Toronto Craft Alert

A few of my favourite Toronto designers are in this show spotlighting the work of lady designers in Canada. This is part of Toronto Design Week which is in full swing – with shows including Come Up to My Room, Losing Parkdale at the OCC and DO Design on Dundas West. Visit this handy Toronto Design Offisite (TO DO) website for the lowdown on various Design Week events!

“CAPACITY” is an exhibit of new work by female, Canadian designers, curated by [...]

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Lots of fantastic things have been happening at the Design Exchange as of late. Last week, I attended a screening there, where I learned about these great little Valentine’s-oriented workshops happening within the next few weeks, held in partnership with awesome locals Preloved and The Japanese Paper Place. Click the links below to save your spot…

Valentine’s Day at the DX

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Share the Love with Preloved
February 1, 2012
6.30 pm – 8.30 pm
Design Exchange, 234 Bay Street, Toronto
$85 / person
$75 [...]

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I went to a couple of CraftTalks- a lecture and panel series co-presented by OCADU and the Ontario Crafts Council- in 2010 and took an indescribable amount of knowledge and inspiration away from them. For some reason (homework and general school-related chaos, perhaps?) I ended up missing 2011′s lineup of talks altogether. 2012 is another year, and I’m excited to be attending the first of many scheduled CraftTalks tomorrow evening. The speaker is textile artist and educator Rachel MacHenry- find all [...]

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Aaron Oussoren, Manhole Cover (Grey). Photo courtesy of the artist.

For our second Cheongju Craft Biennale artist profile, it is my pleasure to introduce you to the work of emerging Toronto-based glass artist, Aaron Oussoren. For more on him and his fantastic work, spend some time poking around his website.

How did you come to be one of the eight Canadians taking part in this year’s Craft Biennale in Cheongju?
I’m fortunate to be an Artist-In-Residence at Harbourfront Centre, and quite a [...]

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Katherine Morley, Don’t Mind if I Sugru, 2011. Moldable air cure silicone.

In talking to crafty thinkers and reviewing the literature on contemporary craft practice for my report for the Ontario Arts Council, the relationship between craft, art, design, and related disciplines (such as architecture) was a very hot topic.  I came across a whole bunch of fascinating projects which applied craft principles and techniques involving very old or very new materials toward architecture or [...]

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So many good-looking exhibitions coming up in Toronto, and this one is no exception!  Curator Marsya Maharani told me that she was inspired by a panel discussion held at OCADU this past March as part of the Ontario Council’s CraftTalks series, where the blurry lines between craft, art, and design were discussed and celebrated.  I am very much looking forward to seeing how the artists and designers in this show tackle this theme.

Fabricate is an exhibition that contextualizes art and design as mediums that are not [...]

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