Description
Born in Saint John, New Brunswick and currently based in Ottawa, Jeannie Polisuk’s practice includes painting, sculpture, and installation. Through both figurative and abstract works, she examines themes of memory and identity, inviting the viewer into personal and psychological landscapes.
Her figurative works explore these concepts through the personification of the ubiquitous stuffed toy. These multilayered paintings occupy a space between fantasy and reality. “I view the stuffed toy as a witness to the past, a vessel embodying layers of rich textural meaning,” she says. By re-contextualizing familiar childhood toys, she gives voice to narratives of a collective past, inviting the viewer to explore the interplay between memory, imagination, and reality.
Jeannie Polisuk’s more recent abstract works examine these concepts through a process driven approach. Her mixed-media paintings are characterized by their large scale, complex patterns and vibrant colours. Her process involves building layers, distilling what is essential and letting go of what is not. The resulting rich, tactile surfaces evoke the complexity of memory that is layered, fragmented, and interwoven.
Jeannie Polisuk earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Ottawa, majoring in painting and sculpture. She is a former member of the Rectory Art House in Ottawa and has received grants from the Ontario Arts Council. Her works have been exhibited in solo and group exhibitions in Canada and the United States and are held in private and corporate collections.
