Kaila Bhullar (she/they) is an experimental filmmaker + multimedia artist based out of the stolen traditional territories of three Local First Nations: the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) tribes.
Largely informed by digitally-based art forms, Bhullar uses art-making as an introspective tool that explores various internal dispositions concerning identity and perception. As a queer and biracial individual, they are interested in analyzing cultural binaries and norms, alongside the complexities that exist within the self. These inquiries often manifest as collages of varying forms, video or audiovisual works, and multimedia installations.
Bhullar's recent exhibition history includes DissFunction of FUNKtion, The James Black Gallery, 2023; The Framing of Perception, XINEMA, 2023; Dream Safely, Audain Gallery, 2023; Digital Interventions – Heterotopias, Massy Arts Gallery, 2022; and I Spy, UNIT/PITT, 2022. They have also participated in residencies with Media Arts Committee and The James Black Gallery in 2023, was a part of the Wrong Wave Festival in 2022 and the Small File Media Festival in 2020, and have an upcoming residency with The Contemporary Art Gallery in 2024. Bhullar currently works as a studio assistant at Lobe Studio, and holds a BFA from the School for the Contemporary Arts [SFU].
CURRENT & UPCOMING
Cosmic Queerities: Cinema Under the Stars Community Screening, XINEMA + EPFC North, 2023
Attend event July 29th 2023 @ 9pm, EPFC North (7646 Prince Albert St.)
Unsent Letters to Who It May Concern (dir. Vanessa Lefan) - Projectionist + Video Design/Editor, What Lab, Sept 2023
MAC Sound Artist in Residence, Media Arts Committee [sound art residency], 2023
PAST
Dream Safely, Audain Gallery, 2023
DissFunction of FUNKtion (POD Residency), The James Black Gallery [group residency + exhibition], 2023
Digital Interventions [Part 1: Heterotopias], Massy Arts Gallery [exhibition], 2022
Everyone is Happening Always, Audain Gallery [exhibition], 2022
Cinematheque Filmmaking Showcase, The Polygon Gallery [screening exhibition], 2022
ARTS 2022 / Category 5 Transformation, Surrey Art Gallery & Arts Council of Surrey [juried exhibition], 2022
Small File Media Festival, SFU [screening/digital festival], 2020
LINKS / PUBLICATIONS / SELECTED PRESS
SOFT TONGUES: A BIOACOUSTIC OPERA (Dir. Jami Reimer) - Video Editor, Simon Fraser University, 2022
Contact at a Distance // Mediating Vessels at Massy Arts, REISSUE, 2022
SCA Berlin Field School, 2022
Insider Series: Karin Jones, Burrard Arts Foundation, 2021
The Peak, 2019-2021
KPU Fine Arts exchange program, 2017

Photography by Scarlett Shirazi

Photography by Hailey Vanderveer, Editing by Kaila Bhullar