Bio
Geoffrey Lok-Fay Cheung is a visual artist interested in tensions of identity and cultural inheritance, as informed by his own lived experiences growing up as a queer first-generation Canadian of Chinese descent. His current works explore his own connections to memory, from its compaction against familial narrative legacies, to its dilation through ritual and ceremony. In a previous life, Cheung practiced Medical Animation and Illustration after receiving a Master of Science in Biomedical Communications and a Bachelor of Science in Life Science. He is currently back in his hometown of Vancouver for a Master of Fine Arts degree at Emily Carr University which is on the unceded territories of the Coast Salish peoples, including the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh nations.
Artist Statement
The impacts of migration are multigenerational. It affects those we leave, those we bring, and those born long after resettlement. Through the action of displacement and in subsequent retellings of the journey, families and communities begin to blur the lines between individual and collective experience, mixing together memories of joy, challenge, and trauma.
I use digital lens-based technologies as a way of material collection—of capturing memories and retracing histories. I treat these collections only ever as facsimiles, never the memories themselves. Thus, I am compelled to abstract and transform them as a way of accessing and revealing truths. In practice, I create composites where each photographic layer works to lift and subsume the hues and tones of its neighbours. I liken it to a form of digital painting wherein the mark-making arises from the way I choose to orchestrate the position and the intensity of each photographic component. In this way, while I am leveraging the high-fidelity, reproductive qualities of the lens, I am repurposing and recomposing my shots into new imagined realities.
Our bodies are the substrate for memory’s longevity even as it changes and adapts to our form, moulding us in turn. My practice explores the ways we engage with them through ritual and ceremony. My works are imperfect retellings— meandering thoughts that meditate along the erratic threads of experience that connect me and my ancestors to the places we’ve inhabited.
Curriculum Vitae
EDUCATION
2022+ • Master of Fine Arts (Candidate, 2024 Cohort), Emily Carr University, Vancouver BC
2010 • Master of Science in Biomedical Communications, University of Toronto, Toronto ON
2008 • Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Life Science, Queen’s University, Kingston ON
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS, SHOWCASES
2023 • “The Bitten Peach: Asian Queer Spaces,” Urbanspace Gallery, Group Exhibition, Toronto ON
2023 • “Expressions of Home” Gallery 881, Solo Exhibition, Vancouver ON
2023 • “The Bitten Peach: Decolonizing Queer Asians,” Asian Arts and Culture Trust, Online Group Exhibition, Toronto ON
2022 • “Rencontre,” Gallery 1313, Group Exhibition, Toronto ON
2022 • “TOAF 61,” Toronto Outdoor Art Fair, Juried Art Fair, Toronto ON
2022 • “Surfacing,” Twist Gallery, Group Exhibition, Toronto ON
2022 • “Unyielding Earth: Contemporary views of climate change,” Esperanto Gallery, Juried Group Exhibition, Markham ON
2021 • “Societal Disruptors,” Biomedical Communications 75 Virtual Exhibition, Master of Science in Biomedical Communications, University of Toronto, Toronto ON
2021 • “BMC 75: A Retrospective Catalogue Celebrating Biomedical Communications at the University of Toronto,” Master of Science in Biomedical Communications, University of Toronto, Toronto ON
2018 • BioImages 2018 Salon, Biocomm 2018 88th Annual Meeting, Savanna GA
2018 • Newton 2018 Salon, 73rd Annual Meeting of the Association of Medical Illustrators, Newton MA
2017 • BioImages 2017 Salon, Biocomm 2017 87th Annual Meeting, Portland OR
2015 • Biomedical Communications 70th Anniversary Gala Salon, Master of Science in Biomedical Communications, University of Toronto, Toronto ON
2010 • Portland 2010 Salon, 65th Annual Meeting of the Association of Medical Illustrators, Portland OR
2009 • Richmond 2009 Salon, 64th Annual Meeting of the Association of Medical Illustrators, Richmond VA
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
2023+ • Research Assistant, Emily Carr University, Vancouver BC
2023+ • Teaching Assistant, Emily Carr University, Vancouver BC
2016+ • Director and Founder, Carbon Coded Studios, Toronto ON
2017–2020 • Editor, Biomedical Communications Alumni Association, Toronto ON
2015–2017 • Instructor, Clarafi, Brookline MA
2011–2016 • Medical Animator and Illustrator, Digizyme, Brookline MA
2010–2011 • Scientific Visualizer, TheVisualMD, New York NY
2007–2009 • Researcher, Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Queen’s University, Kingston ON
2004–2008 • Medical Illustrator, Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Queen’s University, Kingston ON
EVENTS & PRESENTATIONS
2022 • Speaker, “A scientist's journey into visual arts,” UNCON 2022, Biomedical Communications Alumni Association, Online Event
2021 • Speaker, “Creating a Viewbook for our students, our community, and our profession,” 75th Annual Meeting of the Association of Medical Illustrators, Online Event
2020 • Artist Talk, “Way too many hats: My journey through the world of Biomedical Communications,” Master of Science in Biomedical Communications, University of Toronto, Toronto ON
2020 • Moderator, “Perspectives on Medical Illustration Outside of Canada” and “Perspectives on Freelancing as a Medical Illustrator,” UNCON 2020, Biomedical Communications Alumni Association, Online Event
2017 • Panelist, “Biomedical Communications Alumni Panel,” Master of Science in Biomedical Communications, University of Toronto, Toronto ON
2016 • Speaker, “Finding Clarafi,” UNCON 2016, Biomedical Communications Alumni Association, Toronto ON
2010 • Speaker, “Biomedical Games: Designing Learning Experiences for the Next Generation,” 65th Annual Meeting of the Association of Medical Illustrators, Portland OR
AWARDS
2022 • Ron and Martha Burnett Fellowship Award, awarded as entrance scholarship, Master of Fine Arts, Emily Carr University, Vancouver BC
2015 • People’s Choice Award—First Place, awarded for best-in-show artwork in salon exhibit, Biomedical Communications 70th Anniversary Gala Salon, Toronto ON
2010 • Award of Merit, awarded for best editorial illustration at industry conference salon, 65th Annual Meeting of the Association of Medical Illustrators, Portland OR
2010 • Scholarship, Wendy Kates Award, awarded for outstanding academic achievement, Master of Science in Biomedical Communications, University of Toronto, Toronto ON
2010 • Scholarship, CIHR Health Research Communications Award, awarded for achievement and commitment to health communications research, Canadian Institute of Health Research, Ottawa ON
2009 • Scholarship, CIHR Pain Award, awarded for achievement in Biomedical Communications for continuing research in pain communications and visualization, Canadian Institute of Health Research, Ottawa ON
2009 • B.C. Decker Award, awarded for excellence in 3D visualization in science communication, Master of Science in Biomedical Communications, University of Toronto, Toronto ON
2009 • Keith L. Moore Award, awarded for outstanding didactic qualities, scientific insights, and artistic excellence in biomedical illustration, Master of Science in Biomedical Communications, University of Toronto, Toronto ON