CV/Bio

ARTIST STATEMENT

Since leaving my warehouse studio in Vancouver, Canada in 2011, I have searched for ways to interlace elements of my existing art practice (formerly consisting of making paintings for commercial galleries) to include sculpture and installation. To incorporate sewing techniques learned from my mother and to continue working with wood as taught to me by my father. Through ongoing research and the development of a methodology that I call ‘Day-to-Day Aesthetics’, I’ve created a stream of artwork that works to answer my ethical and creative queries.

The Day-to-Day Aesthetics methodology involves a steady, consistent daily drawing practice, and a focus on the importance and meaning of the materials used in making works of art while maintaining earth friendly, sustainable ethos. By developing an acute awareness, sensitivity to and respect for my surroundings (which due to my semi-nomadic lifestyle is ever changing) the work evolves as a direct response to both where my studio is located and what (re)usable materials I discover. Discarded objects, collected ephemera, collected bits and parts ignite ideas, sometimes immediately, other times months or even years later.

I feel that my task as an artist is to create stimulating, intriguing and inspiring work that may transport the viewer to a state of wonder and/or inquiry. Using my past experience, immediate surroundings and creative space, I make objects, installations, and video/soundscapes that seek to enrich and broaden the experience of those that come in contact with them. The work sets up key narrative elements yet leaves the specifics for the co-creative audience to fill in. I want my work to become a movement toward connectivity to the environment and to each other, to emote in a way similar to experiencing the beauty of nature, to inspire its audience to ask questions and discuss solutions, experience emotions and delve deeply into the humanity and fragility that is life.

My love of the environment is lifelong, my concern for its welfare, profound. This has lead to experiences of living in a wide variety of surroundings and my heartfelt desire that the work I create succeeds both aesthetically and in effectively communicating the poetics of geography in a deeply personal way.

DAY-to-DAY AESTHETICS

MANDATE FOR A METHODOLOGY
To focus on the importance and meaning of the materials used in making works of art while maintaining a sustainable, earth friendly ethos.

To develop an acute awareness of and respect for one’s surroundings, in turn providing depth and meaning to the art work created.

To uphold a steady, consistent daily art practice as creative exercise that aids in producing coherent bodies of art work and presents potential for improved mental, emotional and spiritual well-being.

Through consistency of observing, collecting, making, doing, recording, researching, the artist will create work that evolves naturally, authentically and progressively.

Through sharing interests, research, conversation, interaction and support the artist will build an important sense of primary and secondary community.

There is no one way to participate in this methodology, therefore freeing the artist to expand, experiment and grow within his/her own personal mission.

CURRICULUM VITAE

E D U C A T I O N
Falmouth University    
Cornwall, UK     MFA with distinction
Crawford College of Art and Design    Cork, Ireland    BFA 
Bealart     London, Canada

S O L O   E X H I B I T I O N S
2024 
Judith & Norman Alix Art Gallery   In the Garden of Exquisite Unknown    Sarnia, CA
2019 
Mount House Gallery   Akin Uncountable     Marlborough, UK
2016  
Ranger Station Art Gallery     Not Lost at Sea     Harrison Hot Springs, CA
2016  Back Lane West   Tender to the Sea:2      Redruth, UK
2015  
Falmouth University   Tender to the Sea    Falmouth, UK
2014
  University of the Fraser Valley Gallery   draw the line    Abbotsford, CA
2013  Elissa Cristall Gallery   New Work     Vancouver, CA
2013  Vancouver Art Gallery, Art Sales & Rental   Featured Artist    Vancouver, CA
2013  Ranger Station Art Gallery    Exploring Totem      Harrison Hot Springs, CA
2012  Parts Gallery  dwell    Toronto, CA
2012  Herringer Kiss Gallery   stem    Calgary, CA
2010  Herringer Kiss Gallery  presage    Calgary, CA
2008  Herringer Kiss Gallery   stem & wing    Calgary, CA
2006  Halde Galerie    serenity     Halde, Switzerland
2004  ARC Gallery   elements    Vancouver, CA
2003  studio blue gallery   Constellations      Vancouver, CA
1999  Art Gallery of the South Okanagan     Cycles and Symbols  Penticton, CA
1995  Michael Gibson Gallery   Sixty-five Drawings      London, CA

