Susan Low-Beer is a Canadian ceramic artist whose figurative work explores

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...

domesticity The Culture of Domesticity (often shortened to Cult of Domesticity) or Cult of True Womanhood is a term used by historians to describe what they consider to have been a prevailing value system among the upper and middle classes during the 19th c ...

and women's experience.

Early life and education

Low-Beer's early career was as a painter. She studied painting under

Alex Colville David Alexander Colville (August 24, 1920 – July 16, 2013) was a Canadian painter and printmaker. Early life and war artist David Alexander Colville was born on August 24, 1920 in Toronto, Ontario, the second son of Scottish immigrant D ...

Mount Allison University Mount Allison University (also Mount A or MtA) is a Canadian primarily undergraduate liberal arts university located in Sackville, New Brunswick, founded in 1839. Mount Allison was the first university in the British Empire to award a baccal ...

, completing her BFA in 1965. This was followed by an MFA at Cranbrook, which she completed in 1967. While living in California from 1968-1971, she began to experiment with clay sculpture. In 1980, Low-Beer moved to Toronto and began to focus on large figurative works in clay.

Career

Low-Beer has created several notable bodies of work. ''Still Dances'', created in 1991, combines several historical references to female forms, including Greek Cycladic sculpture and Romanesque figures, in a series of nine clay sculptures. ''Mutable Selves'', is a series of eight clay and steel sculptures created from 1994-1995. In 2001, Low-Beer exhibited ''Rocksbreath'', a series of 30 press-moulded figures installed in the

Burlington Art Centre The Art Gallery of Burlington, founded in 1978, is the seventh largest public art gallery in Ontario. The gallery collects and maintains Canada's largest collection of contemporary Canadian ceramics. It is located on the City of Burlington water ...

courtyard, in a show curated by Jonathan Smith. Two of the figures were subsequently shown in a 2013 retrospective at the Gardiner Museum. This was followed by ''Tools for Daily Living'' (2003), a series of paper hangings incorporating clay figures reflecting her ''Rocksbreath'' work. In 2012 she facilitated psychotheraputic workshops for women survivours of violence in partnership between the Schilfer Clinic and the

Gardiner Museum The George R. Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art (commonly shortened to the Gardiner Museum) is a ceramics museum in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The museum is situated within University of Toronto's St. George campus, in downtown Toronto. The museum b ...

. Her subsequent work, ''About Face'', consisted of 24 ceramic heads mounted on pedestals. It was displayed along with the work of the participants in ''Transformation by Fire'', a 2013 exhibition at the Gardiner. Critical reviews of Low-Beer's work have been positive throughout her career, but biases against ceramic-based work, often considered a craft material, have affected her inclusion in discussions of fine art practices. Low-Beer has taught privately from her studio, and at institutions including the

Art Gallery of Ontario The Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO; ) is an art museum in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Located on Dundas Street, Dundas Street West in the Grange Park (neighbourhood), Grange Park neighbourhood of downtown Toronto, the museum complex takes up of phys ...

and

Sheridan College Sheridan College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning, formerly Sheridan College of Applied Arts and Technology, is a public polytechnic institute partnered with private Canadian College of Technology and Trades operating campuses ...

Awards

In 1999, Low-Beer was awarded the

Saidye Bronfman Award The Saidye Bronfman Award is a Canadian award for fine craft. It is one of the largest individual visual-arts prizes in Canada. The $25,000 annual prize is administered by the Canada Council for the Arts as one of the Governor General’s Awards i ...

, a craft-specific award given as part of the

Governor General's Awards The Governor General's Awards are a collection of annual awards presented by the governor general of Canada, recognizing distinction in numerous academic, artistic, and social fields. The first award was conceived and inaugurated in 1937 by the ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Low-Beer, Susan Artists from Montreal Canadian contemporary artists 20th-century Canadian women artists Living people Year of birth missing (living people)