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installation view of a sign that says "seeking ways to look less disposable" in the river

Approached as a series of playful advertisements, SEEKING is a collection of posters that draws on the charming character of homemade, handmade signs to ask for what we are looking for in our communities, whether it be justice, care, support, traditions, companionship, or memories. SEEKING creates serendipitous interruptions in public space, presenting viewers with ambiguous calls for action. The posters installed on the University of Waterloo campus echo back the community’s concerns for student wellness, as students face the ongoing the stresses of school, following years of pandemic-induced social isolation, while the posters installed in Riverside Park engage with queer ‘cruising’ culture. Originally developed as a collaborative project with artist Kiona Ligtvoet, the poster series is ongoing – evolving in response to different sites and community conversations. 

Lan “Florence” Yee is a visual artist and serial collaborator based in Tkaronto/Toronto and Tiohtià:ke/Mooniyang/Montreal. They collect text in underappreciated places and ferment it until it is too suspicious to ignore. Yee’s work has been exhibited at the Darling Foundry (2022), the Toronto Museum of Contemporary Art (2021), the Art Gallery of Ontario (2020), the Textile Museum of Canada (2020), and the Gardiner Museum (2019), among others. Along with Arezu Salamzadeh, they co-founded the Chinatown Biennial in 2020. They obtained a BFA from Concordia University and an MFA from OCAD U.