S M A L L   G R O U P   E X H I B I T I O N S
2019  Mount House Gallery   Kindred Vessels    Marlborough, UK 
2018  
Haida Gwaii Museum    Artists in Gwaii Haanas     Haida Gwaii, CA
2011
  Herringer Kiss Gallery   Abstract Hues   Calgary, CA
2010  Toronto International Art Fair   Parts Gallery     Toronto, CA
2009  Parts Gallery   orsa   (S.Humston/Ric Santon)    Toronto, CA
2007  Sopa Fine Arts  stem & sentinel  (S.Humston/J.Alfaro)   Kelowna,  CA
2006  Sopa Fine Arts  elements     Kelowna, CA
2006  Jacana Gallery    sweet raw   (S.Humston/Leah Rosenberg)    Vancouver, CA
2006  Summit Gallery    bloom       Banff, CA
2005  Snap Gallery   The Shape of Light    Vancouver, CA
2005  Snap Gallery    movement & stillness    Vancouver, CA
2005  Sugar and Sugar   rogers, ljubojevic, humston    Vancouver, CA
2003  Vancouver Art Gallery, Art Sales and Rental    Spring Exhibition    Vancouver, CA
1997  Between Cultures    Selected Group Exhibition       London, CA
1995  MacIntosh Gallery, UWO    Generating Voice      London, CA

S E L E C T E D   G R O U P   E X H I B I T I O N S
2019  
Mount House Gallery    Artists’ Sketchbooks      Marlborough, UK    
2018  
Buitenwerkplaats      Starnmeer 365     Starnmeer, Netherlands
2017  
44AD Gallery   Art + Text juried exhibition     Bath, UK
2015  
Fringe Arts Bath   The Manifesto of the Wall     Bath, UK
2014  
Herring Kiss Gallery  The Painters   Calgary, CA
2014  Elissa Cristall Gallery   Soliel  Vancouver, CA
2013  The Reach Public Gallery    Fraser Valley Biennale    Abbotsford, CA
2007 The Cultch   Process & Intent   Vancouver, CA
2006  Jacana Gallery  Best Wishes   Gallery Artists Group Show     Vancouver, CA
2006  Sopa Fine Arts  wrap it up    Gallery Artists Group Exhibition   Kelowna, CA
2006  ARC Gallery   uncommon passion    Group Exhibition     Vancouver, CA
2005  Jacana Gallery   Winter Group Show       Vancouver, CA
2005  Halde Gallery   Recent Contemporary Works      Halde, Switzerland
2005  ARC Gallery  uncommon denominator     Vancouver, CA
2004  Gallery Jones   Selected Artists   Vancouver, CA
2004  ARC Gallery   uncommon light        Vancouver, CA
2004  Aion Gallery  Art to Carry -artist’s book exhibition  Vancouver, CA
2003  studio blue  Gallery Artists       Vancouver, CA
2003 Casa Gallery   Gallery Artists      Vancouver, CA
1998  Art Gallery of the South Okanagan    Okanagan Creates   Penticton, CA
1998  Art Gallery of the South Okanagan   Treasured Chests    Penticton, CA
1998  White Gallery   Bealart Retrospective    London, CA
1997  Figuratively Speaking Independent Group Exhibition    Penticton, CA
1996  The Alternator  Annual Member’s Exhibition    Kelowna, CA
1995  The Big Picture   Independent Group Exhibition     London, CA
1995  London New Arts Festival   Annual Juried Exhibition     London, CA
1995  Michael Gibson Gallery    Gallery Artist’s Exhibition     London, CA
1994  London Art & Historical Museum   47th Annual Juried Exhibition    London, CA
1994  Michael Gibson Gallery    London Contemporary Artists     London, CA
1994  London New Arts Festival   Annual Juried Exhibition     London, CA
1994  Forest City Gallery    Big City Show    London, CA
1994  Room Twenty-Three   Group Exhibition    Guelph, CA
1993  Michael Gibson Gallery   Juried Miniature Exhibition      London, CA
1993  Michael Gibson Gallery     Contemporary London Artists     London, CA

