Shift

Sally Ayre, Shift #1, #2 and # 3, detail, screenprint on Japanese hand-made paper, work in progress.

Sally Ayre, Shift #1, #2 and # 3, detail, screenprint on Japanese hand-made paper, work in progress.

Sally Ayre, Shift #1, #2 and # 3, detail, screenprint on Japanese hand-made paper, work in progress.


Project Space
Shift
Sally Ayre
May 11, 2018 – June 9, 2018

Sally Ayre has been collecting plant specimens for many years, some from explorations in the city, and other specimens from the edge of waterways and during time spent in the country. The specimens have been scanned and catalogued to form an image bank from which she draws on to create her work. In the work exhibited in Shift, Ayre is working with fall specimens containing seeds that will scatter to germinate new life cycles. Using seeds from plants at the end of a life cycle also references a broader idea of one’s own aging. Ayre uses the seeds as a metaphor for the experiences and knowledge acquired as one ages, to be passed on to others. Seed specimens are often seen en masse, the individual seed invisible to the naked eye. Ayre separates the seeds from their environments and creates detailed images to reveal their beauty and complexity. Using a limited colour palette, translucent paper, and stitching, Ayre creates an enhanced environment for reflection.

Sally Ayre is a photo-based artist born in Newfoundland, now living in Toronto. A graduate of OCAD (1990), she has exhibited her work nationally and internationally. Her latest solo exhibition was Laughter in the Breeze, Gallery 44, Members Gallery, April 2015. She was the 2012/13 recipient of Open Studio’s Nick Novak Fellowship, culminating with her solo exhibition Traces, at Open Studio in October 2013. Other recent group exhibitions include 50.2016 (Gallery 50, Toronto, 2016); Boundless and Borderless (Touring Exhibition in Taiwan, February 2014~June 2015 through the National Collegiate Art Centre Association, Station Gallery, Whitby, ON and Sydney Printmakers, Sydney, Australia); and Jumelage, (John B. Aird Gallery, Toronto, ON and Engramme, Quebec City, QC). She is also an educator specializing in historical photo processes and has received several grants and awards.