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tenant profile

jeannie thib: mapping landscapes Studio 362


From a very young age, Jeannie Thib (Studio 362) decided she was going to be an artist. Growing up in North Bay Jeannie studied with local artists and belonged to the Chippewa High School Art Club. Her aunt, Helen Fitzgerald who taught at the Ontario College of Art , provided an instructive example of a practicing artist. The wilderness setting of Jeannies youth cultivated a relationship with nature that continues to be an inspiration in the myriad approaches she takes to making art. As Jeannie explains, the environment of surrounding bush and lake has influenced me and the work that Ive done ever since. Jeannies art education happened at York University and shortly after she began working at Sword Street Press a printmaking studio where Jeannie recalls it was almost like an apprenticeship I worked right alongside the artists and owner/master printer Don Phillips. The Sword Street studio allowed Jeannie to flex her artistic muscles and she would often work into the night perfecting her technique. Jeannie was also working out of her home printing linocuts by hand (examples of this early work from the Survival Series are on display outside Open Studio, Studio 104) using a homemade baren (Japanese woodblock printing tool) made of two doorknobs to transfer the black oil-based ink. Examples of Jeannies dialogue with material fill her airy, pristine studio space at 401 that she has occupied for sixteen years sculptures of stacked slices of wood that viewed from above duplicate a decorative damask pattern and two lime green machine-cut aluminum wall sculptures ( Schema ) that use pattern and perspective to 4 fabricate landscape. These patterns from tile and textile are far from random they are carefully researched before being chosen. Jeannie is also always on the search for new materials and the right material for a particular project that connects to and realizes the concept. She has gone so far as shipping landscaping cloth to the Netherlands for an installation for fear that she wouldnt be able to find it there and would be like a painter left with no paint. Fittingly, over the last ten years, Jeannies work has expanded to include numerous permanent public installations. The context of built form and existing landscapes lend themselves well to her artistic concepts. As Jeannie explains, what I try to do is make public art a part of my practice as an artist. I dont approach the projects purely as design projects (although there is an aspect of design involved) first and foremost I want to make it a work thats true to me as an artist. Most recently, Jeannie completed an installation in the new RBC Centre (photo in table of contents) using images from historical Canadian coins to map a cultural history along the corridor. Up next is After Landscape at the Tree Museum in Muskoka where Jeannie will create a three dimensional piece based on screenprints she made while doing a residency in Australia. And if you happen upon a mooncycle glass installation at the Christie St. stop on the new St. Clair streetcar line, you will have come in contact with one of Jeannie Thibs mapped landscapes. Jeannie is represented by Ferneyhough Gallery in North Bay, B and K Projects in Copenhagen and Leo Kamen Gallery in Toronto. www.leokamengallery.com

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