The Annual - Artist bios

Anne Devitt is a visual artist and educator. She works across sculpture, painting and printmaking and has exhibited in Toronto, Ottawa and Hamilton.

Surendra Lawoti was born in  Nepal, and received his MFA in Photography from the Massachusetts College of Art and Design. His work has been shown across Canada, and in Colombia and Nepal. He teaches photography at the OCAD.

Afshin Matlabi is a Montreal-based visual artist who works in drawing, print, video and digital imaging. He received his MFA from Concordia University, and has exhibited work across Canada. He was born in Tehran, and currently teachers at Vanier College in Montreal.

Heidi McKenzie has worked as an arts consultant for over twenty years. Following a residency with Mansimran Singh in India, she committed to her arts practice full time. She is currently studying Ceramics at Sheridan College, and continues to work as a freelance journalist.

Smiriti Mehra and Tahireh Lal live and work in Bangalore. Mehra completed her MFA at NSCAD, and is currently artist-in-residence at the Centre for Experimental Media Art. Her work has been shown at numerous festivals, including the Made in Video festival, Denmark, and The Digital Short Film Festival in Chennai. Lal’s works have been shown at the Videonale 12, Germany, and the 2nd International Documentary and Short Festival, India.

Janine Ramlochan bridges ideas with an interest in human behaviour, cultural dynamics and media consumption. She has exhibited with CONTACT Photography Festival, the COMMFFEST Film Festival, Red Head Gallery and various site-specific installations around Toronto.

Mona Sharma was born and raised in Montreal, and received her BFA and MFA from Concordia University. Her family came from Punjab in India, but originated from places all over the subcontinent:  Sargodha (now in Pakistan), Nepal and Haryana, India. Her work has been shown across Canada.