The Highness Embassy
Highness Global is designed as a social impact business with the goal of the de-commoditization of artists and their creative works. One of the main pillars of the firm is to ensure that the artists have the ability to build a long-term sustainable art practice, primarily by exploring a multitude of avenues for success and transition their practice into a multi-disciplinary one.
Highness Global serves the Highness Embassy (our creatives) in a multitude of ways including (but not limited to): management, agency, representation, promotion and strategy. It is our goal to continually expand the universe of opportunities for our creatives through diligently building, unearthing potential and imagining new ways to work. No rules. No ceilings. No Thumbs.™ Our mission is to remove barriers, dismantle restrictive relationships and restructure traditional power structures as our model is unconstrained and limitless.
As business architects, we work to develop a blueprint for the establishment and transformation of our clients to help them optimize and reach their full potential. As a value add, we connect our clients to solution providers, human capital and strategic capital through our Highness Accelerators platform and wider network. Our efficiency and efficacy rely on leveraging the talents, assets and networks of members of our ecosystem.
We have a special skill in recognizing talented individuals who have the right ingredients for commercial success but need someone to instigate them into action, champion them and help chart their course. They are often magnetizing opportunities yet, not monetizing them.
Collaborative Prosperity is our baseline and embedded in our firm’s DNA – the only value proposition we subscribe to is one where everyone at the table wins. It is our opinion that a collective mindset is an abundant one.
Introducing Members of the Highness Embassy
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Acid 4 Yuppies
Arnie Guha is the multidisciplinary creative behind Acid4Yuppies, which focuses on experiential art works – from illuminated light boxes and electric murals, to psychedelics-inspired scarves and fine art prints. Guha’s ‘trippy’ works are complemented by an extensive body of minimalistic photographs and portraiture. From vivid colours to subdued hues, Guha’s practice explores both realms of the visual experience from extreme intensity to soft suggestion.
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The Agency of Healers
The Agency of Healers (AOH) is an international firm that represents global healers who ultimately raise the vibration of humanity through the important work they do. AOH acknowledges that the healing arts is important work and that the business of healing should be both respected and valued. AOH empowers healers by facilitating their business objectives and connecting them with solid business opportunities where they can practice and grow. AOH’s Founder and CEO is Fahra Panos who is a light and energy healer herself.
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Billy Burzy
Burzy is an emerging contemporary artist from Toronto, Canada. She completed her Bachelor of Visual Arts degree from Western University in 2016 and has committed to a full-time art practice in 2020. Burzy’s work is fuelled by her curiosity and introspection of human relationships and in particular, the awareness (or lack thereof) that can be observed from the third-party vantage point. Her work offers a commentary on inclusion, otherness and community. She captures the human interaction with each other and with the environment – relative figuratism. Her work invites the viewer to interpret the intended commonalities and stark differences of her visual narratives. Using primarily acrylic and oil paint on large-scale canvases, her technique of using many layers of paint and bold, contrasting colours work together to highlight the interconnectedness of the foreground and background. Each piece asks the viewer to explore their instinctive interpretations, question the norm and ultimately, reconsider the reality of their existence.
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The Boudoircafé
The Boudoir Café Photography are Nikon-endorsed boudoir photographers, ranked as Top 5 by The Huffington Post. The photography duo’s stellar sets offer a selection of luxury pieces sourced from around the globe that are exquisitely crafted, distinct creative and artistic. Whether you are looking for a risqué, erotically nude, intimate portrait, provocative Boudoir, a fetish slant or fine art nudes – The Boudoir Café are specialists at capturing ‘your sexy you’ and creating a masterpiece that you will cherish for years.
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Bruno Billio
Bruno Billio is a Canadian artist working from an interdisciplinary background. Billio is an established installation artist (renowned for his iconic TRON series), an internationally acclaimed sculptor, and designer transforming existing environments into compelling works of art. He has exhibited globally, and his sculptures can be found in many iconic hotels in North America including The Four Seasons, The Windsor Arms and The Hazelton Hotel.
