Janet Macpherson
Janet Macpherson studied ceramics at Sheridan College and received her MFA at The Ohio State University in 2010. In 2012 she was granted an artist-in-residence position in the Craft Studios at Harbourfront Centre in Toronto. Janet was the 2013 recipient of the Winifred Shantz Award for Ceramics, which funded a three-month residency at Zentrum fur Keramik in Berlin, Germany. She has also received several research and creation grants from the Ontario Arts Council and the Canada Council for the Arts. Janet has exhibited her work extensively within Canada and the United States, most notably in the solo exhibition Janet Macpherson: A Canadian Bestiary, which was mounted by the Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art in Toronto in 2017. Janet’s work was included in the exhibition Book of Beasts: The Bestiary in the Medieval World at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, and in the Biennale Nationale de Sculpture Contemporaine, in Trois Riviere, QC. Janet teaches mould-making in the ceramics department at Sheridan College, and she currently lives and works in Hamilton, Ontario.
Artist Statement
Hybrids present us with two things happening simultaneously. They are in flux, one always alluding to and challenging the other. The borders between humans and animals, the manufactured and the natural, the spiritual and the visceral are distinct yet permeable, illustrating differences while creating spaces for wonder and uncertainty. Influenced by my Catholic upbringing, I investigate hybridity within the context of Christian ideology, which despite its ubiquitous use of the temporal body in all its messiness, tends to prioritize spiritual purity over the concerns of earthly existence.
My complicated history with Catholicism has been a driving influence in the work I have made throughout my career, and I continue to investigate its impact in my most recent body of work. Christianity is boldly anthropocentric in its doctrine. Situating humans as the most important element of the universe has created a hierarchical structure that has prevailed across millennia. However, growing up Catholic carries an inherent shame for having a body, and for giving in to its base desires. Embedded in this ethos is the assertion that humans are separate from, and have dominion over other life forms, while the prioritization of spiritual purity rejects the basic reality that we are in fact animals and part of an interdependent ecosystem. Catholic iconography shows the martyred body as grotesquely broken, yet the facial expressions always convey a serene indifference to the pain being inflicted, as if to negate the very notion of the physical body. The superiority of the spirit is constantly reinforced this way despite the corporeal nature of its visual culture. I am compelled to reference this paradoxical relationship, and the way it shapes my experience of the world.
My sculptural explorations are inspired by Christian iconography, depictions of animals from medieval bestiaries, and more recently Hamilton’s industrial sector, a place where nature has been subdued but still ekes out a tenacious presence. The tree forms are based on the story of Saint Lucy, who was allegedly martyred by having her eyes gouged out. Her many depictions throughout Christian visual culture show her holding a small branch from which eyes have sprouted. In keeping with hagiographical tradition which idolizes its subject, her face bares no discomfort as she holds the symbol of her torture. Pared down to the essential emblem of her martyrdom, the nested eyes in these trees allude to the uncanny notion of human/plant/animal hybridity.
Education
2010 MFA Ceramics, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio
2002 The School of Crafts and Design, Ceramics, Sheridan College, Oakville, Ontario
1997 BA Philosophy, York University, Toronto, Ontario
Solo Exhibitions
2025 I Saw All the Eyes Seeing, The Lyceum Gallery, Toronto, ON
2022 Escarpment, Public Mural, The Keddy Access Trail, Hamilton, ON
2021 Hybrid Land, Mary E. Black Gallery, Halifax, NS
2018 Tethered, Slate Fine Art Gallery, Regina, SK
2017 Bestiary, Yukon Arts Centre, Whitehorse, YT
2017 Janet Macpherson: A Canadian Bestiary, The Gardiner Museum, Toronto, ON
