Colleen Wolstenholme

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Colleen Wolstenholme
BornMay 31, 1963
Antigonish, Nova Scotia
EducationNova Scotia College of Art and Design; State University of New York at New Paltz; York University
AwardsSobey Art Award (national shortlist)
Website https://colleenwolstenholme.com/

Colleen Wolstenholme (born May 31,1963) is a Canadian sculptor. She attended Nova Scotia College of Art and Design (NSCAD) from 1982 to 1986, and again in 1989, finished her Master of Fine Arts in 1992 at the State University of New York at New Paltz, and her PhD from York University in 2019. Her practice, while largely sculptural, also includes collage, drawing, jewellery, painting, photography, textiles, and video in a variety of literal and abstract approaches. Wolstenholme's earlier work makes analysis and commentary on the relationship between of women and medication, while her more recent works bring themes of neuroscience and human motion. [1]

Contents

Life and Career

Wolstenholme was born in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, in 1963. She studied at Nova Scotia College of Art and Design (NSCAD) from 1982 to 1986 before moving to New York in 1987. There, she was exposed to a variety of works and artists, influencing her approach to art. In 1989, Wolstenholme returning to Halifax and NSCAD to complete a jewellery major, then continuing her jewellery in a Master of Fine Arts at the State University of New York at New Paltz in 1992. After graduation, Wolstenholme worked for Dia Art Foundation as an art installer for the next two years. [2] [3]

In 1996 she exhibited a handcrafted wooden wardrobe and fabric female genitals, as well as Patience (1996), a seven-foot-tall pentagonal padded cell. Both works comment on the treatment of women and mental health, locking women away through religion, mental institution, or medication, to subdue unwanted or undesired emotions, reactions, and attitudes. During this time, Wolstenholme also worked three semesters at NSCAD as an instructor before her first solo exhibition Patience (1996) in Anna Leonowens Gallery.

Wolstenholme's practice continues her exploration of women’s health and pharmaceuticals in jewellery-making, casting antianxiety, antidepressant, and psychostimulant pills into accurately-sized charms and accessories. In 1997, Wolstenholme moved to Vancouver for the next three years. There, she was invited by friend, Sarah McLachlan, to sell her jewellery-work at Lilith Fair rock festival. Here, Wolstenholme broke through into mainstream media and national critique as pharmaceutical companies threatened lawsuits over the use of their trademarked names.[ citation needed ] While no lawsuits ended up being filed, Wolstenholme continued her drug charms and her commentary on prescription drug dependency, substance abuse, and disproportionate effects on women under media pressure. In 1997, Wolstenholme also co-wrote a song for McLachlan’s multi-platinum album, Surfacing . [2] [4]

Wolstenholme to Nova Scotia in 1999, specifically to Hantsport, for the following years of her career. There, she created large-scale medication replications including Dexedrine, Paxil, Valium, Xanax, and Zoloft. Much like her drug jewellery, these sculptures critique the history of medication used against and for women as means of staving off hysteria and other undesirabed emotions, behaviours, and disorders.

In the early 2000s Wolstenholme work addressed the relationship between clothing and the female body. Each made in 2005, Wolstenholme's sculptures Shrouded Figure, Triad, and Suffrage and her paintings Camoucash and Camouflesh series depict women in burqas and camouflage motifs. The use of both elements critique the Western distaste towards veils and shrouds while simultaneously fetishizing them, objects of both protection and oppression of women and gendered clothing. [5] In 2002, Wolstenholme is nominated and shortlisted for the Sobey’s Art Award. Later, Hyperobjects (2016) examines the unfathomable as Wolstenholme attempts to deconstruct and humanize understanding of the universe and society on a micro- and macro-scale.[ citation needed ]

In 2019, Wolstenholme earned her PhD from York University and, also hired in 2019 as an assistant professor at St. Thomas University in Fredericton, New Brunswick, for visual art.[ citation needed ]

From 2022 to 2024, Wolstenholme has shown a collection of oil paintings, ink drawings, light projection, and wire sculptures of sea-life: octopus, sea jellies, anemones, and other invertebrates. The series, In the Deep Blue Sea (2024), reflects her isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic, comparing it to the deep loneliness and peace of the deep ocean, meditative and floating through time and space. [1]

Wolstenholme's work is now housed in Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, Confederation Centre for the Arts, Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, and the National Gallery of Canada, as well as in her own collection.

