Lindsay Montgomery

My recent Neo-Istoriato series re-imagines Italian Maiolica ceramics and medieval manuscript illustrations to create narratives, myths, and cautionary tales. My imagery and forms explore pagan rituals, animal archetypes, modes of power, and encounters with the dead or supernatural to highlight the persistent tensions with monarchy, colonialism and femi¬nism that continue to perpetuate destruction and inequality on Earth. The Istoriato, or “story painted” vessel from Renaissance Italy provided an opportunity to reclaim a device that propagated patriarchal classical social norms. In response, my work uses the practice of an ancient craft to communicate through images and narrative forms which I continue to expand upon as this ongoing project evolves.

-- Lindsay Montgomery

Lindsay Montgomery works across a variety of media including ceramics, painting and puppetry to create narrative videos, performances and objects. Her work is focused on creating personal mythologies that address a wide range of topics and issues including death and mysticism, family dynamics, and evolving modes of power. She earned a BFA from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, and received her MFA from the University of Minnesota.

Her work has been exhibited in Canada and internationally with exhibitions at The Gardiner Museum for Ceramics, The Archie Bray Foundation, and The National Conference on Education in the Ceramic Arts. She is the recipient of numerous awards including The Helen Copeland Memorial Award, The Joyce Carlyle Memorial Scholarship in the Crafts Endowment, and an individual project grant from The Canada Council for the Arts. She lives and works in Toronto and is currently an Assistant Professor at Concordia University in Montreal.