Unnatural Landscapes

Jane Derby

Showing from June 22 - July 16

About the Show

Jane Derby creates three-dimensional wall-hung reliefs out of salvaged materials. She sees these sculptural paintings as “literal landscapes” recreating the surface textures of the countryside around Kingston, a rough-hewn landscape made up of rock outcroppings, greying barns, grasses and water. Paint, wood, and salvaged metal are an integral part of an artistic process which explores the aesthetic possibilities of found materials.

Artist Bio

I am part of a growing movement in contemporary art that uses trash as material for art making. I spent my teenage years scrounging around Harold’s Demolition when it still stood in Kingston’s inner harbour, and since graduating from OCAD in 2007, I have been creating bas reliefs out of similarly salvaged materials. Although the lath, and the scrap metals I use can be seen as a critique of our current environmental practices, my work is driven by my curiosity about my materials as much as the implied message.

My work has won the Environmental Spirit Award from the Recycling Council of Ontario, as well as a number of local awards. I have exhibited extensively in solo and group shows in Kingston, Toronto, and eastern Ontario. I am a past president of the Organization of Kingston Women Artists and have enjoyed curating and jurying a number of shows in Kingston and Brockville. My work is in collections in Ottawa, Vancouver, Toronto and Germany.

Artist Statement

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