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Chason Yeboah
Chason Adjoa Nana Yeboah is a self-taught textile sculptor, doll maker and story-teller, exploring the oscillation of ancestral ritual through reconstructed, (un)raveled and crocheted structures. Many of her works directly focus on themes of shame, loss of identity, sexuality, the notion and practice of “self-love”, hybridity, energy transference, and acknowledgement of the human form, with a primary focus on marginalized humans. Her desire is to traverse the interconnectivity of these themes, and from those travels – be it through her inclusive dolls, personification soft sculptures or “safe space” creations, provoke a more communal awareness to our lives.
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Clay Space
Adam Williams is the founder and artisan behind Clay Space Studio. Adam was born in Trinidad, grew up in Barbados and now resides in Toronto. His work encompasses both functional ceramics and sculpture. Adam began studying at the OCAD with a major in Drawing in Painting and then after taking an introductory to ceramics class, he shifted his focus to clay. Adam returned to Trinidad in 2005 and resumed his degree at the University of the West Indies at St. Augustine. Since returning to Toronto in 2011, Adam has practiced as a ceramic artist and potter, as well as teaching at various community centers. Adam’s focus over the past five years has shifted from one-of-a-kind pottery production to sculpture. His work now explores issues surrounding human sexuality and homonormatism using clay figurines.
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Dimitri Papatheodorou
Dimitri Papatheodorou is an artist, musician and architect pursuing hybrid forms of expression through painting, sculpture, sound and architecture. Born in Toronto, he teaches at Toronto Metropolitan University and practices in a rural studio near Warkworth Ontario. In music and performance, Papatheodorou is known as ‘The John Cleats’. Papatheodorou is an advocate for the arts and works with community in advancing arts culture in the rural environment. He is past board member of Propeller Gallery in Toronto, Founding Board Member and Past Chair of the Arts & Heritage Centre in Warkworth Ontario, and current Executive Board Member at the Art Gallery of Northumberland. He wishes to acknowledge the ongoing support by the Ontario Arts Council (OAC).
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Donovan Davis
Donovan Davis is a professional contemporary artist with over a decade of experience dedicated to his practice of hand-cut and hand-constructed collage art. Davis deconstructs magazine images and appropriates their content for use in unexpected artistic configurations including profiles, silhouettes and other stunning yet unexpected compositions. While the process may seem like a simple exercise of cutting and pasting, the transformed media offers a provocative and captivating piece of artwork.
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ElasticoSPA
ELASTICOSPA is the award-winning Italian architectural firm born in 2005 on the initiative of renowned architect, Stefano Pujatti. After collaborating with Coop-Himelblau in Los Angeles and Gino Valle Architetti in Paris, he embarked on the freelance profession. He is a professor at the Faculty of Architecture 1 of the Turin Polytechnic and has been invited internationally as a speaker and guest critic in various universities. ELASTICOSPA is able to develop and coordinate the architectural project at any scale and phase, thanks to the combination of a careful formal investigation with the constructive experience achieved in over 15 years of experience. Regardless of the scale, ELASTICOSPA’s interventions are always conceived as urban hubs, able to influence, revitalize and enhance the context in which they are placed, enhancing their positive and peculiar aspects.
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Goldengen
Goldegen is a Montreal-based printmaker specializing in collage and screen printing. With a focus on allowing the viewer to question various aspects of the composition including how we deal with ourselves, love and experience the moment, Goldengen’s work embeds the element of wonder. Her work is an investigation of unexpected representations that result from the combination of fragmented materials and feelings. Carefully building up a narrative and a structured artistic concept, Goldengen creates eye-catching and thought-provoking artworks that can be further customized to suit any space.
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Impossible Things
Impossible Things is an award-winning creative technology company that dreams up delightful new experiences that blend digital media with the physical world, and then makes them real. Impossible Thing believes that Augmented Reality (AR) is a powerful new platform for communications, one that will rapidly and drastically transform the way we create, present and exchange information, ideas and experiences. Working in such a nascent form, Impossible Things not only crafts compelling AR experiences, but also engineers new tools needed to achieve its vision. Impossible Things takes a transformational approach to the use of mixed reality – work created must be both meaningful and useful. They are continually excited by the brand new opportunities mixed reality technologies create to impact perception, understanding and behaviour across the spectrum of industrial and commercial applications.
