Michelle Sirois Silver
Michelle Sirois Silver is a self-taught textile artist specializing in the hand hooked surface. Her recent work explores themes around aging and the natural environment. Known for her exploration, Michelle investigates ways to integrate materials and techniques into the hand hooked surface, adding layers of visual narrative to support the conceptual narrative of the work. Her art practice also encompasses surface design, soft sculpture, and ceramics. She exhibits nationally and internationally. Most recently her hand hooked work exhibited in the Craft Council of British Columbia’s Provincial Exhibition 2020 “Personal Materials and Geographies”. In June 2021, her soft sculpture titled “Ice Islands” will exhibit at the Biennale Internationale Du Lin du Portneuf in Deschambault, Quebec. She has received grants from the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council for film and is the recipient of the Award of Excellence from the Surface Design Association. She lives and works in Victoria on Vancouver Island and is a member of the Gage Gallery Arts Collective.
A friend once called me a seeker. She was right. The underpinning for my art practice is a perpetual quest. A quest to bring concept, materials, and techniques into alignment. My recent work leans towards irony and humour and yet it draws attention in unexpected ways to the beauty and simplicity of the everyday and the natural environment.
I was born on the north shore of the St. Lawrence River in Quebec and spent my formative years on Vancouver Island. Our home was a place that straddled the cultural, linguistic, and political worlds that come with having a British mother and a Quebecois father. Our nomadic lifestyle took us across Canada and back again. These influences are echoed in the work I make, drawing from fragments of everyday life and coastal living. My large-scale textile works are often presented in diptych and triptych form, as well as groupings, where dialogues and stories are exchanged. I integrate both reclaimed and new materials into my works.
Recovery Method
Handhooked
36x48 in
Michelle Sirois Silver
Image Credit: Ted Clarke
Know your place
Mixed Media
24x12x12 in
Michelle Sirois Silver
Image Credit: Ted Clarke
Determine your value
Mixed Media
28x10x10 in
Michelle Sirois Silver
Image Credit: Ted CLarke
Precious Commodity
Handhooked
60x60in.
Michelle Sirois Silver
Image Credit: Ted Clarke
