VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA
Collection: MIKE SEYMOUR
Artist Statement
Mike Seymour's artwork situates itself within the disciplines of craft, architecture, and design. His process involves an experimental approach to combining and using craft and industrial processes and hands-on collaboration with craftspeople and technicians. Deliberately suspending his focus between crafts such as metalworking, enamelling, glass working and ceramics, combining the processes and materials almost haphazardly, his interest lies in bypassing a kind of technical ability to allow the material and techniques to influence the works.
Mike Seymour has worked as a designer for the international lighting company 'Bocci' for over a decade, where he specialized in large scale installations and exhibitions. Meanwhile, he has maintained an active art studio practice exploring ceramic, glass and metal work while completing 2 public artworks in Vancouver.
In 2024, Mike Seymour launched 'Sfossils' as a way of reframing works that bridge sculptural and functional prerogatives. The debut installation 'Paean' was a large columnal ceramic chandelier hung in the grand staircase of the Villa Bagatti Valsecchi, a 16th-century disused villa in Milan, Italy.
Mike Seymour maintains a flexible relationship between the fields of architecture, sculpture, film and design. Themes of his work include investigations into the history of vocation and regional specificity of craft, industrial and material processes.
An experimental approach to combining and using craft and industrial processes and hands-on collaboration with craftspeople, trades and technicians is essential to Seymour’s practice. The result is often novel hybrids of traditional techniques and common-place manufacturing methods.
Mike Seymour studied architecture at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg. During this time, he contributed to several group shows and helped establish RAW gallery of Architecture and Design. Upon moving to Vancouver, Mike apprenticed with Omer Arbel while working on large art installations and exhibitions at BOCCI Design and Manufacturing. His studio practice has been ongoing throughout and investigates temporal, spatial and social relationships to history and place with forms that manifest in response to contextual premises of craft, industrial and material processes. In 2023, Mike Seymour started a craft-focussed design company called Sfossils, which he is the sole operator of, designing, creating, and marketing all of Sfossil’s works. Sfossils’s debut installation occured in April 2024 in Milan.
Education
2026 Coal blacksmithing with Andrew Welton at Touchstone Center for Craft in Pennsylvania
2024 Glass blowing with Laura Burns, and the Terminal City Hotshop in Vancouver
2023 Wheel throwing clay school with Julia Chirka in Vancouver
2022 Metal working and thermal fusion spray training with Ray Keller at Fusion Solutions Inc. in Langley BC
2020 Glass blowing and cold working seminar with Jay MacDonell at Bocci in Vancouver
2019 FIberglass boat building mentorhsip with Stuart’s Yacht Restoration while working on public artwork ‘WIndflowers’
2016 Night School - contemporary art survey with Lee Plested at the Contemporary Art Gallery, Vancouver BC
2015 Ceramic glaze training with Maggie Boyd in Vancouver
2014 Ceramic training with Jay MacLennan at Shadbolt Center for the Arts while working on public artwork ‘[Untitled] Nest for Owls’ in Burnaby, BC
2011 Bachelor of Environmental Design, Faculty of Architecture, University of Manitoba
2007 Bachelor of Arts, Philosophy, University of Calgary
Selected Artistic and Cultural Work Presented to the Public
2026 Fallingwater – Solo Presentation / Fallingwater & Touchstone Center for Crafts / Pennsylvania, USA
2026 XYN – The Night Goddess – co-presentation with Scarlett Rouge / RÖ / Milan, Italy
2026 Studio North – Group Show / Vessels and Sticks / IDS Toronto / Toronto, ON
2026 Exposure – Group Show / 3L Gallery / Cosmoscow / Moscow, Russia
2026 Invisible Rooms – Group Show / 3L Gallery / Moscow International Trade Bank / Moscow, Russia
2025 Trace – Group Show / NM Art and Design / PAD London / London, UK
