Please join TAIS in welcoming Francis Tomkins, who is joining us for a 6 week Residency!

Francis is working on their film new stop motion collage film called Every Forest is a Magic Forest on the topic of regaining childhood magic as a method of combating spiritual atrophy brought on by global existential threats such as climate change. The film will ask questions such as: what magic did you believe in as a kid and when were you told to stop believing in it? How would giving yourself permission to believe in childhood magic again empower you to fight for the land and water? Children can sense the inherent magic of the natural world around them, before it becomes seemingly inert when we replace that brain space with things like grades and taxes. What forces benefit from our inability to understand the world as a network of living things that we co-rely on? And how do we fight back?

Artist Bio:

Francis Tomkins is an interdisciplinary artist based in Toronto whose practice includes collage, zine making, illustration and workshop facilitation. They have a BFA in Cross-Disciplinary Arts: Publications from OCAD University and have worked within the arts and accessibility sectors at Tangled Art + Disability, StopGap Foundation and Lakeshore Arts. Francis has exhibited work with Toronto Queer Film Festival, Arts Etobicoke, Peripheral Review and Feels Zine. Their work focuses on themes of disability as a source of knowledge production, community care, and personal narrative as a means of connection. Their first animation “Body” was produced as part of the Frame by Frame workshop series at TAIS, and was recently screened as part of RestFest Film Festival 2026. You can find their work on instagram @francis_tomkins

This program is made possible thanks to the Ontario Trillium Fund, as a part of the Seed Grant funded accessibility expansion.