ID: An infographic featuring written text. The background features three wave patterns moving vertically across the entire frame. The background features various shades of pink and orange, with the leftmost section of the graphic featuring the lightest shade of pink, and the rightmost section of the graphic featuring the darkest shade of pink and orange. In the upper-left corner of the frame is the word "EYELEVEL" set against a yellow rectangle. In the centre of the frame is large, capitalized white text ca
ID: A black and white pencil drawing set against a white page of a young girl who sits curled into a large armchair, absorbed in a book. The girl is wearing a plain t-shirt as well as a long skirt featuring geometric patterns. 
ID: a photo of Omen Mather sitting on a ledge, in front of several half finished blue quilt blocks draped over a brown bannister, smiling at the camera. Omen has light brown and grey short hair, is wearing a green short sleeve shirt, and has several tattoos on their arms.
ID: The artist sits in chair holding a brush, with her elbow leaning against a table. The artist is wearing a black dress, tall boots, and a white long sleeve shirt. She is wearing round glasses, and her black hair is pinned behind her head. The chair is positioned against the corner of the room, and the artists work are hung upon the walls of the room. These works are large scale paintings completed with black ink against a greyish white paper
ID: Picture of Sheila, who is an older woman, with a mohawk looking over their shoulder while wearing a painted jean jacket. The jacket features an image of a large purple crystal above a flaming book held upon the back of a blue skinned woman. The jacket was painted by artist’s sister, Fiona Smyth.

ID: An infographic featuring written text. The background features three wave patterns moving vertically across the entire frame. The background features various shades of pink and orange, with the leftmost section of the graphic featuring the lightest shade of pink, and the rightmost section of the graphic featuring the darkest shade of pink and orange. In the upper-left corner of the frame is the word "EYELEVEL" set against a yellow rectangle. In the centre of the frame is large, capitalized white text casting a dark shadow which reads "Heat Waves 2026". Below, in a smaller font, the same style of text reads "incoming artists".

ID: A black and white pencil drawing set against a white page of a young girl who sits curled into a large armchair, absorbed in a book. The girl is wearing a plain t-shirt as well as a long skirt featuring geometric patterns. 

ID: a photo of Omen Mather sitting on a ledge, in front of several half finished blue quilt blocks draped over a brown bannister, smiling at the camera. Omen has light brown and grey short hair, is wearing a green short sleeve shirt, and has several tattoos on their arms.

ID: The artist sits in a chair holding a brush, with her elbow leaning against a table. The artist is wearing a black dress, tall boots, and a white long sleeve shirt. She is wearing round glasses, and her black hair is pinned behind her head. The chair is positioned against the corner of the room, and the artist's works are hung upon the walls of the room. These works are large scale paintings completed with black ink against a greyish white paper

ID: Picture of Sheila, who is an older woman, with a mohawk looking over their shoulder while wearing a painted
jean jacket. The jacket features an image of a large purple crystal above a flaming book held upon the back of a blue skinned woman. The jacket was painted by the artist’s sister, Fiona Smyth.

1 of 1

Various

Heat Waves 2026

1 – 31 Jul 2026
1 – 31 Jul 2026
******

Summer is now in full swing, which can only mean one thing here at Eyelevel! 

For the past 7 years, the summer months have been dedicated to HEAT WAVES, our annual, low-pressure, self-directed mini-residency program, where we host a small group of emerging artists to experiment and hone their craft. Residents receive 24-hour studio access, a stipend to cover materials, and support from the Eyelevel staff. 

This year, we are hosting a lovely array of artists for the entire month of July, with a group artist talk taking place sometime in the month of August (date TBD, check back soon!)

Please join us in welcoming this year’s residents! 

******

Rebecca Cooper (she/her)

Rebecca Cooper is an emerging artist and Dalhousie University student based in Halifax/Kjipuktuk. Her creative practice is rooted in story, memory, care, and the quiet emotional landscapes of everyday life. She is drawn to the ways creativity, expression, and shared experience can build connection, offer refuge, and support healing within individuals and communities. Her work is interested in care, imagination, and the small moments that shape how we understand ourselves and one another.

******

Omen Mather (they/them, @omen.ames on Instagram)

Omen Mather (they/them) is a white, queer, Fat, and Disabled textile artist and writer living in Kjipuktuk. Through quilting, embroidery, and writing, Omen’s work details the haunting nature of sickness, grief, and survival in a medicalized, Fat body just trying to exist. 

Omen is working toward completing a compilation of work started in 2024 that chronicles the gifts and horrors of madness, transformation, and a body not fit for this realm. Omen plays with ghosts of grief, reorienting toward what it means to stay fat and otherworldly.

******

Yuting Song (She/Her, @yuting_songasong on Instagram)

Yuting Song is a contemporary visual artist specializing in large-scale ink on Xuan paper. Placing embodiment at the very center of her practice, her brushwork, breath, and movement become organic carriers of lived experience. Working between control and chance, she actively shapes each fluid image through the interplay of her body, ink, water, gravity, and time. Her work beautifully intersects Chinese ink traditions with contemporary feminist discourse and theories of embodied acknowledgement. Through these resilient paper works, she creates a space of care, inviting viewers to reflect on cross-cultural migration, diaspora, and the quiet courage to begin again.

******

Sheila Smyth (she/they, @smyth6491 on Instagram)

I was born in Montreal (1966). I created BABBLE, an artist's zine (1986-1992 Toronto) under the pseudonym Mr. Bones. I participated in artist collectives: The Purple Institution (1989-1990 Toronto), Gargoyle Mechanique (1990-1992 NYC). I received a BFA from NSCAD (1999). I created no work for 20 years due to being over-medicated for a ‘mental disability’. I am a performance poet and also work in collage, assemblage, and textiles. I am working on a memoir, SCREWLOOSE. I am preparing for a show with Michael Fernandes at the Dalhousie Art Gallery in January 2027. My work is concerned with spirituality, community, political autonomy, and intellectual freedom.

******

Artists include:

Rebecca Cooper, Omen Mather, Yuting Song and Sheila Smyth