ARTIST STATEMENT

As a self-taught artist, I have been drawn to working with free materials (discarded or waste). This has given my imagination the freedom to play and experiment without consequence of ruining valuable raw materials.

During this creative “play”, I discovered I like to work with the organic curves of the wood. Much traditional woodworking involves precise measurements, straight lines, and calculated planning. This is not my process as a wood artist. There is a flow and a magic of coincidence to the pieces I create. In my studio’s inventory of “garbage” wood, there are always pieces of the perfectly required dimensions.

My work tends to include hints of nature: trees, water, cliffs, clouds, etc. Occasionally there will be glimpses of alien, spiritual, or otherworldly elements. I allow the wood to dictate the direction the piece takes, cutting each new shape to fit the last. I began exploring these same themes using a digital medium in 2021.

The use of waste materials in my artwork began as a source of free learning materials. However, the environmental aspect to using waste wood has become increasingly apparent. The seemingly never-ending supply of beautiful wood that is cast aside continues to overwhelm my ample studio.

My designs often have a utility that creates an interaction with my art as an everyday object, for example as a coffee table (art on legs). This interaction brings a subtle environmental consciousness into every day life: both artist and patron can feel a consumerist guilt lifted. I want my audience to feel a curiosity toward the pieces’ elements and their past, but also challenge the viewers’ expectations of newness and perfection in her surroundings.

GROUP EXHIBITS

“Ressurinktion” Lucky Bean Café, Montague, PE Curator, organizer and contributor November - December 2019

“Reclamations” The Guild, Charlottetown, PE October 2 – November 10, 2019

“PEI Nature Inspires Art” PEI Crafts Council, Eptek Art & Culture Centre, Summerside, PE June 9 – October 2019

“Here. Now” The Guild, Charlottetown, PE August 8 – September 3, 2018

“Analogue” Peake Street Gallery, Charlottetown, PE Oct 13th – Dec 1, 2018

“The Cost of Living” BIRDMOUSE QUIRKSHOP (self hosted), St. Georges, PE November 3 – December 2, 2018

RESIDENCIES

THIS TOWN IS SMALL MENTORED RESIDENCY Jessica Winton’s Performance Art Installation “Waterline” ART IN THE OPEN, Charlottetown, PE AUGUST 21-25, 2018

THIS TOWN IS SMALL MENTORED RESIDENCY Samuel Roy-Bois “One Dollar Sculpture Shop” ART IN THE OPEN, Charlottetown, PE AUGUST 20- 24, 2019

INSTALLATIONS

TOWN OF MONTAGUE: CENTENNIAL ART TRAIL, Montague, PE “Pixelated Wave” JULY 2017

I collaborated with Heather Gallant to create four 4’ x 4’ outdoor wall hangings using 2x4s from the collapsed community hockey rink in St. Georges, PE. We took a digital photograph of a wave and zoomed in to define each pixel of colour. We then cut the 2x4s into blocks and painted them to represent the pixels in the photograph. This amounted to 2,304 “pixels”.

The concept took organic material, water, transferred to the digital representation of that material, the photo, and returned it to an organic material, wood. The result is an image that is very different from the original material, it is hard with hard lines and is unmoving, but still evokes a feeling of fluidity.

TOWN OF MONTAGUE: ART WORKS HERE, Montague, PE “Sea Saw” JULY 2014

A twenty-five foot wide wooden mosaic composed entirely of wood salvaged on Prince Edward Island. The art piece conveys the significance of the sawmill industry to the settlement and development of the region. The rolling hills along the water are also incorporating into this large visual display.

LARGE SCALE COMMISSIONS

SOLAR CHARGING STATION, Fusion Charlottetown, Charlottetown, PE 2016-2017, design and build mobile, outdoor structure to support a solar panel and battery

16 FOOT INDOOR WOODEN MURAL, Montessori School of Charlottetown, PE JULY 2016, design for school foyer, collaboration with Shiny Paint Art Co.

20 FOOT INDOOR WOODEN MURAL, Upstreet Craft Brewing, Charlottetown, PE MAY 2015, design for the brewery’s tap room

8 FOOT INDOOR WOODEN MURAL, “Letting the Light In”, The Mount, Charlottetown, PE

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS

CREATIVE PEI Board Member May 2019 – present
ARTISANS ON MAIN PEI Board Member May 2019 - Sept 2021
PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND CRAFTS COUNCIL October 2017 - Present THIS TOWN IS SMALL, INC. January 2017 - Present