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Isaac Murdoch
Isaac Murdoch, whose Ojibway name is Manzinapkinegego’anaabe / Bombgiizhik is from the fish clan and is from Serpent River First Nation. Isaac grew up in the traditional setting of hunting, fishing and trapping. He has committed his life to the preservation of Anishinaabe cultural practices and has spent years learning directly from Elders. Murdoch’s images, like his stories, reflect his deeply held beliefs in the great spirit of the Earth and reflect the traditional knowledge he was taught by his Elders: “I am an artist, an activist, an advocate for our people, and a defender of the lands and waters. I believe it is no longer enough to just say something. I believe in the great power of art in bringing positive change and my artistic goal is to be a catalyst in building bridges and communities.”
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Joel Richardson
Joel Richardson is a contemporary Canadian artist whose artistic career spans well over twenty years. His extensive body of art includes large-scale instillations, sculptures, murals, portraits, art performances and digital and video projections. Richardson became widely known for his controversial clash with Toronto’s Mayor, Rob Ford after Ford erased his 150-meter-long mural: “An Equation of Suitman” comprising of individuals in business attire interspersed with the extensive Black-Scholes equation (a commentary on the manipulation of the stock markets. Although the work was ‘wiped’ in Toronto where it was commissioned, it received global acclaim that translated into further shows in New York, Miami, Mosow and Toronto. Recent major projects include a large scale, multi-faceted, interactive exhibition developed in collaboration with the Tom Thomson Gallery. By the turn of the millennium Richardson’s work had become truly multidisciplinary, with the intent of dominating the spaces they occupied. Richardson’s work has been informed by his interest in how false representation shapes our truth – what is sanctified, what is profound – and the intersection of these representations. The complex relationship between the sacred and untrue is at the core of his practice.
Joel is an award-winning member of the Director’s Guild of Canada and Toronto-based Time Travel Collective. -
Laura Jane Petelko
Laura Jane Petelko is an internationally exhibited and collected photographic artist living in Toronto, Canada. Her work explores a painterly and abstracted approach to photography, grounded in emotions and the senses. Her works evoke the blurred space between the sacred and the worldly.
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LUZENT
Illuminating the Alchemy Between Space and Self.
Luzent creates digital artworks that are embedded with the philosophies of the healing arts.
We believe that that colour, energy, light and movement within a space informs our overall wellness. We are creating artwork that can help uplift and expand the space we inhabit and ,if we are lucky, the space within us. Luzent art is designed to be integrated into your space; and serves as an invitation to take reprieve and enjoy where we find ourselves – in the moment.
Luzent’s creative works are subtle yet, engaging. Each work purposeful colour gradients to soothe the self; soft light infusions to create atmosphere; striking colour palettes in homage to crystals, stones and healing symbols; and, relatable geometric patterns often found in the natural world.
Luzent is the ‘light baby’ of two creatives who have come together to in order to create art and design that can metaphysically alter space.
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Magdalena M
Magdalena M is an internationally published commercial Photographer and Art Director. Specializing in editorial portraits, commercial projects and corporate assignments, Magdalena has worked with some of Toronto’s top legal teams and design agencies for over 15 years. That same desire for story telling developed into a natural talent for Art Direction, through curating fashion and design publications. (Embark Magazine, Canadian Hairdresser Magazine.) It enabled Magdalena to become a stronger visual artist in all respects; utilizing her clients vision to create a timeless and modern aesthetic, an individual brand voice that is genuine and approachable, while maintaining its true identity. As such., Magdalena has built out an impressive art portfolio of stunning photographs for private, public, residential and commercial clients.
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Michel's Bespoke Atelier
Michel’s Bespoke Atelier is a luxury atelier specializing in premium bespoke suits, shirts, and formal wear. All items are designed and made in Toronto. Michel’s Bespoke is exquisite tailoring for discerning individuals.
