Artist's Statement
"My drawings/photographs search the present moment; my paintings search for moments past."
The artist's paintings are intuitive expressionistic explorations, intended to capture a feeling, an imperfect memory or observation. When an image is inspired by a photograph, the aim is to convey what it cannot.
Series work is often figuratively based, sometimes with obscured faces, back views or the "no face" motif, reflecting the universal within our individuality.
Portfolio
This website is intended as a small online portfolio containing samples of series work, mostly paintings and drawings, but also some non-series work, sculpture and photography.
We all start
somewhere...sunny day with clouds
Photos from recent exhibits:
About the Artist
The artist came to Toronto in 1969 to study fine art at Three/New School of Art on Markham Street, where figure-based artists such as Dennis Burton and Robert Markle taught and greatly inspired her, as did living, working and studying at nearby Rochdale College, an 18-storey educational experiment of some notoriety at the time. Life-long artistic inspiration was greatly enhanced by the free ideals and talents of many of its residents and visitors. She refers to this as her 'Bloomsbury' period.
In 1972, the artist and Anne Bingham created Women's Involvement Program|Liberation Media, a feminist video group which presented informative consciousness-raising programs on cable television and university campuses. In 1973, they, together with Lisa Steele and Marion Lewis, organized Toronto's first International Women and Video Festival, where the fledgling video format moved from political tool to art form.
The artist returned to the study of fine art in 1989, and the historic Art Centre at Toronto's Central Tech, with a 3 year diploma program. Since then, her focus has been on series work and exhibiting her work locally and internationally.
In 1998, the artist co-founded, with Fumiko Maehara, Kathleen Finlay and others, the Bathurst Annex Studio Tour, which ran until 2004. She also participated regularly in Toronto's Artsweek until 2005, with interactive exhibits at her studio in Mirvish Village.
In 2006, the artist exhibited paintings from dusk to dawn as part of Toronto's inaugural nuit blanche. In 2007, her photographs of Bob Dylan were featured in bob65, an interdisciplinary exhibit on The Constructed Image, part of CONTACT, Toronto's annual festival of photography.
In May 2010, the artist held an open house as part of a revival of the studio tour, Bathurst Annex Art Tour, which featured her interactive photo exhibit as part of CONTACT 2010 Pervasive Influence theme. Under the title "LENS - Looking Everywhere, No Secret" the artist's candid travel photographs of people going about their daily lives in Canada, Europe and Asia were exhibited. Using photos of couples, bathing, royalty, surveillance and street life, the artist explored or challenged McLuhan's view of travel and our perceptions of privacy in the age of 24 hour surveillance cameras.
The artist continues to exhibit in group and solo exhibits, in juried, invitational and indie contexts. Her work has been part of many international shows in Canada and USA, and featured in exhibits in Spain (2003) and Italy (2005). In addition to her own online portfolio and Facebook page, her work has been part of early virtual gallery exhibits and referenced in online galleries.