2025 Inner Forest – Group Show / 3L Gallery / Blazar 2025 / Moscow, Russia
2025 Side of Light – Group Show / 3L Gallery / Cosmoscow / Moscow, Russia
2025 Overgrowth – Exhibition of ceramic lighting installation / Alcova / Milan, Italy
2025 Exhibition 009 – Group Show / Addition Agency / Vancouver, BC
2025 First Light – Solo presentation / Untitled Agency / Vancouver, BC
2024 Paean – Exhibition of ceramic lighting installation / Alcova / Milan, Italy
2024 Four Stools – Group Show / Amenity Room / Vancouver, BC
2020 ‘Windflowers’ – Public artwork with Alyssa Schwann / Richmond, BC
2015 Vancouver Creatives II – Group Show / Make Gallery / Vancouver, BC
2014 ‘[Untitled] Nest for Owls’ – Public artwork with Alyssa Schwann / Richmond, BC
2011 Faculty of Architecture Group Show / RAW Gallery of Architecture / Winnipeg, MB
2011 Deception with Tony Neustaedter / 90 Second Quicky / Cinematheque / Winnipeg, MB
2011 Gallery of Student Art (GOSA) – Group Show / Winnipeg Art Gallery / Winnipeg, MB
2010 “Public Space” with Kari Zahariuk / 16 Days of Non-Organized Art / AceArt Inc. / Winnipeg, MB
Arts and Culture Work Experience / Art Residency
2026 Art Residency and solo exhibition – Fallingwater and Touchstone Center for Craft, Pennsylvania, USA
2025 Art Residency – Perla Krauze Studio, Mexico City, MX
2012–2024 Bocci Design & Manufacturing: Installation and lighting designer, project manager for large installations and public artworks, Vancouver, BC and Berlin, Germany
2012–2024 Omer Arbel Office: Architectural designer, Vancouver, BC
2005–2012 Recreation Society: Co-Founder & Designer – graphic design and posters for art galleries and artists, Winnipeg, MB
2008–2012 RAW Gallery of Architecture: Gallery Associate, Winnipeg, MB
Mentions and Publications
2026 “Local artist gets dream assignment” – Rebecca Keiller / The Province, p. 11, August 12, 2026 issue
2026 “Vancouver artist’s Fallingwater residency shapes sculptural collection” – Rebecca Keiller / The Vancouver Sun Homes, August 11, 2026 issue
2025 “One to Watch: Maker” – Vivian Chong / Western Living, p. 65, Sept–Oct 2025 issue
2025 “Let There Be Light” – Dani Wright / Western Living, p. 24, 16–17, Jan–Feb 2025 issue
2025 “12 Furnishings Pushing Creative Boundaries Spotted at Alcova 2025” – Mairi Beautyman / Interior Design, retrieved April 16, 2025 / interiordesign.net
2024 “The Best of Milan’s Surreal Exhibition of New Designers, According to Dwell’s Editor-in-Chief” – William Hanley / Dwell, retrieved June 19, 2024 / dwell.com
2012 “Sea Fairer” – Robert Enright / Border Crossings, p. 23, vol. 31, no. 2, issue 122
2012 “Art Pages” – Meeka Walsh / Border Crossings, p. 81–83, vol. 31, no. 2, issue 122
Awards
2026 Best Collectible Design – Product Design category, BIG SEE Awards, Portorož, Slovenia
2025 One to Watch – Designer of the Year (Maker category), Western Living Magazine, Vancouver, BC
Artist Talks, Presentations and Articles
2026 Artist Talk – Touchstone Center for Crafts inaugural presentation, Ohiopyle, PA, USA
2026 Pecha Kucha – Presentation to audience of 800 at Queen Elizabeth Theatre, Vancouver, BC
2025 On the Boards – Presentation and discussion with West Coast Modern collective, with Andrea Copp, Vancouver, BC
2025 Guest lecture at University of Manitoba for Leanne Muir and her Environmental Design Studio, remote, Winnipeg, MB
2025 Exhibition 009 – Artist Talk at Addition Agency, Vancouver, BC
2019 Wind Flowers Community Event Presenter, with Alyssa Schwann, Richmond, BC
2015 Vancouver Creatives II: Make Gallery, public talk and exhibition, Vancouver, BC
2015 Food for Thought Invited Lecture Series, University of Manitoba Faculty of Architecture, ‘Amateur’, Winnipeg, MB
Collections
2026 RÖ – City of Milan, Italy
2026 La Renzo – Mareterra, Monte Carlo, Monaco
2024 Paean Alcova – City of Milan, Italy
2020 Windflowers – City of Richmond, BC
Assessment and Adjudication
2018 Art Wraps Utility Box Competition Jury with the Contemporary Art Gallery, Vancouver, BC
Memberships and Affiliations
2024–onward Terminal City Glass Coop, member
2020–onward BC Alliance for Art, member
- Choosing a selection results in a full page refresh.