Reginald Balanga is a Filipino-born Canadian artist based in Toronto.
He works with sculpture, installation, drawing, and photography to engage with themes of memory, migratory grief, belonging, and the fragility of human connections. Through mark-making, altered forms, and interventions, he explores states of being temporary, in-between, out of place, and left behind.
Born in La Union, Philippines, he immigrated to Canada in 2009, first settling in Saskatchewan before moving to Toronto. His vivid memories of a rural upbringing and his personal challenges in establishing a life in Canada form the threads that drive his artistic practice.
A self-taught designer and photographer, he worked in the design and advertising industry before pursuing a degree at the Ontario College of Art & Design University (OCAD U), where he earned a Bachelor of Design with minors in Art History and Drawing & Painting. He will begin his MFA in Fine Arts at Parsons School of Design, The New School, in New York next fall.
Balanga’s work has been exhibited at the CONTACT Photography Festival, Ignite Gallery, John B. Aird Gallery, Toronto City Hall, the University of Toronto, and CICA Museum. He has also created site-specific interventions, public artworks, and performances in Don Mills, Flemingdon Park, and Grange Park. His projects have been featured in Torontoist, Creative Quarterly, and 3x3 Magazine.
He has held residencies at the School of Visual Arts in New York and was selected for OCAD U International’s collaborative programs in Oaxaca, Mexico, and Chiang Mai, Thailand.
