Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
I am a visual artist and singer with an eclectic interdisciplinary practice that incorporates photography, video, installation, improvised music, performance, and interdisciplinary collaboration. My work is often based in research and incorporates strategies that interrupt or question established historical narratives. I am very interested in improvisation as a model for creative process and collaboration. www.carolsawyer.net
I have exhibited my photographic and video works widely in Canada, and my videos have been featured in multiple festivals in both North America and in Europe. My ongoing project about a fictional singer, 'The Natalie Brettschneider Archive' has been exhibited in public galleries across Canada. A beautiful illustrated monograph about the project, with essays by Erin Silver, Heather Anderson, Michelle Jacques, Bruce Grenville, and Mona Filip was published in 2020 by Carleton University Art Gallery, in collaboration with the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, the Vancouver Art Gallery, and the Koffler Gallery. Each iteration of this project has been accompanied by a recital, in which I invite local musicians to help me to "recreate" some of Brettschneider's repertoire. In 2021 I collaborated with musicians Clyde Reed, Lisa Cay Miller, and Kenton Loewen to record an LP, the Natalie Brett Quartet: Standards (available on Band Camp). I am an active member of the Improvised music community in Vancouver, and serve on the Board of Directors for Now Society.
Singer, improvisor, performer, interdisciplinary collaborator
Since 1999 I have taught a variety of courses at ECU, including VAST interdisciplinary Senior Studio, Research Practices, History of Photography, Photographic Practices, Photographic Image and Text, Drawing Writing and Photography, Photography and Performance, and other photography and general fine arts courses.