Jim Bravo

Home: Toronto, Ontario
Title: Las Costureras (The Seamstresses)
Media: oil on canvas
Dimensions: 153 x 122 cm
Website: jimbravopaintings.weebly.com

ARTIST STATEMENT

“My siblings and I grew up firmly amid the tailor and seamstress culture so valuable and intrinsic to our family’s tradition, culture, and identity. From the look of exasperation to the steam of the iron, the steam of the endless mugs of coffee, and the cigarette smoke, this composition accurately depicts the typical front room sewing activity in our childhood household. My mother and Grandmother worked tirelessly to carry this tradition into our new existence in Canada upon our immigration to the country in the mid-1970s. With great joy and sadness, I endeavoured to complete this portrait of two of the most kind, loving, strong-willed, and respected individuals that ever walked the earth.

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY

Jim Bravo is a multi-award-winning painter of Afro-Latino descent and is the son and grandson of the individuals portrayed in this 2023 Kingston Prize submission. Bravo was born in Ecuador, South America and graduated from The Ontario College of Art and Design University. He has executed several public mural projects, private large-scale commissions, and numerous notable community engagement projects in Toronto and the GTA region.