TORDON, CHERYL
Cheryl’s art explores the natural and imagined shapes of found wood, stone, bone, glass, and garbage left by people and then transformed by nature. She has worked as an artist for over twenty years. Well known for her hand built, one of a kind, contemporary furniture and fibre work Cheryl has, in the last five years, turned her attention to smaller evocative animal, bird, and fish images.
Her meditative work style most often starts with a shoreline walk, observing light and shadow, and collecting stones which form the ballast and heart in her sculptures. A wire armature is formed around the stone to suggest and support the overall shape of the piece being built. Thin layers of gypsona cloth are stretched over the wire and stone. Each layer dries naturally. More detail is added with thin layers of a plaster and paper mache mix. These top layers are very malleable and hold finger tip markings and impressions. Marks of the maker offer clues to the state of harmony or unease the emerging creature is experiencing. The piece is finished with glass eyes and multiple layers of acrylic paint and perhaps glaze. Cheryl is a self taught, self guided artist.
The following is a partial list of shops and galleries which have featured her work.
The Crafts Guild of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB
The Knot Shop, Winnipeg, MB
The Croft, Calgary, AB
Mermaid’s Kiss Gallery, Gimli, MB
Fishfly Gallery, Winnipeg Beach, MB
The Wave Art Tour, Manitoba Interlake
Gallery Lacosse, Winnipeg, MB
Bulrushes Gallery, Winnipeg Beach, MB
Pulse Gallery, Winnipeg, MB
Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg, MB
Currently Cheryl’s work is available at Pulse Gallery, Winnipeg, Baggage Building Art Centre and Chenier Fine Arts, both in Thunder Bay.
