Studio Garden

About Studio Garden

This contemporary abstract painting explores a garden theme.

Fiona Ackerman created a unique series of paintings called ‘Glasslands’ inspired by a concept that explores the garden as being both a reflection of the natural and the artificial. This idea called ‘Heterotopia’ (a world within worlds) where the ‘wildness’ of a garden is controlled was discussed by Michel Foucault, a famous 20th-century French philosopher and historian. In this dynamic piece, a view of a garden appears to be framed by a studio window in black and white. A collage of shapes—mirrored images both graphic and organic appear on the left of the canvas in an eclectic colour palette of gold, blues, pink, and green.

“These 26 paintings emerged from a process of exploration beginning with pieces of painted paper cut in shapes of foliage, placed inside a mirror box (hence, glass-land). The resulting three-dimensional mirrored images shatter, amplify and disrupt conventional views of nature rendered on a flat surface, giving rise to lush compositions with depth and unexpected juxtapositions.” Fiona Ackerman

Fiona Ackerman was born in Ottawa in 1978. She studied painting at Concordia University and completed a BFA at the Emily Carr University of Art and Design in 2002. She has held more than 20 solo exhibitions internationally. Fiona’s studio practice extends beyond painting to include several large-scale murals, video and other public art projects. In her free time, she writes and records music and videos, often working with other musicians. She currently lives and works in Vancouver, BC.