Yael Brotman
Artist Statement
My work explores our urge to build and to enhance our environment. In previous bodies of work I have looked at human-built structures – at their complexity, chaos and poetics. In those pieces the built modular units are wrapped in etchings whose imagery reveals the organic lines of knitting swatches. Lights and theatre gels in my installations also allowed for play that mimicked the drama of light and colour in the natural world.
My practice is rooted in printmaking and has expanded into sculpture and installation that repurposes not only my etchings and silkscreens but also previous sculptural work made of foamcore and theatre gels. I am currently working on an installation of silkscreen prints on mylar whose constructed 3D forms suggest scree, icebergs, outcroppings. The imagery printed on the mylar surfaces, is of charcoal rubbings of Culturally Modified Trees that I produced at a residency on Haida Gwaii (June/July 2016). These trees are old growth cedars that show evidence of ancient Haida having stripped sections of bark for use in basket making, clothing, etc.
The paper constructions that I have produced at Paperhouse, are connected to my ongoing work in a number of ways. One is my interest in textile: I reference plaid weaving in the pulp pieces. Another is the design that references Bauhaus linear containment. Third is the juxtaposition of binaries, in the case of the paper constructions it is traditional papermaking techniques juxtaposed with contemporary laser cutting that overlays the pulp imagery. Finally the process of papermaking requires a lot of problem-solving, which I have found aesthetically stimulating and thoroughly enjoyable.
Yael Brotman, Line.Colour.Space., (installation shots), flax, cotton, abaca, pigment, laser cut, acetate, 13.5 x 20.75 inches, variable edition of 7, courtesy of Loop Gallery, Toronto and Open Studio, Toronto
Bio
Yael Brotman is an established artist who has exhibited at such notable institutions as Hallwalls Gallery, Buffalo NY, International Print Centre New York, 9e Biennale international d’estampe contemporaine, Trois-Rivieres, Quebec, Zweigstelle Berlin Gallery, Berlin, Jingdezhen Ceramic Institute, Jingdezhen, China, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia, Lessedra Gallery, Sophia, Bulgaria, Galerie Juan-Pardo Heeren, Lima, Peru, Art League Houston, Texas, Odd Gallery, Dawson City, Yukon, McMaster Museum of Art, Hamilton, Mount St. Vincent University Gallery, Halifax, Eastern Edge Gallery, St. John’s.
Brotman has been awarded grants by the Toronto, Ontario and Canada Arts Councils. She has received scholarships and prizes, most recently an RCA-elect. Brotman was awarded residencies including China, Australia, Ireland, and Haida Gwaii. Her work is found in corporate collections – Torys LLP, Bank of Montreal, Toronto Stock Exchange; and in public collections – Canada Council Art Bank, Department of Foreign Affairs, Canada, Skirball Museum, Los Angeles, Sanbao Museum, Jindezhen, China, Christchurch Polytechnic Institute, New Zealand, Proyecto’ace Collection, Beunos Aires, Argentina.
Brotman is a faculty member in the Studio program, University of Toronto Scarborough. She is also the president of the board of CARFAC Ontario.
