Miya Turnbull: Traces
Eastern Edge is very pleased to present a new Main Gallery exhibition: Traces by Miya Turnbull! This exhibition will be opening with a reception on April 10th from 6-8pm. We hope you’ll join us in celebrating Miya and this incredible body of work! We’ll have plenty of snacks and refreshments as usual. Click here to RSVP to the Facebook event.
In Traces, Miya Turnbull delves into self-representation through masks, sculpture, photography and video to explore identity as something layered, fragmented and continually transforming. At the heart of the exhibition is her ongoing collection of various hand-crafted self-portrait masks, realistic yet uncanny forms cast from her own face and reimagined through collage and distortion. Extending this language of masking to the full body, traced outlines and empty “skin-suits” on the gallery walls act as proxies, suggesting forms that were once inhabited but are now hollow, suspended or pinned in place. These self-portraits, along with life-sized photographs and video performances, function as fragments or echoes, tangible traces of identity in flux, caught between presence and absence. Together, these elements form an environment where body, image and memory overlap: an archaeology of the self in transformation. Traces invites viewers to reflect on how identity endures through what is left behind.
Miya Turnbull acknowledges support from Arts Nova Scotia.
Miya Turnbull (she/her) is a multi-disciplinary visual artist based in Kjipuktuk (Halifax, NS). Her practice spans sculpture, photography, video and performance. She is best known for her ongoing series of life-like Photo-Masks; self-portraits that she alters, distorts and reconfigures to explore themes of identity, persona and transformation. By wearing these “false faces,” Miya investigates the layered and multifaceted dimensions of selfhood, informed by her experience as mixed Japanese Canadian. She holds a BFA from the University of Lethbridge (AB) and her work has been exhibited in Canada, the US, Europe, and Asia. In 2025, Miya was long-listed for the Sobey Art Award.