Finding Paradise in Hell | Curtia Wright

 ‘Finding Paradise in Hell’ by Curtia Wright

Imagine possessing the ability to access every moment of joy experienced throughout your life-time during times of immense dread? What if this ability extended beyond yourself and you were made to witness moments of joy experienced by your ancestors. What would that feel like, what would it look like? Would it allow for momentary bliss or further the sinking feeling of dread?

What happens when there is no joy left?

Finding Paradise in hell, a series bred out of longing for those intense emotions as an escape from one's current reality, attempts to answer this question. The figures in each piece are at various stages of this escapism, some eaten away by the lure of nostalgia while others remain intact, no longer tempted by escape. This series brings forth our collective desire to romanticize the past and how this breeds disdain and a sometimes-fatalistic thinking towards our present
and future.


Born in Scarborough, Ontario. Curtia Wright is a multi-disciplinary fine artist, Mural Artist and Arts Educator based in Toronto, Ontario. She received her BFA at OCAD University in the Drawing and Painting program in 2015. Her artwork re-imagines our reality using elements of fantasy and surrealism. Wright’s pieces explore issues surrounding gender, sexuality, mental health and race while delving into the
fantastical.