Empathy Study No. 3 Artwork

Sayward Johnson is a copper and textile artist. Her textile-based works are made with hand-woven and hand-knitted copper wire. Her work explores her fascination with fabrics and sculptures that adhere to the laws of metalsmithing as well as those of textiles and furthermore, present traditional textile patterns in unexpected contexts. She finds beauty and meaning in natural processes that cannot be controlled, such as decay and the transformation of surfaces through erosion and new growth. The oxidization process used to acquire the vibrant blues and greens in her work takes up to a month and no two pieces are ever the same, nor can their outcomes be predicted. Sayward is interested in copper's metaphoric and mutable qualities, in its ability to serve as a metaphor for the human experience. In her most recent work, she is using traditional handicrafts as a means of documenting women's personal experiences. Originally from Danvers, Massachusetts, Sayward is a graduate of the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design. Before feeling called to pursue art, she lived all over Canada and spent years working in forestry. Currently she lives in Chelsea, QC with her husband and young daughter. She is an active member of the Enriched Bread Artists collective in Ottawa. She teaches workshops regularly in the Ottawa and Outaouais regions. Sayward has exhibited across Canada and sold her work to private collectors in the US, Canada and Europe. In 2016 her work was added to the City of Ottawa's collection.