LONDON, ONTARIO
Collection: SUSAN DAY
Artist Statement
I was inspired to make these fantastical birds and other creatures after encountering the work of Japanese artist Shinichi Sawada. At the same time as his work came to my attention, I was deeply interested in symbols and narratives arising in my nighttime dreams. These works bring these elements together and create personal folktales for me. Working freely, with few internal edits, I can take elements from my much larger-scale bas-relief ceramic works and bring them into 3 dimensions.
The creatures are connected to my larger public art practice. A language of handmade forms, repeated symbols and images, organic patterns and accumulated surfaces that appear in my tile installations is condensed here into intimate, freestanding creatures. These intuitive works are possibly witnesses or messengers that have escaped from a much larger work with the dream of standing alone.
Residencies
1989- The Banff Centre, Banff, Alberta
Public Art & Large-Scale Installations
2024–2027: BC Transit, Vancouver, British Columbia — Alexander’s Band, mosaic installation
2025–2026: Edmonton Arts Council Public Art Committee, Edmonton, Alberta — The Intuition Machine, mosaic installation (collaboration with eight Nina Haggerty Centre artists)
2024: London Children’s Museum, London, Ontario — Our World, mosaic installation
2023: McIntosh Gallery, Western University, London, Ontario — In Our Midst, Regional HIV/AIDS Connection
2022: Legacy Park, Lethbridge, Alberta — The New Nature, public art installation
2021: Residential exterior installation, London, Ontario — Mosaic House, collaboration with Skinner Architects
2020: London Children’s Museum, London, Ontario — Elevator floor installations
2018: City of London, London, Ontario — Exterior mosaic installation
2018: Old East Village Neighbourhood, London, Ontario — Exterior mosaic installation
2017: Because We Come From Everything — Celebrate Canada 150 mosaic
Selected Exhibitions
2026
IDEX Toronto — Vessels + Sticks Gallery, Toronto, Ontario
Outsider Art Fair — Van Der Plas Gallery, New York City, NY
NADA Ceramics Art Fair — Van Der Plas Gallery, New York City, NY
2025
Fresh Pulp — Van Der Plas Gallery, New York City, NY
Work on Paper Art Fair — New York City, NY
Loonies ’n’ Toonies: Three Canadians — Van Der Plas Gallery, New York City, NY
Affordable Art Fair — Van Der Plas Gallery, New York City, NY
Outsider Art Fair — Van Der Plas Gallery, New York City, NY
2024
Resonance — Canadian Clay and Glass Gallery, Waterloo, Ontario
Canadian Invasion — Van Der Plas Gallery, New York City, NY
In the Wild — Craft Ontario, Toronto, Ontario
2023
Royal Flush — Van Der Plas Gallery, New York City, NY
Birds Exhibition — Westland Gallery, London, Ontario
30th Anniversary Virtual Exhibition — Embassy Cultural House
Transfer Station — Michael Gibson Gallery, London, Ontario (with Jason McLean)
2022
Rays of Light — Van Der Plas Gallery, New York City, NY
Exterior Façade Installation — Van Der Plas Gallery, New York City, NY
2021
Stop Extinction! Restore the Earth — Van Der Plas Gallery (virtual)
Go Rise and Strike — Embassy Cultural House (virtual)
2020
Online Pandemic Exhibition — Embassy Cultural House
2010–2019 (Selected)
International Women’s Day Exhibition — Westland Gallery, London, Ontario
Waterworks — Norfolk Art Centre, Simcoe, Ontario
Canada Exchange Program — Nanjing Youth Cultural Centre, Nanjing, China
Pairings — John Labatt Art Centre, Western University, London, Ontario
Collections
Bronfman Foundation, Montréal, Québec
Museum London, London, Ontario
McIntosh Gallery, Western University, London, Ontario
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