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I
believe the art I create is a reflection of my life's
visual memory. Everything I see is banked, analyzed and edited
leaving me with something like a personal museum of influences.
When I explore a new idea, or sketch, I feel the moment a connection
is made and the idea merges with the best of what resides in
my memory bank.
My
current work explores metamorphic human/animal postures that
are both anthropomorphic and mythical. I'm
inspired by quirky figurative gesture and emotion. I seek the
weird and the odd. I seek to communicate through my work and
I'm driven by
the process of transcribing an idea to the medium of sculpture
which delights me in the way it freezes time in a static and
quiet way.
I studied at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design and have
stubbornly shed both the experience of art school and any ties
to artistic movements, although I have never stopped looking at
art. Years later, I am discovering an innate and comfortable sense
of myself as an outsider artist.
My materials and methods serve my work process. Wood suits me.
Scavenging suits me. Hard physical labour suits me. My current
constructions are joined with resin. I build up shapes like fitting
a puzzle together, guided by my sketches. A continuous process
of adding then grinding away. The finished pieces are oiled and
sometimes white-washed, then polished to a smooth but textured
patina which reveals the underlying mosaic of wood. A sculpture
can take anywhere from two weeks to three months to complete.
I
was born in Vancouver, British Columbia and for a great part
of my life I moved frequently until settling near a small French
town, St. Eugene, Ontario, smack on the Quebec border.
Representation:
Sandra Goldie Gallery, Montreal, Quebec
La Freniere & Pai Gallery, Ottawa, Ontario
Muse Gallery, Toronto, Ontario
Kensington Gallery, Calgary, Alberta
The Village Gallery, Lakefield, Ontario
SOFA (Option Art Virtual Gallery and international exhibitions)
Press:
2005 Kosinska, Dorota, "Susan Valyi Out on a Limb," Vie des arts,
(#200 October 2005)
Awards
Two Corporate Purchase Awards, 2008, The Toronto Artist Project
Permanent Collections:
Arcturus Gallery, Toronto, Ontario
Education
1975-77 Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, Halifax, Nova Scotia
Exhibitions
2008: The Toronto Artist Project
2008: SOFA Palm Beach
2007: SOFA Chicago
2007: Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibit
2007: Black Walnut Gardens, Milford, Ontario “Artist as Person" (group)
2007: arthouse, Calgary “The Re-natural Exhibition” (group)
2007: Perspectives, Arcturus Gallery, (group)
2007: Out of this World, Arcturus Gallery, (group)
2007: Mile-End Library, Montreal, Quebec. “Art d’echo” (group)
2007: Sandra Goldie Gallery, Westmount, Quebec. “20 by 20 by 20” (group)
2006: The McClure Gallery, Westmount, Quebec (duo)
2006: arthouse, Calgary “Objects and Icons” (group)
2006: Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibit
2006: Galerie Luz, Belgo Building, Montreal, Quebec (group)
2005: LaFreniere and Pai, Ottawa (group)
2005: Skelly Gallery, Ontario (duo)
2005: Sandra Goldie Gallery, Montreal, Quebec (solo)
2004: Galerie Luz, Belgo Building, Montreal, Quebec (group)
2003: Sandra Goldie Gallery, Montreal, Quebec (duo)
2003: Galerie Luz, Belgo Building, Montreal, Quebec (group)
2002: Skelly Gallery, Ontario (solo)
2002: Artevista, Montreal, Quebec (duo)
2000: The Weave Shed Arts Centre, Cornwall, Ontario (group)
1996: The McClure Gallery, Westmount, Quebec (duo)
1989 -1994: Vankleek Hill May Show, Vankleek Hill, Ontario (group)
1994: Arbor Gallery, Vankleek Hill, Ontario (solo)
1992: Le Chenail Cultural Center
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