Lisa McGrath

Available at the Alberta Craft Gallery - Edmonton & Calgary

Lisa McGrath (Calgary, AB) was born in Southern Ontario. Since childhood, animals and nature have played a key role in Lisa’s life. She would often be found collecting sticks, stones, shells and other vegetation with which to construct vast three dimensional patterns in her family’s yard.

Lisa graduated from the Alberta College of Art + Design in 1997. She began her career as a visual arts instructor and professional artist with the Wildflower Arts Centre in Calgary. Fourteen years later, Lisa supervises the Wildflower ceramics department and maintains a studio practice there as well.

"The medium I choose to describe my inspiration is clay. For me, it seems the most appropriate: what better material to express nature’s beauty than with the earth itself? Primarily using stoneware clay, I sculpt each figure by hand and carve out the finer details. They are mounted atop a wheel thrown vessel which serves the same purpose that a picture frame serves for a photograph. My vessels are primarily surfaced with glazes which I formulate to imitate organic colours and textures. The figures however, are covered in a thick envelope of matte of bronze glaze, referencing old sepia tone photography."

ACC Exhibitions: Tails from a Rejuvenated Forest (2013), Continuum (2014), 15 on 35 (2015)