About me: Latoyah Burlace
Portrait shot by Mandy van Pelt - www.plakplaatjes.com
I have worked in collaboration with:
Groenten Zonder Grenzen Rotterdam, RAUM Utrecht, WORM Rotterdam, De Beach Amsterdam, Centraal Museum Utrecht, MA Eco-socio Design Bolzano, Studio Marije Vogelzang & many more designers and creatives.
2021 - Founder of Garden of Queerdom
2022 - Bachelor of Design: Transformation Design
Minor: Social Practice, "New Earth".
Willem de Kooning Academy, Rotterdam
2015 - Foundation Degree: Fine Art & Design
Hogeschool voor de Kunsten, Utrecht.
2011 - Foundation degree: Leisure Management
Hogeschool Inholland, Diemen
I am a queer social designer, photographer & community herbalist from Rotterdam. My works are strongly influenced by the earth and I have a care based approach to creating. My goal as a creative and human being is to transform the way in which we relate to the planet, to each other and ourselves, through the lens of art and community creation.
I see myself more as a director and facilitator of social design projects, rather than solely as a maker, which is why most of my works are co-created or community based projects. My work is build around relations of care, and how reshaping them can give us a new outlook on what could be possible for us and future generations to come.
I make use of different and overlapping mediums such as: design, photography, writing, film, food design, herbology and cooking. I create for the purpose of bringing people together and to challenge the notion of what is “normal” and what is not.
My social initiative Garden of Queerdom, is a good example of how I combine my love for herbology as narrative through which I create space for the LGBTQIA+ community.
In my essay How to care for Self & other in a world that is on fire?, you will find a very personal manifesto on my belief in the importance of collective care and community building.
I make my work as accessible as possible and I try to always create from a space of vulnerability, so that the viewer and participants feel the space to do the same.
I'm always open for collaborations, so please don't hesitate
to contact me.
Love,
Toyah