Art by Harrison|Tracy Harrison - Multimedia Artist: About the Artist

About the Artist

Tracy is a self-taught, multimedia artist working with a variety of materials which include clay, paint, charcoal, found objects and fibre optics. Images are created from the heart and their essence is of a spiritual, emotive and organic nature. Her work is in private and corporate collections in Brazil, England, New Zealand, Cook Islands, Thailand, Australia, United States, Mexico and Canada. Tracy is also a trained art therapist in private practice on Salt Spring Island, BC.

Artist Statement

Charmed by the personalities of light and its reflective qualities, my work explores relationships between light and shadow, light and reflection and light and form. I look to explore the illusionary effects and hypnotic grace of mixed media light sculptures and am interested to see how different materials interact. I have always been enthralled by shiny things and bring that element into some of my paintings through the use of gold dust powder from Thailand. The gold dust powder allows an image to change with the direction of light and reflect a new image upon the viewer as they pass by. It is this changeability that intrigues me and informs my creative process.

Transformation is about change and light is an agent of change. Whether we look to the sun to shine upon our emotional world; the lamp to illuminate our material world or to our internal light to enlighten our spiritual world we rely upon light to help us see. And in our darkest moments lest we forget that it is the shadow that gives a reference point to the light.

My poetry has become a reference point to paintings and my paintings have inspired poems. See Paintings and Poetry page. Cross pollinating materials brings new exciting work to fruition. I have been working with other artists over the last two years to create multidimensional work. I have brought the clay elements to exquisite wood mirrors my partner Carl Borgstrom has made. Rae Hunter dressed a clay Yak mask of mine and two clay sculptures with beads and wire. Denise McCann Bachman and I have mirrored each other’s work with clay and bark torsos and emellished her wonderful gourds with small clay charms. Heather Martin McNab and I have married clay with intricate linen weaving. See Works in Clay for some of these collaborations.

Recently, I am having fun focusing my energies back on the medium of clay primarily with tile, sculpture and architectural ceramic work. To see my recent work visit my Current Projects page or the Tile and Sculpture page and Architectural Ceramics page. This work has lead to some interesting public installation and private commission work. Painting and sculpting clay tiles developed out of interest in making my new home on Salt Spring Island a work of art. With Carl’s fine woodworking skills and my tile and architectural ceramic work, we have carried through the Mexican Theme of our Bed and Breakfast Suite called Fridas Villa. The suite celebrates the Life and Work of famous Mexican Painter Frida Kahlo. Carl is a Kitchen designer on the island as well and designed and made the beautiful Maple kitchen in the suite as well as the cedar fireplace mantel a bathroom cabinet which I embellished with clay and glass tiles. In our own residence we are currently designing a new kitchen and finishing extensive renovations so new canvases for tile work are awaiting my attention. I have also got back into Raku firing which I love so a new line of raku tiles will be born soon too!