CCCA Canadian Art Database

Carol Sawyer

Carol Sawyer is Canadian contemporary visual artist who works with photography, installation, video, and improvised music. Her work often addresses memory and the construction of history. Sawyer earned an Honours Diploma in Photography from Emily Carr University of Art and Design in 1982 and an Interdisciplinary Master of Fine Arts (Visual Art, Music, Theatre) from Simon Fraser University in 1998. Sawyer conducts research and makes artwork that enriches the Natalie Brettschneider Archive, a genre-defying fictional Canadian artist active in the early 20th-century. Brettschneider's life - as seen through letters, photographs, paintings and film - intersects with and brings light to a rich community of interdisciplinary women artists working in Canada and abroad. When Sawyer began this project in the 1990s, very little had been written about the women involved in Dada and surrealist movements. This project helps shed light on the ways that male artists have dominated art history. Sawyer has served as a board member for the Canadian Photographic Portfolio Society, Or Gallery, and the Western Front, and has taught as a sessional instructor at Emily Carr University of Art and Design and Simon Fraser University's School for the Contemporary Arts. Sawyer has received numerous BC Arts Council and Canada Council grants and has been an artist-in-residence at the Western Front and the Banff Centre for the Arts. In 2018 Canada Council for the Arts awarded Sawyer the prestigious Duke and Duchess of York Prize in Photography. Her work is included in the collections of the Canada Council Art Bank (Ottawa), the City of Vancouver, Microsoft Corporation (Seattle) and the Museum of Fine Arts (Houston).
Creator Id: 537
Social Media Link: Social Media Link
Web Site Link: Web Site Link
Virtual Collection: Original CCCA
City: Vancouver
Country: Canada
Type of Creator: Artist
Gender: Female
Mediums: performance, photography, video
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Work by Carol Sawyer

Alchemical Vessel #5

Work ID: 64459

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Alchemical Vessel #8

Work ID: 64460

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Alchemical Vessel #2

Work ID: 64508

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Four-armed Vessel

Work ID: 64462

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Janus Vessel #1

Work ID: 64461

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Janus Vessel #2

Work ID: 64463

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New Work, installation view

Work ID: 64464

Description: Henry Art Gallery, Seattle, 1992.

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Rabbit

Work ID: 64465

Measurements: 27” X 39”

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Man

Work ID: 64466

Measurements: 27” X 39”

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Anthropomorphs, installation view

Work ID: 64467

Description: Access Artist run Centre, Vancouver, 1995.

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Ophelia, installation detail (Oscilloscope)

Work ID: 64471

Description: Contemporary Art Gallery, Vancouver, 2000

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Ophelia, installation detail (Ophelias)

Work ID: 64470

Description: Contemporary Art Gallery, Vancouver, 1999

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Ophelia, installation detail (four Lucias)

Work ID: 64469

Description: Contemporary Art Gallery, Vancouver, 1998

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Ophelia, installation detail

Work ID: 64468

Description: Contemporary Art Gallery, Vancouver, 1997

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Ophelia, installation detail (Lucia text panel)

Work ID: 64472

Description: Contemporary Art Gallery, Vancouver, 2001

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Amazonia Thwarts Brutal Monster!

Work ID: 64476

Measurements: 4” X 5” X 5”

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You Are an Amazon

Work ID: 64475

Measurements: 8 “ X 10

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Amazon Threat, detail

Work ID: 64474

Measurements: 9’ X 6’.

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Amazon, installation view

Work ID: 64473

Description: Artspeak Gallery, Vancouver, 1998

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Monkey

Work ID: 64482

Measurements: 5” X 7”

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Dog

Work ID: 64480

Measurements: 5” X 7”

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Goat (profile)

Work ID: 64481

Measurements: 5” X 7”

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Natalie Brettschneider performs ‘Jacket’, c. 1929

Work ID: 64486

Measurements: 8” X 10”

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Rose Thicket

Work ID: 64484

Measurements: round frames/cadres ronds (8” each/8 po chacun)

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Natalie Brettschneider performs “Foxgloves’, 1930’s

Work ID: 64487

Measurements: 5” X 7”

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Aide Memoire, installation view

Work ID: 64483

Description: Floating Gallery, Winnipeg, 2001.

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Memory Game #2

Work ID: 64478

Measurements: 5” X 5”

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‘Foxgloves’, late 1920’s

Work ID: 64488

Measurements: 5” X 7”

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Natalie Brettschneider performs ‘Nancy Cunard’s Hat’, c. 1934

Work ID: 64489

Measurements: 5” X 7”

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Memory Game #1

Work ID: 64477

Measurements: 5” X 5”

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Natalie Brettschneider at Botany Bay Beach, Vancouver Island 1958

Work ID: 64490

Measurements: 4” x 4”

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Pink Silk

Work ID: 64504

Measurements: 23.5” X 23.5”

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Natalie Brettschneider performs ‘Oval Mat’, late 1920’s

Work ID: 64485

Measurements: 5” X 7”

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Memory Game #3

Work ID: 64479

Measurements: 5” X 5”

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Flux (pink trim)

Work ID: 64494

Measurements: 10.5” X 10.5” or/ou 29” X 29”

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Flux (pink bedroom)

Work ID: 64495

Measurements: 10.5” X 10.5” or/ou 29” X 29”

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Mylar Card

Work ID: 65584

Description: 2002 [colour, 6 min. 17 sec.]
(single channel video, looped; 16 bit audio)

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Flux (white roses)

Work ID: 64496

Measurements: 10.5” X 10.5” or/ou 29” X 29”

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Pillar

Work ID: 65585

Description: 2002 [colour, 7 min. 22 sec.]
(single channel video, looped; 16 bit audio)

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Cambie Street Bridge

Work ID: 65583

Description: 2002 [colour, 5 min. 50 sec.]
(single channel video, looped; 16 bit audio)

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Flux (yellow kitchen)

Work ID: 64497

Measurements: 10.5” X 10.5” or 29” X 29”

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Flux (bedroom triptych)

Work ID: 64498

Measurements: three panels/trois panneaux, 15” X 15” each/chacun

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Flux, installation detail, Or Gallery

Work ID: 64492

Description: Or Gallery, Vancouver, 2003.

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Flux, installation view

Work ID: 64491

Description: Or Gallery, Vancouver, 2003.

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Flux (front hall, Jackson Street)

Work ID: 64493

Measurements: 10.5” X 10.5” or/ou 29” X 29”

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Tribute to the Cambie Yard

Work ID: 64503

Description: Permanent installation, National Works Yard, Vancouver. 2004.

Measurements: Each large panel/chaque grand panneau : 55” X 88

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Hitting the Wall (collaboration with Ya-wen Vivienne Wang), installation view

Work ID: 64500

Description: Access, Vancouver, 2004.

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Hitting the Wall (collaboration with Ya-wen Vivienne Wang), installation detail

Work ID: 64502

Description: Access, Vancouver, 2004.

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Hitting the Wall (collaboration with Ya-wen Vivienne Wang)

Work ID: 64501

Description: Access, Vancouver, 2004.

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