2015 Mirabilia, VERSO Gallery, Toronto, ON
2014 Processional, The Sculpture Centre, Cleveland, OH
Selected Group Exhibitions
2025
- What Holds, Vessels and Sticks Gallery, Toronto, ON
- Art Gallery of Hamilton Annual Art Sale, AGH, Hamilton, ON
2024
- Art Gallery of Hamilton Annual Art Sale, AGH, Hamilton, ON
2023
- Familiar, curated by Gina Fafard, Slate Fine Art Gallery, Regina, SK
2020
- Biennale national de sculpture contemporaine, Trois Riviere, QC
2019
- Book of Beasts: The Bestiary in the Medieval World, J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, CA
- This Land Like a Mirror Turns You Inward, collaboration with Magdolene Dykstra,
- Truckstop Gallery, Minneapolis, MN
- Terrestrial Beings, Esplanade Art Gallery, Medicine Hat, AB
2018
- NCECA Emerging Artists Exhibition, Pittsburgh, PA
2017
- Canadian Craft Biennial, Art Gallery of Burlington, Burlington, ON
2016
- The Second Virginia McClure Ceramics Biennale, curated by Linda Swanson, Galerie McClure, Montreal, QC
2015
- Stopping by Woods, curated by Patrick Macaulay, Bill Boyle Artport, Toronto, ON
- NCECA Biennial, David Winton Bell Gallery, Providence, RI
- TBA, curated by Rebecca Harvey, Pawtucket Armory, Providence, RI
2014
- Gather, collaboration with Lindsay Montgomery, Craft Ontario, Toronto, ON
- Show Off, Craft Corridor Vitrines, Harbourfront Centre, Toronto, ON
2013
- Animal Stories, curated by Karine Tsoumis, Gardiner Museum, Toronto, ON
- Monster(osities), Practice Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
2012
- RBC Emerging Artist People’s Choice Award, Gardiner Museum, Toronto, ON
- Small Favors, The Clay Studio, Philadelphia, PA
- LOOKout, Harbourfront Centre, Toronto, ON
2011
- After the Pedestal, The Sculpture Centre, Cleveland, OH
- For The Person Who Has Everything, Roy G. Biv Gallery, Columbus, OH
2010
- The Phenomenology of Time, Kuhn Gallery, Marion, OH
- Visions in Clay, LH Horton Jr. Gallery, Stockton, CA
- Vox VI, Vox Populi Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
- After the Pedestal, The Sculpture Center, Cleveland, OH
- Masters of Fine Arts Exhibition: You and Me and Everyone We Know, Urban Arts Space, Columbus, OH
Grants, Awards
2020
- Ontario Arts Council, Visual Artists Creation Project Grant
2018
- Victor Spinsky Award for Emerging Artists, NCECA, Pittsburgh, PA
- Canada Council for the Arts, Exploration and Creation Grant
2016
- Ontario Arts Council, Craft Projects Individuals Grant
2015
- Canada Council for the Arts, Fine Craft: Grants to Artists and Curators
2014
- Ontario Arts Council, Craft Projects, Individual Artist Grant
2013
- The Winifred Shantz Award, Clay and Glass Gallery, Waterloo, ON
- Canada Council for the Arts, Project Grant to Visual Artists
2012
- Nominated for RBC Emerging Artist People’s Choice Award by Steve Heinemann
- Best of Category, Ceramics Award, 51st Annual Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition
2011
- The David E. Davis Award for Artistic Excellence in After The Pedestal, The Sculpture Center, Cleveland, OH
Professional Experience, Residencies, Talks
2023 Panel presentation and discussion at Toward Future Bodies, part of ICAF at The Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art, Toronto, ON
2015 to Present Part-time Faculty, Sheridan College, School of Crafts and Design, Ceramics Department, Oakville, ON
2018 Emerging Artist Talk, NCECA Conference, Pittsburg, PA
2015 Community art facilitator, Mabelle Arts, Etobicoke, ON
2014 Artist in Residence, Zentrum für Keramik, Berlin, Germany
2012 Visiting Artist/Faculty, Sheridan College, School of Crafts and Design, Ceramics Department, Oakville, ON
2011-2014 Artist in Residence, Craft Studio, Harbourfront Centre, Toronto, ON
2008-2010 Instructor, Department of Art, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH
Bringing Art to the Trail, The Hamilton Spectator, August 27, 2022
The Beasts Came Marching One by One, Murray Whyte, Toronto Star, February 11, 2017
Tame Piglets and Holy Cows —The Ceramics of the Artist Janet Macpherson, New Ceramics, July/August 2015
Book of Beasts: The Bestiary in the Medieval World, catalogue, J. Paul Getty Museum, 2019
Janet Macpherson: A Canadian Bestiary, catalogue, The Gardiner Museum, 2017
Episode, catalogue, Galerie McClure, 2016
