Closet of Intimacies: A Shadow Box for a Semi-Private Performance, is a private performing space. This work is inspired by what the artist sees as the conflicted, often neurotic needs of anyone who inhabits a stage: the desire for a wide yet passive audience, the need to be physically separated from an audience whose approval is paramount.

 

Tor Lukasik-Foss is a visual artist, performer, and writer who enjoys messing with the mechanics of public performance. He likes creating burdens upon and obstacles in between a singer and their capacity to connect with an audience. A major component of his creative practice has been a series of performances and performance-related sculptures, loosely assembled under the moniker "unlikely concerts." These works are inspired by what Lukasik-Foss sees as the conflicted, often neurotic needs of anyone who inhabits a stage: the desire for a wide yet passive audience, the need to be physically separated from an audience whose approval is paramount, the blessings and pressures which accompany both fame and obscurity. "Unlikely Concerts" are a way to reformulate the performance stage as a place that is simultaneously public and private, confident and insecure.  

 

The artist has had recent solo exhibitions at University of Lethbridge; Rodman Hall Art Centre, St. Catharines; Latcham Gallery, Stouville; Art Gallery of Hamilton; and Thames Public Art Gallery, Chatham. He has participated in group exhibitions at the Glenhyrst Art Gallery of Brant, Brantford; Visual Art Centre of Clarington, Bowmanville; Cambridge Galleries; and Grimsby Public Art Gallery. Tor Lukasik-Foss has developed performances for the Factory, Dodolab, University of Lethbridge Art Gallery, Cambridge Galleries, WKP Kennedy Gallery, North Bay; McMaster Museum of Art, Hamilton; and “Spasm II,” Saskatoon. He is the recipient of multiple Ontario Arts Council Mid-Career Visual Arts Grants. He is based in Hamilton, Ontario.