Feature Friday - fernando belote (fern)
Name
fernando belote (Fern)
Pronouns
They, Iel
Bio
fernando belote (Fern) is a multidisciplinary bixa/queer artist and the president of DC-Art Indisciplinaire, the first artist-run center in Quebec exclusively supporting disability diversity. They draw inspiration from their experiences as a neurodivergent person and a survivor of domestic violence to explore the dehumanizing effects of capitalism and propose ethical alternatives, such as beesha ethics, antifascist resistance, and anti-colonial perspectives. Fern has studied Photography and Sculpture at Concordia University, Art History at McGill, and Multimedia Art at the University of Lisbon. In their practice, they integrate writing with visual art while inviting the public to interact with their works in order to strengthen the empowering effect. Currently, they are conducting research on P(B)ajubá, a dialect of re(x)sistance used by marginalized Brazilian communities to survive and subvert cis-heteronormativity. Through their work, they confront pervasive colonial structures and highlight collective creativity and resilience.
Instagram
@fernandobelote
Where in Montreal are you located?
Ville Émard
What do you love about your neighborhood?
Mostly a working-class neighbourhood — which suits me. I don’t feel at ease in bourgeois or gentrified areas, where community is often displaced and solidarity replaced by consumerism.
What’s your favourite art space in Montreal and why?
Mostly a working-class neighbourhood — which suits me. I don’t feel at ease in bourgeois or gentrified areas, where community is often displaced and solidarity replaced by consumerism.
Describe your art practice in your own words.
My art practice is driven by an uncompromising desire for change. It is deeply informed by the violences I’ve experienced growing up in Brazil—homophobia, domestic physical abuse—and by the ongoing challenges of being neurodivergent in a world shaped by ableist structures. Through my work, I resist and disrupt stereotypes, reject capitalist logics of productivity and value, and draw strength from Afro-Brazilian spirituality. I engage in institutional critique, queer conceptual art, and actively question the colonial foundations of academia. My practice is a space of refusal, of reimagining, and of building new possibilities for collective liberation.
What mediums do you work with?
Lettering, Ceramics, Ready-mades, Video, Photography, Performance.
Describe your current project.
My current project explores the revival of P(B)ajubá, a vibrant dialect rooted in Afro-Brazilian and trans communities. I’ve been conducting interviews with trans activists and spiritual leaders to investigate how this language—born out of resistance and survival—can take shape visually. This work is a tribute to the Afro-trans heritage that has long been a lifeline for LGBTQIAPN+ individuals in Brazil, especially those pushed to the margins. As someone who, due to homophobia and domestic violence, had to build a life for myself in the streets of Brazil, P(B)ajubá is more than a dialect—it’s a vessel of memory, identity, and resistance. After immigrating to Canada and becoming completely dissociated from my progenitors, P(B)ajubá remains an anchor to my roots. To speak and visualize P(B)ajubá is to reconnect with the kinship, care, and dissidence that shaped me. This project is a way of remembering myself as Brazilian, not through blood ties, but through the home I found in the beds of others and the way of speaking that helped me protect myself.
Where do you find your inspiration?
60's feminist conceptual art, candomblé proverbs, interactions with street dissidents, post/de/anti/contra-colonial theories, queer art and Brazilian drag queens.
Describe your creative process.
My creative process begins with academic research, which is counterbalanced by the collection of oral stories. From there, I move into a phase of material exploration, often incorporating reused or found materials. Writing and conceptual development follow, allowing the research and materials to inform the direction of the work. Finally, the process culminates in execution—where theory, memory, and matter converge into form.
What led you to pursue visual art?
What led me to pursue visual art was a strong feeling of frustration with the world and the people around me, because it did not seem to be able to connect to the struggles of others. Art became a way for me to express myself honestly and make sense of those feelings in a constructive and meaningful way.
Is there any medium you don’t currently work with, but would like to explore?
Painting.
