Holly Wheatcroft’s ceramic collages use stoneware fragments to create intimate vignettes full of movement and colour. The artist comments on the traditional genre of still life in a painterly way but through the medium of glazed ceramics. One on top of the other, both clay pieces and glazes are layered in order to highlight brushwork and texture. Key symbols rooted in the history of the genre, such as the skull, flowers, fruit, books and household pottery are anything but “still” as they spiral and spill out of their frames. Playful and witty, the artist references a variety of sources such as art history (Manet’s Déjeuner sur l’herbe), contemporary ceramic giants (Betty Woodman), and popular culture (Pomegranates in a Landscape features a background inspired by a rug design from a 2018 instagram post). Most importantly, the artist’s vernacular is that of ceramics, a deliberate and contemporary continuation of pottery’s role throughout the ages as an enduring storytelling medium.

Holly is proud to be a participating artist for the Casey House Art with Heart 2024. She has also participated in numerous exhibitions, both solo and group including Nuit Blanche, Peak Gallery, John B. Aird Gallery, IDS, Propeller Gallery, and TOAE. Holly was a member of the Toronto Public Art Commission (TPAC), a mentor with the SCCC Entrepreneurship Hub, won an award for teaching excellence from OCADU, and continues to be an active member within various communities as an arts educator.

HolHo