Susana Meza is a multidisciplinary artist and founder of Reclaimed Arts, where she develops social art projects fueled by community actions. Susana was born in Venezuela (1980) and has also lived in Ecuador, the USA, and now Canada, where she began working as a full-time artist as part of her substance abuse recovery journey. Her work is currently preoccupied with preserving memories, retracing family migrations, and finding her ancestors. Susana is a certified peer support worker who designs and delivers creative writing workshops and visual art sessions for women, seniors, and persons with disabilities and lived experiences of addiction and mental health. She is a Yale University fellow (2022), she sits on the Member Advisory Committee of Workman Arts and is a Writers Collective of Canada facilitator. Currently, she’s an MBA candidate at the Ivy League curated Global Leaders Program.

Residencies, awards, and select exhibitions:

Residencies
2022 – Untamed Wild(er)ness at Kickstart Disability Arts. Vancouver, Canada
2022 – Women of Courage at CultureLink. Toronto, Canada
2022 – Next Up! Leaders Lab at SKETCH . Toronto, Canada
2021 – Cyber Fellows at Younger Than Beyonce Gallery. Toronto, Canada

Grants and Awards
2022 – VS. Arts Grant
2021 – Firefly Bursary Program

Solo exhibitions
2023 – Upcoming: Beyond the Dark Pink Ocean, The Show Gallery, Toronto
2021 – Creature Comforts, The Show Gallery, Toronto

Group Exhibitions
2022 – Painting / Printing Goodness, Jumblies Theatre
2022 – Being Scene 2022
2022 – Confinement and Contagion: COVID-19 and Health in the Prison System, Neilson Park 2022 – Creative Centre (NPCC), March, 2022, Myseum of Toronto’s (Myseum) Intersections 2022 Festival
2022 – I AM HERE, AGO, Toronto
2021 – Forever (Bird-Botanicals) by David Constantino Salazar. Gardiner Museum, Toronto
2021 – Portraits of Resilience, Digital exhibit, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto
2021 – Fempocalypse 2021, Digital exhibit, Toronto

Performances
2022 – Grounds for Goodness festival, Jumblies Theatre, February

Navigating the separation from my family unit due to my migration and exile and that of relatives and friends affected by the Venezuelan conflict and Maduro’s dictatorship has found me searching within: who is my family, where do I come from, which are our roots, and how to reconnect, reconcile, and rebuild in the distance. With my work, I aspire to get closer to my ancestors and communicate truths that have been historically silenced and also bring back the joy that we embraced before separation.