Sayward Johnson

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 A...

BFA, Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, 2007.

Jacquard Weaving, Centre des textiles contemporain de Montréal, 2008.

Selected Exhibition Record

Sep 22nd 2016 – Jan. 9th 2017. (Inter)woven at the Ottawa Art Gallery Annex, Ottawa, ON. Group exhibition.

2016 Cu: Copper and Textile Fabrications. With Fran Solar at the Mississippi Valley Textile Museum, in the Norah Rosamond Hughes Gallery. May, 2016 - 16 July.


2016 The Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibtion, Nathan Philips Square, Toronto, July 8, 9, 10.

2016 Left Behind, Group Exhibit focusing on the Refugee Crisis. February 13-14, 20-21, 27.

2015 Woven Stories and Knitted Mementos, Aylmer, QC. September 2 to October 11. Special thanks to the Ontario Arts Council and Craft Ontario for exhibition assistance.

2015 Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition

2014 Untitled exhibition with Laura Shepperd at La Fab. Chelsea, QC. Oct. 9th-26th.

2014 Copper: From the Earth to Art and the Body. With Tanya McCormick at the Stone School Gallery. Portage-du-Fort, QC. August 15th to Sep. 7th.

2014 Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition

2014 Solo show, ASP Gallery, Nepean Creative Arts Centre, Ottawa.

2014 Verdigris, Trinity Art Gallery, Salon A, at The Shenkman Arts Centre, Orleans, ON. Jan 9th - Feb. 11th.

2013 Solo Exhibition, Chambers Gallery, Nov. 18th - Dec. 10th. Almonte, ON.

2012 De rerum ...