I N S T A L L A T I O N / P E R F O R M A N C E
2017  Sound of Nature, Sound of Art    Live painting   Lincoln Center, Oregon   USA
2015  Fringe Arts Bath     The Stories We Tell-installation with short film    Bath, UK
2007  ECHO CHAMBER ChapelArtsCentre   painting performance  Vancouver, CA
2006  ECHO CHAMBER ArtistResourceCentre  painting performance      Vancouver, CA
2005  silence   a live elevator installation    Artist Resource Centre         Vancouver, CA
2004  SHED multi media installation  ARC building   Vancouver, CA

A W A R D S  &  R E S I D E N C I E S
Marlborough College   Artist in Residence 2018/2020  Marlborough, UK
Lucy Morrow Ceramics   Invited Artist Residency    Douarnenez, France
Cultureland Artist Residency     Amsterdam/Starnmeer, Netherlands  
Sitka Center for Art & Ecology   Oregon, USA
Earthskin Artist in Residence   Muriwai, New Zealand
Gwaii Haanas Artist in Residence   Parks Canada & Haida Gwaii Museum
Back Lane West Artist in Residence   Redruth, UK
BC Arts Council Education Grant
Ranger Station Art Gallery Artist in Residence   Harrison Hot Springs, CA
Pollock Krasner Foundation Fellowship
Woodstock Byrdcliffe Guild Artist in Residence    New York, USA
Knock on Woods Artist in Residence    Mayne Island, CA
BC Arts Council (Art Gallery of the South Okanagan) Exhibition Assistance Grant
Ontario Arts Council  (MacIntosh Gallery) Exhibition Assistance Grant
Ontario Arts Council  (Forest City Gallery) Exhibition Assistance Grant
City of London Arts Bursary
Michael Gibson Gallery, Juried Miniature Exhibition Best in Show Award

R E C E N T   T E A C H I N G   /   W O R K S H O P S  /  L E C T U R E S
Judith & Norman Alix Art Gallery   
Sarnia, CA   Workshops & exhibiting artist lecture
Marlborough College    
Marlborough, UK   Summer School 
Marlborough College     
Marlborough, UK     Artist in Residence lectures & teaching
Cultureland   
Amsterdam, Netherlands      Artist in Residence lecture
Sitka Center for Art & Ecology   
Oregon, USA   Artists in Residence lectures
Earthskin   
Muriwai, New Zealand   Artist in Residence lecture & open studio    
Haida Gwaii Museum   
Skidegate, CA     Artist in Residence workshop & artist lecture
Trinity Western University     
Langley, CA   Guest Lecturer
Artist Resource Centre    Vancouver, CA    Creative Daily Practice workshops 
Opus Art Supplies   Vancouver, CA    Creative Daily Practice workshop
Ranger Station Art Gallery   Harrison Hot Springs, BC   Creative practice workshop 
Falmouth University   
Cornwall, UK   Undergrad visual research & drawing course
Back Lane West    Redruth, Cornwall, UK   Artist lecture
Vancouver Art Gallery   Art Sales and Rental   Feature Artist lecture
Elissa Cristall Gallery
   Vancouver, CA   Artist lecture
University of the Fraser Valley   Abbottsford, CA    Artist lecture
Ranger Station Art Gallery  several Artist in Residence workshops & artist talks
Byrdcliffe Art Colony   Woodstock, USA     Artist lecture & open studio

C O L L E C T I O N S
Private collections in Canada, United States, Britain, Ireland, Europe, Australia; Haida Gwaii Museum, Earthskin, Cultureland, University College Cork, Cenovus Energy, Walkaway, Encana Corporation

ARTIST BIO

Siobhan began her creative studies early with classical piano, violin and vocal while attending music and theatre school in her younger years, and continued studies at BealArt in London, Ontario and Crawford College of Art & Design in Cork, Ireland where she graduated with a BFA in printmaking and mixed media painting. She traveled extensively throughout Europe and North America, always carrying paper, pencils, paints and camera. Her collection of sketchbooks now numbers over a hundred and thirty.

