Amy Shackleton

Amy Shackleton completed her Bachelor of Fine Arts Honours degree at York University in April 2008. She was one of twenty-five up-and-coming artists selected from Ontario and Quebec to exhibit at Galerie Art Mûr in Montreal. Her artwork was recently chosen to be included in The Best of 2009 (group exhibition and catalogue) at The Elaine Fleck Gallery during Nuit Blanche. Shackleton is currently exploring urban expansion and the reality of diminishing resources in her studio located on Queen Street West in Toronto.

Artist Statement

Amy Shackleton explores urban sustainability, ecological building design and the complexities of urban expansion. She combines urban and rural environments to create healthy, sustainable visions of the future. Her paintings directly support, promote and inspire green building innovation. Using acrylic washes, erratic paint drips, shiny enamel and hard-edge details Shackleton juxtaposes representation/abstraction, urban/rural, gloss/matte and design/spontaneity to accentuate the plurality of landscapes in the city.
Working from her own photography, Shackleton captures images throughout her travels within the city of Toronto and abroad (New York, Florida and as far as Eastern Europe). She digitally alters, transforms and combines these photographs to form her initial design. Shackleton builds her paintings with layers of calculated brushwork and spontaneous liquid drips. Her paintings suggest vibrant possibilities for our urban landscape and pose solutions to contemporary behavior.