In this Hyper Creative POP UP, we introduce you to the world of new generation artist-in-residence Ava Margueritte whose photographic exhibition Landfall is on display at the White Water Gallery July 29 to September 6, 2025. Host and Executive Director Alex Maeve Campbell talks artistic practices, mental health, portraiture, landscapes, community, and more with special guest Ava Margueritte.
The residency and the exhibition continue…so keep an eye out for the next full episode of Hyper Creative (Episode 5!) that will feature all things Landfall, including the finissage happening on August 28.
We invite you to share in the timely dialogue that the diptychs of Landfall engage us in. Join us on Thursday evening and experience a photographic journey, through portraits and landscapes, that is both thought-provoking and uniquely beautiful.
Join us this Thursday, August 28, 6–8 pm, to celebrate the culmination of artist Ava Margueritte’s micro-residency and solo exhibition Landfall! Engage with the artist, the photography, and the local arts community at this special closing reception happening at WWG (159 Main St E, North Bay).
From July 29 to September 6, 2025, White Water Gallery is excited to host a micro-residency in tandem with an exhibition in the gallery space by Ottawa-based multimedia artist Ava Margueritte. The artist will be on site during this period working on her developing project entitled Landfall, culminating with a finissage open to the public on Thursday, August 28 from 6 to 8 pm.
From the artist:
Landfall explores the importance of support networks and the natural environment on mental health. Having lived with multiple neurodiverse conditions since I was young, including depression and anxiety, I have learned that often my needs do not align with societal expectations. In creating portraits of individuals from my community and the places in which I seek solace and refuge, my photographic series highlights my lived experience navigating an uncertain world with invisible disabilities.
This work expresses the nuance of binaries. The experience of mental health is not static: our environments, living conditions, employment, and even the weather play a role. People have their own natural rhythms, and sometimes the demands of societal structures are rigid and unyielding, superseding their personal needs. By striving to always meet the expectations of others, we are at risk of failing ourselves and becoming more vulnerable to symptoms of anxiety and depression.
Landfall brings attention to conversations surrounding mental health by illustrating its continuous, cyclical presence and challenging conventional narratives about this universal human experience. My images represent the fluidity of nature contrasted by the rigidity of society to represent the balance of self. Through sharing my story I shift a solitary experience into one of connection. Now more than ever, we need to promote greater awareness of mental illness during these unprecedented times of our social history.
Ava Margueritte graduated from the Ontario College of Art and Design University with a bachelor’s degree in fine arts majoring in conceptual photography, and a diploma from School of Photographic Arts: Ottawa. She has received a grant from the City of Ottawa and a grant from the Ontario Arts Council in 2022. Margueritte has also received several recognitions including The Marc Guertin Craftsmanship Award, for outstanding photographic craft from the School of Photographic Arts: Ottawa, was shortlisted for the Athens Photo Festival, and a finalist for the Project X Photography Award from the Ottawa Art Gallery, the Ottawa Arts Council and the School of Photographic Arts: Ottawa. Her work is in the City of Ottawa’s permanent art collection, in private collections and has been exhibited nationally and internationally.