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Nigel Nolan
Nigel Nolan is an international multidisciplinary artist, originally from Canada. For a number of years, he was a partner at Wild Flag Studios, a London-based collective of artists, designers and engineers. Prior to this, Nolan spearheaded the artist residency and outreach project COME, in Buenos Aires. Nolan has exhibited internationally and has held solo exhibitions in Toronto, Buenos Aires and New York. Nolan has a strong portfolio of project-based work that includes book projects, performances, large-scale painted installations and experimental videos. Nolan’s paintings have been used for large-scale mural work, brand activations, private and public installations, global exhibitions and can be found in public and private collections. His portfolio includes clients Laurent-Perrier Champagne (for Andaz Hotels), The Hudson’s Bay Company, The Theatre Centre, Cabine by Nicolas Mellamphy, Greta Constantine and WorldPride Toronto.
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Nyle Miigizi Johnston
Nyle Miigizi Johnston’s spirit name is Wiishkoonseh Miigizi’enh means Whistling White Headed Eagle. He grew up in Chippewas of Nawash Unceded First Nation. Sources of his artistic inspiration include woodland painters, Storytellers and the traditions of his indigenous culture. A painter, mural artist, traditional storyteller, and traditional helper, Johnston uses his gift of storytelling to connect his peoples’ stories of love and healing with the broader world and offer support to a range of community organizations. His work has been exhibited across many of Canada’s most important institutions, from the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO), The Jennings Young gallery (J.S. McLean Centre for Indigenous & Canadian Art), The Royal Ontario Museum (ROM), The Evergreen Brickworks to the Chippewas of Nawash Cultural Centre. His artistic practice is focused on illustrating stories of the Anishinaabe Nation in a variety of media in order to raise awareness of their unique histories as they in turn inform his process.
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Quinn Hopkins
Quinn Hopkins is an emerging artist of mixed background with an Indigenous mother. Hopkins did not have a traditional upbringing according to Anishinaabe standards; yet, he seeks a place amongst his relatives as an Indigenous artist.
Quinn began creating art at the age of 13 when an Anishinaabe educator and artist, Conrad Bobiwash, had begun teaching him to draw in the woodland style. Inspired by the Norval Morrisseau and Daphne Odjig paintings, Hopkins put a street art spin on his early paintings when he was learning about 80’s pop artists. Quinn work is inspired by new and innovative technologies and the exploration of connecting them with the land and his Anishinaabe roots. His artworks showcase techniques such as 3D modeling, digital drawing, editing, creative coding and machine learning as he collaborates with the computer to research, design and create. He is not afraid to experiment with new tools and mediums thus allowing him to create in the realms of augmented reality, virtual reality and non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
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Ramona Nordal
Canadian-born artist Ramona Nordal began her art exploration at Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design in Vancouver, British Columbia. Here she studied lithography, color theory, painting and drawing and later focused on anatomy drawing and painting. Color theory has always been a huge part of Nordal’s process and is quickly becoming known for her richly evocative color pallet. The central theme that unites all of her work is the mixture of the traditional with the unconventional. Her work is a representation of her interest in the human form, pop art culture and capturing the presence of her subjects. Nordal is hyper aware of art’s relationship with human emotion and her subjects reflect this as they captivate you and entice you into their world. Her work can be found in Canada, the United States, Mexico, Australia, Honk Kong and Europe. Ramona Nordal currently lives and works in Toronto, Canada.
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Robert Cameron
Robert Cameron is an artist who incorporates wine into postmodern sculpture. As both a sommelier and an artist, Cameron’s work challenges and investigates the many aspects of wine: colours, varietals, prices, cultural history, sensuality, critical evaluations, and hierarchies of value. He has been heavily inspired by his experiences while travelling to over twenty-five wine-producing countries. Cameron is also a designer who has a portfolio of exquisitely designed wine cellars in the most prestigious homes in Canada. Cameron’s bespoke designs are carefully created to ensure optimal functionality with stunning aesthetics. Cameron is a certified Sommelier with the International Sommelier Guild and obtained his Masters while studying in Bordeaux, France.
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Simon Schneiderman
Simon Schneiderman has traded his lawyer’s robe for his beret and can be found in his studio full time. Simon tells stories through painting and writing. Simon is a close observer of gesture and nuance, a facility he developed as an only child. He built on that skill through years as a trial lawyer – keenly watching witnesses for hidden meaning. His work combines his love of the figure with his love of language to portray something that is true. Funny and poignant, his images ask us to lean in and listen carefully.
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