Artwork

2020s

2010s

2000s

1990s

Exhibitions

Solo Exhibitions

Group Exhibitions (Small)

Group Exhibitions (Large)

  • 2021 “Tyranny”, Permanent collection, Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, Halifax, N.S., July 10 –
  • 2021 “Terra Nova”, curated by Rheal Olivier Lanthier and Francois St-Jacques Art Mur, Montreal, Quebec, February 9 – April 24
  • 2013 Porcelain: Breaking Tradition curated by Rheal Olivier Lanthier. Art Mur, Montreal, Quebec, November 2 – December 21
  • 2012 “Skin: the seduction of surface”, curated by Sarah Fillmore. Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, Halifax, N.S., May 19 – October 1
  • 2011 “Please Lie to Me”, curated by Rheal Olivier Lanthier. Art Mur, Montreal, Quebec, November 5 – December 17
  • 2011 “Synaptic Connections: Art and The Brain”, curated by Dale Sheppard. Art gallery of Nova Scotia Halifax, Nova Scotia, September 23 – January 29, 2012
  • 2011 “Pharmakon”, curated by Marcel O'Gorman. Critical media Lab, Kitchener, Ontario, September 22-25
  • 2011 “Momento Mori / Bone Again”, Art Mur, Montreal, Quebec, March 12 – April 23
  • 2010/11 “It Is What It Is”, curated by Josee Drouin-Brisbois. National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, November 6 – April 10 2011
  • 2008/9 “Arena: The Art of Hockey”, curated by Ray Cronin. Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, Halifax, Nova Scotia, April 5 – June 8; Art Gallery of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, October 4, 2008 – January 9, 2009; Just for Laughs Museum, Montreal, P.Q., January 23 – April 19, 2009; Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art, Toronto, ON, September 9 - November 1, 2009.
  • 2009 “Heartland”, curated by Jeffrey Spalding. TIAF, Toronto ON October 22 – 27, 2009
  • 2008 “When the Mood Strikes us”, curated by J.J. Kegan McFadden. Platform Gallery, Winnipeg, Manitoba, September 12 – October 24
  • 2007/8 “Pictured: Image and Object in Canadian Sculpture”, curated by Ray Cronin.
  • Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, Halifax, Nova Scotia, December 8 – March 24
  • 2005 “Constitution”, curated by Lynn Acoose. Godfrey Dean Art Gallery, Yorkton, Saskatchewan, June-August
  • 2005 “The Watcher”, curated by Isa Spalding Encomium Contemporary Art, Toronto, Ontario, February.
  • 2005 “Appearances: New Work from Nova Scotia”, Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, Halifax, Nova Scotia, January-February.
  • 2004 “Marion McCain Atlantic Art Exhibition”, The Beaverbrook Art Gallery, Fredericton, New Brunswick, March 14 – April 25.
  • 2003 Container curated by Stephen Holmes Real Art Ways, Hartford, Connecticut, Oct. 4 – Jan. 3, 2004.
  • 2002/3 “Sobey Art Award: 2002 shortlist exhibition”, Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Dec. 5, 2002 - Feb. 2003; Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art, Toronto, Ontario, Nov. 15-Dec. 21, 2003.
  • 2002 “Eleven Bulls: 15 Artists”, Project Green, 106 Green Street, Brooklyn, New York, July 27 - Aug. 11.
  • 2002 “Surface Tourist”, 15 Cecile Park, Crouch End, London, UK, June 21-25.
  • 2001 “Art and Music Memorabilia”, Horse Hospital Gallery, London, UK, Nov. 19-24.
  • 2000 “The Time Machine: Sculpture in the 20th Century”, curated by Robin Peck. The University of Lethbridge Art Gallery, Lethbridge, Alberta, June 6 - Sept. 20.

Achievements and Awards

Collections

Wolstenholme’s work is held in various collections such as the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, the Confederation Centre for the Arts, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, and the National Gallery of Canada, as well as her own collection.

