TORONTO, CANADA

MARC EGAN

Tile Panel

$2,203.00
Exhibition Submission Statement

The two works presented in this exhibition – a container for collected objects and a
corresponding tile panel – represent the process I commonly use to develop botanical
imagery in my work. I have always been inspired by the ways in which natural forms,
usually plants, have historically been abstracted, stylized, and rendered as pattern and
flattened image within various decorative arts traditions. While I look to botanical
specimens and depictions of natural forms as a source of inspiration, I often incorporate
human-made objects that, through interpretive drawing, are reimagined as plant-like
forms. These collected objects are usually everyday unremarkable things that over time
work their way into my consciousness.

The box functions as a place to collect and store objects of interest. The recessed lid
offers a stage for arranging objects for reflection and observation. The tile panel is the outcome of this exploration of hybrid imagery, blending plant and manufactured form, translating the objects into illustration in glaze that combines botanical representation and decorative abstraction.

Dimensions: 24”H x 31”W x ¾”D

Material: Earthenware, coloured glaze, and terra sigillata

Artwork ships: beginning october 22nd

Tile Panel

Marc Egan, 2025
1

Artist Statement

I have always been inspired by the ways in which natural forms, usually plants, have historically been abstracted, stylized, and rendered as pattern and flattened image within various decorative arts traditions. While I look to botanical specimens and depictions of natural forms as a source of inspiration, I often incorporate human-made objects that, through interpretive drawing, are reimagined as plant-like forms. These collected objects are usually everyday unremarkable things that over time
work their way into my consciousness.

2

About the Artist

Marc Egan is a ceramic artist living and working in Toronto, Canada. His studio practice
includes the production of pottery, sculpture, and tile, as well as extensive material
research. Egan also works with artists and institutions as a ceramic technical advisor.

Egan studied ceramics at Sheridan College, School of Craft and Design, and currently
teaches in the Ceramics Department at Sheridan. He has been a ceramics educator for
over thirty years teaching at George Brown College, Harbourfront Centre, The Gardiner
Museum of Ceramics, and through private studio classes and workshops.

A recipient of many grants and awards, including the Winifred Shantz Award for
Ceramics (2003), Egan’s work is in numerous private collections and in the collections
of the Gardiner Museum, The Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, and the Canadian
Clay and Glass Gallery, Waterloo, Ontario.

Artist cv

MARC EGAN

Professional Activities

1990–2025 Ceramic Artist, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

2011–2025 Ceramics Instructor, Sheridan College, Oakville, ON, Canada

2000–2020 Ceramics Instructor, Gardiner Museum, Toronto, ON, Canada.

2017–2018 Ceramics Technical Advisor to the Gardiner Museum, Public sculpture competition.

2005–2010 Ceramics Advisor to the Craft Studios at Harbourfront Centre, Toronto, ON, Canada.

Ceramics Education

1987-1990 Sheridan College, School of Craft and Design, Oakville, Ontario. Ceramics Major.

Solo Exhibitions

2015 Curious Encounters. David Kaye Gallery. Toronto, ON, Canada

2007 Emotional Geography. David Kaye Gallery, Toronto, ON, Canada

2006 Meander. New Brunswick College of Craft and Design, Fredericton,

  NB, Canada.

Landscapes and Constructions. Gallery Connexion, Fredericton, NB, Canada.

2005 Equivocal Ceramics. Harbourfront Centre, Toronto ON, Canada.

2004 The Spain Project. Palace Contemporary Art and Fine Craft Gallery, Toronto, ON, Canada.

Selected Group Exhibitions

2024 Elaborate, Gallery 235, Harbourfront Centre, Toronto, ON, Canada.

2022 Ash and Barrel Invitational, Toronto, ON. Canada.

2020 Off the Table, Ontario Craft CO-space gallery, Toronto, ON, Canada.

2019 Ash and Barrel Invitational, Amsterdam Brewery, Toronto, ON, Canada.

2018 The Diana Reitberger Collection, Gardiner Museum, Toronto, ON.

Forty-Four. Harbourfront Centre, Toronto ON, Canada

2017 Teaching Materials: Sheridan College Craft and Design Faculty Exhibition. Craft Ontario Gallery, Toronto, ON Canada.

Fête. Living Arts Centre, Mississauga, ON, Canada.

First/Fifty: Alumni and Faculty Exhibition. Sheridan Gallery, Oakville ON, Canada.

2014 Under Advisement: Studio Advisors of the Craft Studios at Harbourfront Centre. Toronto, ON, Canada.

2011 Making Sense. John B. Aird Gallery, Toronto ON, Canada.

2011 10 Artists/10 Years: Work by Winifred Shantz Award for Ceramics Recipients. Canadian Clay and Glass Gallery, Waterloo, ON, Canada.

ONTerra Nova. Canadian Clay and Glass gallery, Waterloo, ON, 

Canada.

2010 The Canadian Collection: Craft at the G8 and G20 International Conference. Muskoka, ON, Canada.

2009 SOFA New York. The Barbara Silverberg Collection. New York, N.Y., USA.

2008 OBJECToronto. Gladstone Hotel, Toronto ON, Canada.

2007 On the Table: One Hundred Years of Functional Ceramics in Canada. Gardiner Museum, Toronto, ON, Canada.

Extraordinary Forms 2007. Keenan Center Gallery, Lockport New York, USA.

Past and Present. Sheridan Gallery, Oakville ON, Canada

2006 A Vital Mix: Celebrating 30 years, Ontario Craft Council. Toronto, ON, Canada.

Inaugural Exhibition. David Kaye Gallery, Toronto, ON, Canada.

2005 Winifred Shantz Award Winners. Canadian Clay and Glass Gallery, Waterloo, ON, Canada.

2004 Cup: The Intimate Object II. Charlie Cummings Clay Studio,

Fort Wayne, IN, USA.

2003 Marc Egan and Peggy Mersereau. The Guild Shop, Toronto, ON, Canada.

Awards and Grants

2019 Ontario Arts Council Grant – Individual Crafts Project Grant.

2004 Ontario Arts Council Grant – Individual Crafts Project Grant.

2003 Winifred Shantz Award for Ceramists, in conjunction with the Canadian Clay and Glass Gallery.

2000 Ontario Arts Council Grant – Individual Crafts Project Grant.

1994/98 Royal Doulton Award, Best Ceramics in Show. Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition

Residencies

2011 Medalta Potteries Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada.

2006 New Brunswick College of Craft and Design, Fredericton, NB, Canada.

2004 Fundació Tallers Josep Llorens Artigas, Gallifa, Catalonia, Spain.

1990-1993 Harbourfront Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Collections 

Gardiner Museum, Toronto, ON, Canada.

Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, ON, Canada.

The Canadian Clay and Glass Gallery, Waterloo, ON, Canada.

Publications

Egan, Marc. Pottery Making Illustrated, Illustrated Plates, Sept./ October 2020

Egan, Marc. Pottery Making Illustrated, Flower Boats, March/April 2020

Alfoldy, S.; Crawford, G.; Gotleib, R.; Shipton, R. On The Table: 100 Years of

Functional Ceramics in Canada. George R. Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art,

Toronto, Canada, 2007

Hopper, Robin. Making Marks: Discovering the Ceramic Surface. KP Books, 

F&W Publications Inc. Iola, WI, USA. 2004

Osterman, Matthias. The Ceramic Surface. A&C Black Ltd. London, UK. 2002.

Other works from the WHAT HOLDS Exhibition