Simon Grefiel
Residency: July 20 – August 17, 2025
Simon Grefiel is an artist whose work engages with ancient and colonial histories and practices from Southeast Asia and around the Pacific. Working with sculpture, found objects, drawings, and plant life, his explorations of language, dreams, spirits, familial stories and speculative narratives propose new ways of experiencing the supernatural realm and material universe. Grefiel is a Waray-Waray speaker born and raised in Tacloban City, Philippines and currently lives on the unceded traditional territories of the xwməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. His work has been exhibited and screened at the Vancouver Art Gallery, Ground Floor Art Centre, the Libby Leshgold Gallery, Gallery TPW in Toronto, and grunt gallery.
Simon has already begun his residency from across the Pacific and has been working closely with queer Southeast Asian underground music communities, documenting their stories and practices, and exploring their cultural influence across islands and the Filipino diaspora. This project is rooted in Simon’s ongoing work around the concept of ‘Banua’ — encompassing the poetics of belonging, culture, village, customs, and also sometimes signifying heaven, placenta, sky, underworld, nation, and wild grass.
Residency programs:
Performance Lecture by Simon Grefiel
August 7, 2025 from 6pm
