PADDY LEUNG
Artist, Educator & Cultural Worker
I create participatory art projects and learning experiences that centre care, equity, and collective storytelling. My practice brings together art, education, and community engagement to support 2SLGBTQIA+ communities, racialized youth, and intergenerational connections.
Paddy Leung is a Toronto-based artist and arts educator working at the intersection of community care, cultural production, and social justice.
Their practice is rooted in collaboration, accessibility, and relationship-building, with a strong focus on 2SLGBTQIA+ inclusion, youth engagement, and public participation.
Through workshops, exhibitions, and large-scale community projects, Leung creates spaces where people can connect, share knowledge, and imagine more caring futures together. Their work has been presented in galleries, schools, and public spaces in partnership with arts organizations, school boards, and community groups.
Available for Projects, Workshops & Commissions — across Canada & Internationally.
DIY Workshop
Series: Mask Party
︎ Produced by Paddy Leung
︎ Lead Artist Facilitator, Art Programs
︎ Toronto, ON
︎ May - June 2014
The Mask Party was the first in a series of four DIY workshops produced and developed by Paddy Leung. Their mission was to make all events free and accessible while cultivating community and creativity through innovative art programs. To support this vision, Leung raised funds through their haircut-based art fundraiser, Coupe de Coeur, which covered the cost of materials and venue, ensuring the workshops remained free to the public.
Following the Mask Party, all participant-created masks were collected and later showcased at 26, an exhibition curated by Nicole Collins and Michael Davidson, celebrating the creativity and collaborative spirit of the project.
26| Mask Party - Curated by Paddy Leung
Art Show Statement
Paddy Leung is an art pixie.
Paddy joyfully blogs, tweets, Instagrams, and facebooks with a wide-ranging gang of friends and followers that include people of all ages (their GMAH features regularly in their posts) and from every background, artists, no-artists, dreamers, and tricksters.
Paddy invites their followers to meet them at a local coffee shop to drink and draw or to find them at the Art Gallery of Ontario on free Wednesday evenings to look at and discuss the offerings. In late May Paddy hosted a Mask Party in a downtown Toronto park, where everyone brought a mask they had made, cavorting with sparklers, dancing for the ubiquitous smartphones cameras and collapsing in a laughing heap, summer in the city. We present you the results at 26 on 4 Saturday afternoons in the month of June.
The masks tell a lot about Paddy and their community. Alternate identities (are they?) include dreamy cloud child, pop-music-inspired robotics, blind lacy cipher, Chinese dragon dancing parody, spooky fish-like, whimsical childhood teddy bear, ancient Greek chorus, mystical floral monochrome, angry Japanese sumo man, wicked fighting melonhead. Even the more conversational mask forms are covered in idiosyncratic, dense, and mystical drawings and patterns that demand attention.
Participant Artists & Designers:
- Tessar Hi Lo
- Nimit Malavia
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Maria Nguyen
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Jenn Liv
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Alexei Vella
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Kelly Kwang
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Megan Ellen M
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Keita Morimoto
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Nancy Zhang
- Alice Lo
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Justine Wong
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Peter Chan
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Jon Todd
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Shea Chang
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Ness Lee
- Partick Kyle
- Ginette Lapalme
- James Lai
- Sabrina Scott
