Cheryl Wilson Smith

Flourish I - white, textured, abstract, modernist, layered glass frit sculpture

2019

Cheryls’ art explores the passage of time and her sense of insignificance in the vast world around us. Living in the far north, on the granite and gold of the Canadian Shield and surrounded by Boreal Forest, she explores that which resonates within her soul. Drawing from her isolated life, residencies around the world and travels she has created a unique image . Like most Canadians she deals with landscape, but landscapes remembered across generations, those affecting us and those we impact. Cheryl is interested in remembrances that shape an individual’s art and design ideas. Her sculptures, the gossamer fine yet intrinsically strong structures become an active receptacle for interpretations of time and lasting memory. A place for quiet contemplation while exploring the tensions presented as we try to walk responsibly in this world and contemplate the extent to which we all alter the landscape, for better and worse. Wilson-Smith was the 2014 winner of the RBC Award for Glass through the Canadian Clay and Glass Gallery. The gallery published a description of her work: “Wilson’-Smith’s delicate and complex kiln-cast works are inspired by the Boreal Forest and rock shores of Red Lake where she lives. Created by translating drawings into countless individual layers of glass frit, her sculptures push the limits of glass while interpreting the northern Ontario light, landscape and wilderness.” Wilson-Smith has received nine grants from the Ontario Arts Council and one from the Canada Council. Commissions include the Red Lake District Heritage Centre, Margaret Cochenor Memorial Hospital Donor wall. Her work has been exhibited widely across Canada, in the UK and the US and is held in private and corporate collections.