Artist Statement
My work reimagines western mythologies and craft traditions to create new vessels,
figures, and performances that personalize historical narratives to find connection. I use this process as an opportunity for deep critique of the problematic foundations of our society and my own place within it, in hopes that through reinventing and keeping alive craft practices and oral storytelling I can help to carry on these vital material traditions offering alternative perspectives.
I reimagine objects, stories, and rituals from the past and spin them with new meanings and messages to reveal the slow spiritual progress we’ve made since the Dark Ages in the hopes of both preserving and continuing important craft traditions as well as critiquing the evolution of western society with its continued penchants for violence, colonization, and discrimination. I continually highlight the separation of craft from consumer culture in my work to solidify its place as an essential exercise for creating meaning and connection in an increasingly non-tactile and isolated world.
Biography
Lindsay Montgomery works across a variety of media to create narrative videos, performances and objects. Her work is focused on creating personal mythologies that address a wide range of topics and issues including death and mysticism, family dynamics, and evolving modes of power. She earned a BFA from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, and received her MFA from the University of Minnesota.
Her work has been exhibited in Canada and internationally with exhibitions at The Gardiner Museum for Ceramics, The Archie Bray Foundation, and The National Conference on Education in the Ceramic Arts. She is the recipient of numerous awards including The Winifred Shantz Award for Ceramics, The Helen Copeland Memorial Award, The Joyce Carlyle Memorial Scholarship in the Crafts Endowment, and individual project grants from The Canada Council for the Arts, Toronto Arts Council and Ontario Arts Council. Her work is included in the permanent collections of The Gardiner Museum Toronto, the Canadian Clay and Glass Gallery, The Musée Des Beaux Arts Montreal, and the MAC Museum Montreal.
She lives and works in Toronto.