Alex Kinsley Vey: January 14 - February 27, 2021

January 14 - February 27, 2021
Reception: TBC
Craft Ontario Gallery, 1106 Queen Street West, Toronto

Part of the 2021 DesignTO Festival – January 22-31, 2021

Alex Kinsley Vey is from Hamilton, where he received jewellery training from his parents. Moving to Toronto in 2010, Alex studied jewellery at George Brown College, receiving a Adv. Diploma in Jewellery Arts in 2013. Alex has shown work in Canada, Europe, and the United States. He has been a member of Craft Ontario since 2012, Klimt02 since 2017, and was accepted into Harbourfront Centre’s Artist-in-Residence program in 2015. He is currently a member at Jewel Envy in Toronto's west-end. Alex is a sessional instructor at OCAD Univerity in Toronto, and has previously taught at George Brown College in Toronto, and NSCAD University in Halifax.

www.kinsleyveydesigns.com

Jennifer Smith-Windsor: March 6 - April 24, 2021

March 6 - April 24, 2021
Reception: TBC
Craft Ontario Gallery, 1106 Queen Street West, Toronto

"My art practice is inspired by the transience of the human experience and the capacity of cloth to express this fragility and vulnerability. I hand embroider; a slow, repetitive and meditative process and incorporate antique handmade textiles such as lace, crocheted doilies and embroidered domestic linens into my art works. These salvaged pieces are fundamental to my work as they provide a foundation onto which another layer of meaning can be added and an authenticity to the work that new textiles can never give. When hand stitching, I deliberately use a limited range of embroidery stitches, exploring the wealth of possibilities that this restricted repertoire offers."

– Jennifer Smith-Windsor

www.jennifersmith-windsor.com

Michelle Mendlowitz: May 1 - June 19, 2021

May 1 - June 19, 2021
Reception: TBC
Craft Ontario Gallery, 1106 Queen Street West, Toronto

"My work as a ceramic artist consists of both functional and sculptural objects. I am drawn to clay for its expressive nature as well as its ability to create utility. As an artist, I am intrigued by layers. As a maker, process plays an important role. Each working stage in a piece brings a new layer and each action leaves its mark on the finished results. The forms I create are derived from landscapes and borrowed elements from nature, architecture and the human form.

Ceramic surface plays an integral role in my work, acting as the final layer or skin of the object. Drawings are created with the intention to play with melting properties of glazes, in order to reveal and conceal the original sketches. Various textures are utilized to highlight the raw clay combined with controlled layering of glazes leaving room for the spontaneous nature of what happens in the kiln."

– Michelle Mendlowitz

www.michellemendlowitz.com

Fiona Duthie & Amee Raval: June 26 - August 14, 2021

June 26 - August 14, 2021
Reception: TBC
Craft Ontario Gallery, 1106 Queen Street West, Toronto

Fiona Duthie is an artist/maker recognized for her dynamic surface design. She explores personal narrative using mainly textiles, focusing on relationships between people and place, and our psychological states and responses. She starts a new piece with the story and creates tactile metaphors in form, material and process to best communicate that narrative. Duthie's recent work explores resilience, in relation to the individual, society and the environment. Materiality is key to her work- charred wood, discarded offcuts from building sites, then burnt and polished, natural inks, made from charcoal collected from fire burnt forests, felted paper, a unique merging of materials and technique developed by Duthie, and ceramics. Common materials transformed through crisis or challenge but emerging stronger for the experience. The materials speak to nurturing of our inner strengths through times of crisis. Finding a path to access our interior coals and blowing gently over them, fueling our plasticity. Duthie creates large installations, made through the repetition of many smaller forms. 

Duthie has a full time studio practice on Salt Spring Island in British Columbia. Being in this beautiful natural space surrounded by forest, rocky beaches, the ocean and a strong artist community has allowed her creative practice to thrive. Duthie's work has been published in many international textile arts publications. She has exhibited widely in both public and private galleries in Canada, the US, New Zealand, Australia and the UK.

www.fionaduthie.com

"My current body of work is a take on the changing cultural landscape of my country especially with women in focus. I am captivated and mesmerized with glass as a medium. The wide spectrum of glass techniques gives me the freedom to experiment with casting, a complex form of glassmaking and an essential requirement for my body of work."

Amee Raval is a marketing professional armed with a Masters in Business Administration and has more than a decade of experience as a business professional. She decided to pursue her passion for Glass and has recently graduated from Sheridan College as a kiln and hot glass caster.

www.niravanadesigns.com

Daniel Gruetter & Juliana Scherzer: August 21 - October 2, 2021

August 21 - October 2, 2021
Reception: TBC
Craft Ontario Gallery, 1106 Queen Street West, Toronto

"Over the past few years, as an independent artisan, I have honed my craft, making and exhibiting meticulously crafted furniture, functional art and sculptural objects from wood and other natural materials. My work is made to endure, age beautifully, and is expressive of its particular terroir. I believe craft is more than process or product; it is a way to understand and relate to the natural environment. My work considers specific materials, primarily local hardwoods, and their relationship to place.

Place defines identity, culture and value. Emphasizing the products and materials of a specific place brings attention to the unique characteristics there and affirms the value of that same place. In producing work that engages with these connections, I aim to demonstrate how inseparable we are from our natural landscape, and help us recognize local craft as a way to drive economic, environmental and cultural sustainability."

– Daniel Gruetter

www.danielgruetter.com

Juliana Scherzer is a textile artist based in Sydney, Nova Scotia working in free-motion machine embroidery and quilted leaves. Her work reflects the duality of the known and unknown roles of textiles in our everyday lives, as explored through the themes of biology, mending, and environmentalism.

After graduating from Sheridan College in 2018 with a Bachelor of Craft and Design, Scherzer has spent the last two years as an artist-in-residence at the Cape Breton Centre for Craft and Design. Here, she continues to build her practice while branching out into production work and teaching a range of textile and art courses in the community.

www.julianascherzer.com