Seven Embury

The Standard

Opening Friday, October 2nd, 2026, 7 to 9 pm.

Show Runs Saturday/Sundays, October 3rd to 18th, 2026

This series examines the pressures surrounding male body image and the ways society shapes ideals of masculinity through pop culture and social media. My work reflects the anxieties I have experienced in trying to conform to these expectations and the constant push and pull between self-perception and the idealized body I hold in my mind. Through painting and sound, I explore how external voices and cultural scripts impose themselves on the body, creating tension between acceptance and self-worth.

The work is rooted in personal memory. I recall sitting alone in my first apartment after seeing Captain America: Civil War, wondering why my arms didn’t look like Chris Evans. We weighed the same, but his body seemed more defined, more masculine. In my naivety, I believed that enough push-ups, protein shakes, and discipline could get me there. For years I counted grams of chicken breast and timed every rep, convinced that if I gained enough muscle, I would finally feel confident, attractive, respected.

Looking back, it feels almost absurd—and yet the pressures remain. Even now, I sometimes glance down and think my arms are too small, that missing a workout has erased years of effort. The question lingers: was I striving for health, or simply to embody an ideal of masculinity that was never my own?

This tension—between the real and the ideal, the body lived and the body imagined—drives the work.

This exhibition and artist will be featured as part of Culture Days 2026 at Xchanges; learn more here.

About the Artist

Seven Embury is a multidisciplinary visual artist based in Victoria, BC., on the unceded territories of Lək̓wəŋən and W̱SÁNEĆ Peoples. A painter and digital media artist, Seven aims to capture the visceral sensations of anxiety and fears that are produced by our modern world. Reflecting on his self-destructive tendencies, Seven examines how his anxieties are created and influenced through our society. Seven holds a Diploma of Visual Arts from Camosun College and a BFA in Visual Arts from the University of Victoria. His works have been featured in the Tofino Gallery of Contemporary Art, the Audain Gallery, and Silver Bullets.