About The Show

Dissociation describes a mental disconnection from the self and the physical world, often experienced as observing oneself from the outside. This multimedia collection of oil paintings and felted wool roving sculptures emerges from a state of personal elusive presence that has persisted for more than a year and a half. Within this sensation, Rio documents the intangible and often contradictory states of being that manifest in between the body and the mind. The process is both a search for language to articulate overwhelming, uncomfortable, and consuming emotions, and a means to hold space for those feelings when words fail.

 Throughout You Do Not Have to Be Good, Rio explores what it means to exist in a body. The act of creation becomes a process of forging pathways through sorrow, discomfort, and peace, bridging the gaps between presence and detachment, interior and exterior. This multimedia collection opens a dialogue on the complexities of embodiment, offering both herself and the viewer a tactile, meditative journey through the gentle and violent struggle of being.

Mila Rio (she/ they) is an emerging Canadian born artist currently residing in Victoria BC, on the unceded territory of the Lək̓ʷəŋən and W̱SÁNEĆ peoples. Recently graduated from UVic with a BFA (hons.) in Visual Arts, Rio has a multimedia practice, creating large-scale works through oil painting and textile sculpture that are rooted in an exploration of self, consciousness, isolation, and identity. When not painting or needle felting, she works as a tattoo artist (@milario.tattoo) and freelance illustrator.  This is Rio’s first solo exhibition.