistic capacities and events produced by the NDAC. They have collaborated on performances and community projects in Kjupiktuk and will be professionally debuting their media work at the Third Shift festival this Summer in St. John NB. Recently completing their BFA at NSCAD University with a Major in Interdisciplinary Art, Sunny hopes to continue their collaborative and independent practices in Eastern Canada.
Artist Statement
Mixing sculpture, installation, sound, performance, and interactivity, my practice investigates queer and neurodiverse embodiment as a disruption of systems. I am driven by concept and experimental process and fuse different media into multisensory experiences. Often using sound as a bridge, I investigate dualities of tactile and digital bodies in flux: transition nonconforming to linear time.
A singer with a transitioned voice, I use vocals and breath prominently throughout much of my work as a resonant force between physical and social phenomena. Integrating AI and repurposed sound components, I explore mimicry of sentience in non living bodies combined with the living functions of voice. My work inspires transhuman conversations between ‘dysfunctional’ bodies and machines, and the symbiotic frequencies and vibrations between queer and augmented.
CV
Arts & Cultural Training
2019 - 2024 | BFA, Major in Interdisciplinary Art, NSCAD University |
2014 - 2018 | High School Diploma, LV Rogers Secondary |
2017 (Summer) | Pre-College Program Certificate, Alberta University of the Arts |
Shows, Exhibitions, & Installations
2024 | - (Upcoming) Third Shift Festival, featuring “Universe” - Third Space Gallery, St John, NB - “The Body Revolts | The Body Aligns” online group exhibition: artist - The Starving Artist - NSCAD Student Art Award exhibition: nominated artist - NSCAD University - NSCAD 2024 Graduation Exhibition: artist - Anna Leonowens Gallery, Halifax, NS - “In Full Sense” group exhibition: artist– Anna Leonowens Gallery, Halifax, NS - “Phasephoria” solo exhibition: artist – Anna Leonowens Gallery, Halifax, NS - “held in verse” collaborative exhibition and collaborative performance series with a. laurel lawrence: artist & curator – Anna Leonowens Gallery, Halifax, NS |
2023 | - “Written & Directed By” group exhibition: artist – Anna Leonowens Gallery, Halifax, NS - “Dreamhouse” group exhibition: artist – Anna Leonowens Gallery, Halifax, NS |
| - “In a World of Their Own” Mad Studies group show: artist - Anna Leonowens Gallery, Halifax, NS |
2022 | - “Gaiety”, NSCAD Queer Collective group show: artist and curator- Anna Leonowens Gallery, Halifax, NS |
2021 | - Featured work at the Kootenay Bakery – Nelson, BC |
| - “Weight/Wait” online exhibition from NSCAD’s Slowness and Radical Boredom class: assistant organizer and artist – Halifax, NS |
2020 | - Exhibited work in “Artwalk” - Nelson, BC |
2019 | - Featured work in Nelson BC’s ArtWalk at Torchlight Brewing Company |
| - Exhibited work in “Appetite for Art” – Nelson, BC |
| - Hung works at Hall’s Printing, Nelson BC, for the Nelson Cultural Tour – Nelson, BC |
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2017 | - Showed work at the Nelson District Youth Center for the Nelson ArtWalk student exhibition |
| - Exhibited work in “Appetite for Art” – Nelson, BC |
Performances
2024 Performed holding with A. Laurel Lawrence – Former Art Bar, Halifax, NS
2023 | Performed the lead role in the musical F*ggotland for Halifax Fringe Festival – The Bus Stop Theatre, Halifax, NS |
| Performed the lead role in the musical F*ggotland – NSCAD University, Halifax, NS |
| Performed the lead role in the musical F*ggotland – Anna Leonowens Gallery, Halifax, NS |
2022 | Organized and performed in Suspension, a collaborative public intervention – Halifax, NS |
2020 | Presented work and performed in NSCAD’s Wearable Art Show - Bus Stop Theater, Halifax, NS |
Publications
2024 | “The Body Revolts | The Body Aligns” exhibition publication - The Starving Artist |
Awards & Scholarships