Shortly after a life affirming tête-à-tête with congenital illness and subsequent open heart surgery, she moved to Vancouver, making homes and studios in a number of live/work buildings and one large converted factory space. She participated and volunteered with the East Side Culture Crawl, co-established the annual group exhibition at the ARC (Artist Resource Centre), hosted open studios, musical events, book readings, movie nights, pop-up restaurants, jam sessions and fully engaged her surroundings while making two and three-dimensional artwork.

Being evicted from her Vancouver studio/home late in 2011 when the landlord could not make the safety improvements required by the city, completing work for two solo exhibitions in a temporary studio and doing an Artist Residency in New York, kicked off the beginning of a new chapter of adventures when she was chosen as the Artist in Residence at Ranger Station Art Gallery in Harrison Hot Springs, British Columbia. This one-year appointment changed the trajectory of Siobhán’s domestic life, reinvigorating a passion for the natural environment and solidifying her commitment to broadening the scope of her artistic practice. While she worked on introducing man-made elements into her long-standing visual lexicon of abstracted aspects of nature, she walked miles each day and began an ongoing photographic series titled ‘exploring totem’. She exhibited these alongside paintings, large scale drawings, assemblage sculptures as part of her Artist in Residence solo exhibition, in the Fraser Valley 2nd Biennale and as the Vancouver Art Gallery’s AR&S’s Feature Artist.

In 2014 Siobhán relocated to Cornwall, UK where she investigated the interdisciplinary nature of her art practice as part of the MFA Art & Environment degree, exploring themes of displacement from and connection to our natural environment. Whilst creating multi-dimensional work formulated from the happenstance of engaging fully with the experience of place and time, she developed a methodology called ‘Day-to-Day Aesthetics’. After being awarded the MFA with distinction, she returned to Vancouver, Canada where she set up a live/work studio.

Unable to settle in the city, Siobhan began applying for Artist in Residence positions as a way to continue her less commercially based art practice and since June 2017, she has been Artist in Residence at Haida Gwaii Museum in northern British Columbia, Canada; Earthskin in New Zealand; Sitka Centre for Art & Ecology in Oregon, USA; Cultureland in Amsterdam/Starnmeer Netherlands and at Lucy Morrow Ceramics in Bretagne, France. After a nomadic twelve months, Siobhan was selected as Marlborough College’s Artist in Residence for the school terms 2018/2019 where she used her time to paint, draw, build and keep a daily regimen of practicing music, writing and exploring, keenly observing, recording and being inspired by the natural world around her. She was invited to return for a second year, that contract ending in July of 2020.

The following seven months were spent living between England, Ireland, Scotland and eventually, in early 2021, she returned to Canada to be close to and help with her family. An accepted PhD proposal at University of Dundee to investigate the interconnectedness between art, nature, science and spirituality was put on hold. She continues to read her way through her reading list, draw, paint, make small scale sculptures and momentary land art interventions which you can see on Instagram at siobhan.humston.artist or siobhanhumstonart. Since mid-2022, Siobhán worked on a collection of drawings, fibre arts sculptures, sculptural installations, a film and soundscape which are featured in her solo exhibition at Judith & Norman Alix Art Gallery from April 19 to September 1, 2024.

Siobhán’s artwork has been exhibited in over seventy solo and group exhibitions in commercial, artist-run and public galleries and is in private and corporate collections in North America, Britain, Europe and Australia. She is the recipient of a Pollock Krasner Foundation fellowship in conjunction with the Byrdcliffe Guild Artist Residency Program in New York, a City of London Arts Bursary, Ontario Arts Council and BC Arts Council grants, and most recently a BC Arts Council Education Grant for MFA studies at Falmouth University in the UK. She has been featured on City TV Vancouver & Calgary, the Vancouver Sun and CBC Radio’s Arts Report.

If you have questions about or are interested in exhibiting, purchasing or renting art work, please contact the artist at .