LONDON, ONTARIO

SUSAN DAY

Artist Statement

I have created work combining ceramic and drawing for over 40 years. My work has straddled the worlds of fine art and contemporary craft. The ability to cut, pinch and carve the pieces as a way to draw or understand situations I am experiencing, remembering or concerned with is very satisfying. I love how the clay can represent a body in my explorations in that it is soft and malleable, and then the same piece can be extremely fragile and brittle. These qualities are reflected in my surface narrative storytelling. I have had a rich and complex life and use my work to unravel and make sense of it. 

I am interested in creating work that shows my hands have been involved and shows the trajectory of the build of an artwork. My major themes are identity, place and nature. I create large hand built vessels, unconcerned with function, that act as surfaces of my narrative drawings. Additionally I make smaller sculptural works and very large scale architectural ceramic wall installations. 

I am interested in how we (I) see myself in connection to nature and to other sentient beings. I draw or build those connections or ideas of connections as a way to understand or help the ideas move along to hopefully a point of some sort of understanding of where I fit in.

I plan to continue to work towards creating ceramic works - environments, vessels, and sculptures- that have a gravitas and strength that make my struggle to understand the interconnectedness of myself and the environment, both physical and natural, evident to the individuals experiencing the work. Each piece connects to the ones created before and after, as they all become part of a singular story. 

Artist CV

 

A new series of artwork is currently in development, please check back soon.
Browse more artwork.

SUSAN DAY CV

Residencies 

1989- The Banff Centre, Banff, Alberta 

Selected Exhibitions And Installations

2024

London Children's Museum, Mosaic Installation, London, Ontario: A Dream Of The Future

Canadian Clay And Glass Gallery, Waterloo, Ontario: Resonance

Van Der Plas Gallery, New York City, New York: Canadian Invasion

Craft Ontario, Toronto, Ontario: In The Wild

2023

Mcintosh Gallery, Western University, Regional Hiv/aids Connection With Cornerstone Architects, London, Ontario: In Our Midst

Van Der Plas Gallery, New York City, New York: Royal Flush

Westland Gallery, London, Ontario: Birds In Flight Exhibition

Embassy Cultural House, London, Ontario: 30Th Anniversary Virtual Exhibition

Michael Gibson Gallery, London, Ontario: Transfer Station

Van Der Plas Gallery, New York City, New York: Les Winterfest

Birch Contemporary, Toronto, Ontario: Five Shapes ( Micah Lexier)

2022

Legacy Park Public Art Installation, Lethbridge, Alberta: The New Nature

Van Der Plas Gallery, New York City, New York: (Group Exhibition) Rays Of Light

Van Der Plas Gallery, New York City, New York: Exterior Facade Installation

2021

Mcintosh Gallery, Western University, London, Ontario: Community Engaged Public Art Project

Residential Exterior, (With Skinner Architects) London, Ontario: Mosaic House

Van Der Plas Gallery, New York City, New York: Les Art Crawl

Embassy Cultural House, London, Ontario: (Virtual Exhibition) Stop Extinction! Restore The Earth

Embassy Cultural House, London, Ontario: (Virtual Exhibition) Go Rise And Strike

2020

London Children's Museum, London, Ontario

Embassy Cultural House, London, Ontario: Online Pandemic Exhibition

2019

Westland Gallery, London, Ontario: (Group Exhibition) International Women's Day Show

2018

Norfolk Art Centre, Simcoe, Ontario: Waterworks, (With Vicki Easton Mcclung)

City Of London, London, Ontario: Exterior Mosaic Project

Old East Village Neighbourhood, London, Ontario: Exterior Mosaic Project

Nanjing Youth Cultural Centre, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China: Canada Exchange Exhibition

2017

London Clay Art Centre, London, Ontario: Celebrate Canada 150 Mosaic

Strand Fine Art Services, London, Ontario: Group Exhibition

Suqian Cultural Centre, Soyu, Jiangsu, China: Canada Instructors Exhibition

2016

Museum London, London, Ontario: London Collects

Strand Fine Art Services, London, Ontario (With Bill Stelpstra)

John Labatt Arts Centre, Western University, London, Ontario (Faculty Group)

2010

John Labatt Art Centre, Western University, London, Ontario: Pairings

1998

Universite De Quebec A Chicoutimi, Québec City, Québec

A Space, Toronto, Ontario

Theilsen Gallery, London, Ontario

1996

Theilsen Gallery, London, Ontario

1995

Dia Art Foundation, New York City, New York (Embassy Cultural House Installation Documentation)

Open Space Gallery, Victoria, British Columbia (London Exchange, With Ron Benner, Jamelie Hassan, Kim Moodie, And Wyn Gelynse)

1993

Mcintosh Gallery, Western University, London, Ontario (With Micah Lexier)

1992

Satellite Gallery, St. Thomas, Ontario: 4 From London (With Greg Curnoe, Murray Favro, And Walter Redinger)

La Chambre Blanche, Québec City, Québec

1990

Edmonton Art Gallery, Edmonton, Alberta: Dangerous Goods - Feminist Visual Textual Practices (With Natalka Husar, Jamelie Hassan, Elizabeth Mackenzie, Sandra Meigs, Cherie Moses, And Mary Scott)

1989

Embassy Cultural House, London, Ontario: The Body In Society (With Leon Golub, Nancy Spero, And John Brown)

Selected Collections

Bronfman Foundation, Montreal, Quebec

Museum London, London, Ontario

Mcintosh Gallery, Western University, London, Ontario

Numerous Works Held In Private Collections

Awards

2020, 2023

London Arts Council Caip

1990, 1991, 1995

Canada Council

1998, 2020

Ontario Arts Council

Selected Reviews, Journals And Press

2024

Akimbo, Blog Post: Susan Day: In Our Midst

Rogerstv, The Paint Box With Jane Roy, Video: Susan Day (Pt 1), Susan Day (Pt 2)

2023

Wordsfest, London, Ontario: Transfer Station: Jason Mclean & Susan Day In Conversation

Van Der Plas Gallery, New York City, New York: Les Winterfest

Beatriz Baleeiro, London Free Press, London, Ontario: Two From The Road

Helen Simpson, Blog Post: Diary Of A Tile Addict - You've Not Seen Tiles Like This

Calvi Leon: 12,000 Tiles One Goal - Mosaic Project Honours Lives Lost To Overdoses

Andrew Lupton: Mural To Convey Theme Of Caring At Supervised Drug Treatment Site

2020

Mcintosh Gallery, Western University, London, Ontario: (Youtube Video) A Driving Force

Cara Pifco: (Instagram) Rethinking Identity Or The End Of The Individual

Mackenzie Smith, Embassy Cultural House: Remembering The Embassy Cultural House

2019

Darlene Pratt, Ceramics Monthly: A Cultural Mosaic

Cbc Radio, Rebecca Vanbergen

Cbc Radio, Jane Anoniack

1993

Ben Benedict: Rethinking Our Secret Biography: Works By Micah Lexier And Susan Day

1992

Janice Williamson And Bridget Elliott: Dangerous Goods: Feminist Art Practices

1990

James Miller: Fluid Exchanges: Artists And Critics In The Aids Crisis