Tyler John Sebastian Sures

Tyler John Sebastian Sures, born in Ottawa, Ontario, holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Ottawa (2008), a Masters of Fine Arts from the Utrecht School of Fine Arts & Design in the Netherlands (2009), and a Master’s in Digital Media and Communication from Toronto Metropolitan University (Formerly Ryerson University) (2014). His work has been exhibited internationally, including at the Dutch Artistic Research Event 4 and the Dutch Design Double Biennial in Utrecht and Amsterdam, and the Vancouver Mural Festival: The Black Strathcona Resurgence Project. He has work is represented in collections in London, England, Toronto, Ottawa, and Vancouver and Jamaica.

John Sebastian’s practice is rooted in the exploration of minority experiences and their representation in mass media. Drawing from photographs, video, and especially old family images, his work reflects on themes of identity, colorism, and the psychological legacies of colonialism. Born to a Jamaican mother and Canadian father, and raised between Jamaica and Canada, he brings a personal perspective to these issues, blending memory, history, and lived experience.

His research-based practice critically engages with the enduring impacts of colonialism and the ways race continues to shape identity, representation, and belonging. By interrogating the absence of racialized bodies in dominant visual traditions, his work seeks to challenge historical exclusions and question how cultural memory is constructed. Through the use of bold colour, contrast, and references to his Caribbean heritage, Sebastian creates spaces where marginalized identities are not only made visible but are reasserted with dignity and agency, destabilizing narratives imposed by colonial history and mass media.