Georgia Tooke is a contemporary artist and Visual Arts honours graduate from University of Victoria. She is based on the unceded lands of the Lekwungen people, the Songhees, Esquimalt and W̱SÁNEĆ nations, otherwise known as Victoria, BC.
She likes to tell the truth by lying. Tooke is drawn to using character performance as a medium because of how fictional characters can be used as a vehicle to depict our collective and individual realities. People are often more receptive and understanding when consuming the truth dressed up as fiction. It’s this bouncing back and forth between reality and fiction where vulnerability, truth and empathy lie. Her focus in character work takes shape in three ways: live performance, video installation and object collages. The first two involve outrageous, often campy, costumes, makeup and wigs performing before a live audience or a camera alone in a studio. Whereas the latter looks at traces of a narrative in the absence of a character; asking what can we learn about someone through their belongings, the food they eat, what they collect or leave behind.
Tooke co-founded the Jiggle n Juice Collective in 2020 with her best friend Shae Myles. Jiggle n Juice is a platform dedicated to engaging in discursive and critical conversation, and showcasing creativity. They aim to foster a support system for creatives by producing materials that help to bridge the gap from art school to professional practice.
Tooke was the recipient of the President's Scholarship (2019), Frank and Margaret Gibbs Scholarship (2020), nominated for BMO 1st Art! Award (2020), and long-listed for Philip B. Lind Emerging Artist Prize (2019, 2020, 2021). She co-organized PEARLESCENCE, an event that showcased the work of 20 artists and performers. Most recently, Tooke had her first solo exhibition entitled “Gallopina’s Golden Rodeo & Exhibition” which featured a 23 minute long video piece where she played 9 different characters and an immersive participatory installation.