A new exhibition at Grenfell Art Gallery brings sex worker justice, community memory, and Newfoundland history into transformative conversation.

When artist Daze Jefferies (she/her) describes her new exhibition pleasuremonger, curated by Emily Critch (they/them), she speaks of sex worker justice and a social and political framework that recognizes sex workers as workers, challenges criminalization, and calls for care and dignity.

“This exhibition is also about waves of change,” she says. “I wanted to center Newfoundland sex worker histories in order to reflect on lineages and intergenerational connections, and to envision a way forward that recognizes the enduring presence of sex worker communities.”

For Daze, this exhibition is both an artistic statement and an act of remembrance. It brings stories that are intimately tied to the ocean and coastal industries (fishery, military defense, and trade) to the surface through a rich visual language: whore’s eggs, tangled nets, beach roses, and slippery, fish-like beings that blur the boundaries between myth, body, and ocean.

A Legacy of Creative Resistance

pleasuremonger follows decades of arts-based activism in the province. From performances by sex worker activists Carol Leigh (Scarlot Harlot) and Annie Sprinkle, to the photovoice project Let Us Stop Living Secret Lives, the exhibition is in dialogue with a lineage of creative resistance.

For Daze, contributing to this legacy meant investing in both research and collaboration. She spent years in archives and engaged in oral histories with sex workers whose stories shaped every part of the exhibition.

So did Emily. Together, the two have cultivated a steady creative partnership since 2022, building trust and shared vision over multiple projects, including Daze’s 2024 solo show stay here stay how stay at The Rooms.

Voices at the Centre

Among the works most meaningful to Daze is a poem assembled from the voices of her trans loved ones with lived experience in sex work, paired with an audio installation that forms an ambient chorus.

“It’s a siren song that doesn’t endanger, but hopes to transform,” she says.

Another highlight is a series of erasure poems created during Daze’s Grenfell residency. Using stigmatizing 1940s newspaper articles as source material, printed on fragile newsprint from the Corner Brook Pulp and Paper Mill, the pieces were collaboratively aged and cared for by Grenfell staff and students. 

Conversations the Work Hopes to Spark

Both artist and curator hope pleasuremonger encourages deeper reflection about the province’s social history.

“For some who view the exhibition, this may be the first time where they are critically engaging with the histories and lived realities of sex workers in this province,” Emily says.

For Daze, the exhibition is an invitation to think critically about decriminalization, stigma, bodily autonomy, and survival.

Roots at Memorial University

Daze traces her artistic and research practice back to her studies in gender studies and folklore at Memorial University, where mentors supported feminist, arts-based methods and the exploration of marginalized histories.

Emily’s BFA at Grenfell Campus laid the foundation for their curatorial practice. They spent time working as a curatorial assistant at the Grenfell Art Gallery, and is excited to be back in their hometown with Daze.

Looking Ahead

Daze is developing a new multidisciplinary oral history project with queer, trans, and sex worker community members and considering future doctoral studies.

Emily is completing a master’s degree in Art History at Carleton University and looks forward to continuing to work as a curator in their home territory.

pleasuremonger is more than an exhibition.

It is a reclamation of erased narratives. A call for justice. A gathering of past, present, and future voices that are woven into shared memory.

The show is open until March 28, 2026 at the Grenfell Art Gallery in Corner Brook, NL.