Teresa Ascencao is an interdisciplinary artist whose multi-media and participatory works explore body language, costume, custom, and inner corporeal experience in relation to gender, sexuality, and class. Her recent work centres on collaborative meaning-making through inclusive facilitation and embodied, participatory experiences to foster reconnection between humans, non-human animals, and nature.
Born in Brazil to Azorean parents, Teresa immigrated to Canada at a young age. She graduated with distinction from the University of Toronto’s Honours Fine Art Studio program and holds an MFA specializing in Media Art and Sex-Positive Feminism from OCAD University. She is the founder of Arts Unfold, which produces participatory art projects and international art residencies in Canadian and European communities to foster greater understandings of social and environmental conditions. Her work has been exhibited widely in Canada and internationally. She lives and works in Toronto and teaches at both OCAD University and the University of Toronto.