Publications

Cronin, Ray. Colleen Wolstenholme: Complications, Gaspereau Press, 2022

Clement, Eric. « Art Mur: 25 ans et toutes ses dents ! », La Presse, March 18, 2021

Cronin, Ray. “Representing Women: Colleen Wolstenholme’s “Triad”,” National Gallery of Canada Magazine, April 17th, 2020

Cronin, Ray. “Damn Control: Colleen Wolstenholme's Sculpture of Resistance,” Espace 120, Fall 2018

Cronin, Ray, Randolph, Jeanne, Wendt, Pan, “Sugar and Spice”, Canada: Confederation Centre Art Gallery, Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, Robert McLaughlin Gallery, 2008

Cronin, Ray. “Sculpture and Other Provocations: The Artful Subversion of Colleen Wolstenholme”, Border Crossings, issue 102, May 2007

Eichhorn, Virginia. “Colleen Wolstenholme, Iconophobia”, Espace 77, Fall 2006

Millar, Joyce. Contemporary Canadian Sculpture, the Canadian Encyclopedia, Historica Foundation of Canada, 2006

Jurakic, Ivan. Iconophobia, exhibition catalogue essay, Cambridge Galleries, 2006

Peck, Robin. “Endless Columns”, Espace 73, Fall 2005

Ward, Holly. Placebo/ Helen Cho, Colleen Wolstenholme, exhibition catalogue essay, Artspeak Gallery, 2004

Halicks, Richard. “Prescription for Trouble”, Atlanta Journal Constitution, September 19, 2004

Genocchio, Benjamin. “It May be Minimal but it Challenges the Intellect”, Art Review, The New York Times, 30 November, 2003

Cronin, Ray. “New Sculptural Realism: Rethinking Objectivity”, Sculpture, Vol. 22, No. 9, Nov. 2003

Cronin, Ray. “Everything Changes” Gill/Wolstenholme, exhibition catalogue essay, Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, Fall 2002

Wendt, Pan. “Desire: Greg Forrest, Lauren Schaffer, Colleen Wolstenholme”, exhibition review, Arts Atlantic, #67 Summer/Fall 2000

Peck, Robin. “The Time Machine: Sculpture in the 20th Century”, the University of Lethbridge Art Gallery, Summer 2000

Cronin, Ray. Desire: Greg Forrest, Lauren Schaffer, Colleen Wolstenholme, exhibition catalogue essay, Confederation Center Art Gallery, Spring 2000

Johnson, Andrew. “One Pill is Larger, One is Small...” Lola, winter 1999-2000 Spitzer, Helen. “Medicating Resistance”, Lola, winter 1999-2000

Hogshire, Jim. Pills-a-go-go, California: Feral House, 1999 Childerhose, Buffy. “Pills, Trick or Treat”, Shift Magazine, summer 1999

Peck, Robin. “Scattered Across the Floor”, C Magazine, #61 February-April 1999

Wilson, Carl. “Art Goes on The Pill”, Globe and Mail, February 6, 1999

Auld, Alison. “Pharmaceutical Giant Mulls Legal Action...” Canadian Press, Aug. 18, 1998

Leigh, Wendy. "A Hard Pill to Swallow", London Sunday Times, Style, March 15, 1998

"Harper's Index", Harper's Magazine, January, 1998

"Mood Rings", People Magazine, November 10, 1997

Bibby, Patricia. "One Artist's Prescription for Jewellery", Associated Press, August 18, 1997

References

  1. 1 2 "index". colleenwolstenholme.com. Retrieved 2025-05-28.
  2. 1 2 Cronin, Ray (2021). Colleen Wolstenholme: Complications. Vol. 6. Gaspereau Press. ISBN   978-1-55447-214-7.
  3. Cronin, Ray (2024). Halifax art & artists: an illustrated history. Art Canada Institute. Toronto, ON: Art Canada Institute = Institut de l'art canadien. ISBN   978-1-4871-0314-9.
  4. "Colleen Wolstenholme | Art Mur" . Retrieved 2025-05-28.
  5. Wendt, Pan; Confederation Centre Art Gallery and Museum, eds. (2008). Colleen Wolstenholme - sugar & spice, sucre et épices: Confederation Centre Art Gallery; Art Gallery of Nova Scotia; The Robert McLaughlin Gallery = Colleen Wolstenholme - sucre et épices. Charlottetown: Confederation Centre Art Gallery [u.a.] ISBN   978-0-920089-69-9.