2023's Jeffrey Ahn, Jr. Fellowship winner was Milo Field, age 17, from the Etobicoke School of the Arts in Toronto, Canada. The Fellowship jury praised the maturity of Milo’s portfolio and the thoughtfulness of his plan for a triptych at the intersection of textile and photography, inspired by the landscape of Killarney Lake and Silver Peak, some 400 kilometers from his native Toronto. 

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Milo's final project, Grown from Granite, was included in his solo exhibition at Northern Contemporary in Toronto, Stitched to Stone, from October 4 through 10, 2023. 

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Artist Statement:

 

"Grown from Granite is photographed on the highest peak of the La Cloche Mountains. There is an ancient feeling to these quartzite hills embedded in the Canadian Shield. Believed to have once stood higher than the Rockies, there is something beautiful to me about how much this mountain has survived. Erosion has left clear marks on the mountain. From the top, it’s easy to imagine ice sheets covering the ancient valleys. There is comfort in the knowledge that this mountain has seen so much and stands so strong, now hosting an incredible ecosystem.

 

The models in my photos are immersed in this rich environment: they are becoming the trees, the rocks, and the bushes, finding knowledge and understanding in the deep wisdom of an ancient place. It's easy to feel trapped by the world around us; we aren’t taught our endless abilities. In making this art, I am forced to evaluate the spaces around me with an awareness I haven’t had before and see the endless uses of simple things. Local plants become dyes for cloth and are transformed back into life and land. In making these works I experienced my surroundings to their fullest. Loneliness can easily be replaced with connectedness, by paying a bit more attention to all that surrounds us."

 

–Milo Field, September 2023