Glyph Glut: gym Painting

BIOGRAPHY Born and raised in Toronto, I now live and work in Brampton (Greater Toronto Area). From a young age I was creative: drawing, building models, embroidery, photography. After attending Northern Secondary School’s specialized art program in Toronto, I went on to become an award-winning graduate of the Ontario College of Art. From there I spent 20-odd years as a graphic designer before transitioning into art after a year-long camper-van sabbatical with my partner Kim-Lee Kho (also a designer-turned-artist). I also teach collage (and other art subjects) online and in-person, and host the popular free Virtual Collage Jam on YouTube – featured in Kolaj magazine #34. When I’m not in the studio or classroom, chances are you can find me in our basement gym or out riding one of my beloved bicycles… Recent exhibitions include: The Red Head Gallery, Gladstone House’s Come Up to My Room, In Situ Multi Arts Festival, Artist Project 2023-5, Fashion Art Toronto, Quest Art, Midland, and Union Hotel, Toronto. STATEMENT My current practice is primarily collage, with some cross-training in art signs and painting. A previous design career strongly informs my artistic practice: text and typography, structure, colour, hierarchy. My recent collage and decollage work remixes contemporary mainstream fashion imagery to investigate notions of identity, beauty, and evolving social norms. It is my hope that in transforming such images of feminine “perfection” into something more raw, layered and nuanced, that you might find something more sustaining – less othering – that nevertheless gives you a blast of visual pleasure. 
Keep the passion, ditch the baggage. These works are created by hand at magazine scale, then digitally enhanced and enlarged, magnifying the qualities of printing, paper textures, tears and cuts.