“This is my place”
Meet Tyde, the Parkdale artist who makes beauty out of what the neighbourhood throws away.
Almost nothing in Tyde’s work is bought new. “I like making art and I like using the stuff that would otherwise go in the garbage.” Scrap metal, salvaged leather, donated paper, roof slate, beads, wire, found objects picked up off the sidewalk. She has been working this way for over two decades.
Tyde came to visual art in her mid-thirties, after years as a musician, cook and hospitality manager. One Christmas a close friend handed her primary colours and a set of brushes. She told Tyde to stop talking about it and start doing it. Her only formal training was a single audited class at the Fashion Institute of Technology in Manhattan. The instructor looked at her work and told her that she had already developed her own style, and to run with it. This was when Tyde learned to allow instinct to drive her work.
A scrapyard studio
When Tyde wanted to explore sculpture, she did not want to work in clay. She found a scrapyard in the neighbourhood instead, and describes the first visit as an awakening. “It was like my version of going to heaven.” She went back weekly for years and became friends with the operator.
The medium of recycled materials inspired Tyde. A bookbinder friend gave her leather. A carpenter friend gave her wood offcuts. Out of it she created ten-foot tall metal flowers. A piece of roof slate was transformed when combined with beads and wire. “My drill and I are very close.” Free is what let her start, and donations from her community keep her creating.
Parkdale is where she stayed
Tyde first lived in Parkdale in the 1990s and it was the first neighbourhood she felt at home. She still has friends she met her first week here. It is where she found good housing, and where she gave herself room to heal.
What drew her was the diversity on the streets. Hearing languages she did not recognize and connecting with people from everywhere – including people who looked like her. She describes Parkdale as “my place.” For roughly three decades Tyde has designed and built sets for Parkdale events, PARC’s among them. Parkdale is going through a hard stretch, and she is not answering that with something bleak. She wants people to see beauty and joy in Parkdale, because that’s what she still sees when she walks down the street.
Inspired by Parkdale
Tyde’s current focus is on acrylic pouring. She’s working on a project with salvaged CDs, poured with acrylic and strung on a copper chains. Crowded, mismatched, no two the same, but all belonging. A project she says is inspired by Parkdale.
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Tyde is a Parkdale artist and a member of the PARC community. PARC (Parkdale Activity-Recreation Centre) is located at 1499 Queen Street West in Toronto. PARC has served the Parkdale community since 1980.
Photos and quotes shared with consent.
