Irene:

1996Purchased for the Camosun College Art Collection by the Camosun College Cultural Enhancement Committee directly from artist.Born in Fergus Falls Minnesota in 1935, Sally Michener immigrated to Canada in 1973. An artist and educator working primarily in ceramics and sculpture, Michener holds an MSW from Columbia University (New York) and an MFA from the University of Chicago (Ohio). Through her activities as a faculty member for 25 years, and as Dean at Emily Carr, Michener has influenced generations of artists in Canada and internationally. She has worked as an artist in residence in Canada, Mexico, and China, and was selected as one of ten Canadian artists to undertake a month-long residency creating work for the International Ceramic Art Museum in Fuping, China. She has travelled extensively in India, Nepal, Europe, and Mexico to research ceramics and related art. Michener is a Board Member Emeritus of the North-West Ceramics Foundation, an independent organization committed to supporting education, awareness, and sustaining programs and activities related to ceramic arts in Western Canada. Michener is a member of the Royal Canadian Academy of the Arts. ARTIST INFO: Michener’s bio on the North-West Ceramics Foundation website: http://www.nwcf.ca/emeritus.html (Accessed January 2, 2017); Centre for Contemporary Canadian Art artist record: http://ccca.concordia.ca/artists/artist_info.html?link_id=80 (Accessed January 2, 2017)Robbyn LanningDESCRIPTION: Three-dimensional sculptural figure of a woman created from many colourful pieces of tile, pottery, mirror, and kitchen ceramics. The life-height mosaic figure stands straight-backed, with bare toes, and chin slightly raised. The mosaic’s tiles are made from a variety of ceramic sources, with pieces of commercial tile and fragments of mugs and other patterned pottery evident throughout the work. ARTIST STATEMENT: I am currently [artist statement written by Sally Michener in 1995] involved in a process of piecing together fragments of ceramic and glass objects, once whole, to make new connections in both a concrete way and in an imaginative sense. I am using the wall mural format to establish a personal story, using single words as a base to focus thinking about life choices and experiences. I am also using interiors and exterior house shaped which take on a psychological, private character. I am cladding the ceramic shapes bit by bit with ceramic tiles made by myself and friends, broken pottery from many kitchens, commercial tile from factories around the world, glass and mirror – old and new, and chinaware shard found on the tidal banks of the Fraser River, BC, Canada. I try to fill these pieces with memory: memory of life in domestic spaces, and current experiences of living in place