Ernesto Cabral de Luna (b. 1996, Cholula) is a Mexican lens-based artist working in Toronto. Working through analog and digital processes, he utilizes his own photographs and archival family photos to explore the fragmentary nature of memory.  Interested in narratives of migration, his material and process-driven explorations allow for the construction of alternate narratives. 

Drawing from his immigrant experience, Ernesto explores themes of identity and representation, along with the interplay between memory, dislocation, and displacement, by challenging the notion of ownership over memories that are not one’s own. Pushing the boundaries of contemporary photography, he merges experimental techniques with sculpture and installation by way of printing onto unconventional and often manipulated surfaces. His image transfers onto scrap materials become poignant commentaries on immigration and self-reinvention, as he likens the act of an image transfer to that of emigrating – a displacement or translation from an original source.

Ernesto holds an Honours BFA in photography from OCAD University, where he received the 2024 Barbara Astman Photography Award and the 2021 Wendy Coburn Art and Social Change Scholarship. A recipient of the 2024 Gallery44 Residency Award and the 2024 Partners in Art's Artist-Direct Grant, Ernesto has exhibited at Patel Brown, Ignite Gallery, Ada Slaight, Xpace Cultural Center, and Abbozzo Gallery. 

Ernesto has worked closely with notable companies such as The Toronto Raptors, Coors Light, Walmart Canada, Delta Marriott Hotels,  Luminato Festival, and Critical Distance Centre for Curators.  His work is a part of Casey House Foundation's 2024 Art with Heart auction, and ACT Toronto's 2025 SNAP auction.

Browse through Ernesto's Portfolio

Link to Ernesto's CV
Link to Ernesto's Peggy Profile
Instagram
E-mail:  abrokeniris@gmail.com