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Teresa Ascencao // Glowing Madonna


  • Alternator Centre for Contemporary Art 421 Cawston Avenue (unit 103) Kelowna, BC, V1Y 6Z1 Canada (map)

Glowing Madonna was an interactive video installation, whereby the viewer’s shadow together with a video projection of a contemporary Virgin Mary, were exposed onto a large photo-luminescent wall panel. This piece blended elements of celebrity culture and religion in a somber and restless search for a self-defined woman’s identity. Glowing Madonna was inspired by the representation of women in Catholicism and pop culture, including Virgin Mary apparitions, glow-in-the-dark figurines and superstar shows like Canadian Idol.


Teresa Ascencao is a multimedia artist whose work toys with social constructs of body language, costume, customs, and inner corporeal experiences. Her folk and pop inspired artworks employ concept-related mediums and technologies that invite audiences to play with iconographies and scenarios involving gender, seduction, consumption, and class.

Teresa was born in Brazil to Azorean parents, and 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. Ascencao’s work has been exhibited widely in Canada and internationally. She lives and works in Toronto and teaches at OCAD University and University of Toronto.

To learn more about Teresa and her current work, visit her website.

Earlier Event: June 9
Robyn Moody // Harp: Phase 1
Later Event: July 28
Diyan Achjadi // See Girl