About the Artist
Kara McIntosh is a contemporary Canadian multi-disciplinary artist who explores the many layers, rhythms and patterns of the natural landscape in an abstracted style. Her creative practice begins with curiosity about the multi-faceted contexts of self, place and community. Creating from somewhere deep within, Kara’s immersive process of observation and response is intuitive and closely mirrors her own path of self discovery.
A hallmark of Kara's work is her unique mark-making which is rendered in loose impasto oil paint and/or hooked fibres such as wool and silk. She works to capture connections within the natural world, collect moments, suggest an essence of place, tell a story. Kara investigates in different mediums, at times combining them to both reference the textures of the landscape, but also to push the boundaries of what inspires underfoot, at eye level and above.
While the work may be informed by specific sites, Kara encourages the viewer to engage and reflect on their own experiences. She uses bright and often unexpected colours, bringing them into her natural compositions to offer a refreshing and abstracted take on traditional landscape matter.
Kara lives near Nottawa, ON with her family and works full-time from her studio located in The Tremont building in Collingwood. Her work can be found in many private and corporate collections in Canada, the US, Europe and Australia.
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EDUCATION
1996
MSc, Rural Planning and Development, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON
1991
BAH, Queen’s University, Kingston, ON
ARTIST RESIDENCIES
2021
Pouch Cove Foundation Residency, Pouch Cove, NL. September 2021
2019
Arts & Minds Canada + The Jennifer Keefe Foundation, TiltingAIR (Artist in Residency); Tilting, Fogo Island, Newfoundland
Valleyview Artist Retreat; Caledon East, Ontario
PRESS
2021
Embracing Discomfort, Found Her Productions Podcast guest
John B. Aird Gallery, Drawing 2021, catalogue
2020
The Essence of Place, On The Bay Magazine, Spring 2020
SHOWS + EXHIBITIONS
2022
Love is in the Air, Propeller Art Gallery, Toronto, ON
2021
Layers of Immersion, Observations from a Newfoundland Residency. Solo show at Geary House, Toronto, ON
Square Foot Show, Westland Gallery, London, ON
Carmichael Canadian Landscape Exhibition: Tradition Transformed, Orilla Museum of Art and History, Orilla, ON. Curated by Martha Reeve and Deborah Farquharson
Northern Lights, Tom Thompson Gallery, Owen Sound, ON
Brushstrokes and Brushstrokes II, Five Canadian Women Abstract Artists, Artwrk.ca
Drawing 2021, John B. Aird Gallery, Toronto, ON. Curated by Steve Khan and Neda Omidvar
2020
Pairings, an Exhibition with Johanna Reynolds at Langdon Hall, Cambridge, ON. September 2020 - January 2021
Artfully.ca - Canada’s best online gallery, featuring emerging and established Canadian artists. Ongoing.
Things Feel Different, Show with Johanna Reynolds curated by Alissa Sexton, July 3-17, 2020, Artwrk.ca
The Artist Project, Better Living Centre, Toronto, 20-23 February, 2020
2019
Returning Home, Noodle Gallery, Solo Show, Alton Mill Arts Centre, Alton, ON. December 2019
The Taylor Statten Camping Bursary Fund Art Show, The Storey’s Building, Toronto, ON. November, 2019
The Coachhouse show, The Coach House, Toronto, May 23-25, 2019
The Artist Project, Better Living Centre, Toronto. 21-24 February, 2019
2018
Encounters, an exhibition of paintings and drawings with Deborah Farquharson at the Peter MacKendrick Community Gallery, Artscape Wychwood Barns, Toronto, 14- 17 June, 2018
Finalist, Murray B Clerkson Award for Emerging Artists + Clerkson Finalists Award Show, Blue Mountain Foundation of the Arts, Collingwood, ON May-June, 2018
Stepping Out Beyond the Studio, Tremont Artists Paint en plein air. Art in Town Hall, Council Chambers, Collingwood, ON. March – May, 2018
Benefactor Art Exchange Programme, MacLaren Art Centre, Barrie, ON (until present)
2017
Out There, Solo Show at Curiosity House, Creemore, ON
Observations, Show with Deborah Farquharson at the MacKendrick Gallery, Artscape Wychwood Barns, Toronto, ON
The Ojibway Club Art Show, Pointe au Baril, ON
The Taylor Statten Camping Bursary Fund Art Show, The Storey’s Building, Toronto, ON
2016
The Ojibway Club Art Show, Pointe au Baril, ON
Creemore Festival of the Arts, Creemore, ON
The Taylor Statten Camping Bursary Fund Art Show, The Storey’s Building, Toronto, ON
2015
The Ojibway Club Art Show, Pointe au Baril, ON
Creemore Festival of the Arts, Creemore, ON
The Taylor Statten Camping Bursary Fund Art Show, The Storey’s Building, Toronto, ON
COLLECTIONS
Private and Corporate collections in Canada, the US, Australia and Europe
Braestone Club, Oro Medonte, ON
Georgian International, Barrie, ON
Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan, Toronto, ON