Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Heather Saunders
Mixed Media Sculpture

I’m a Toronto-based artist who works in fibers. I have exhibited in British Columbia and Ontario, Canada and last year won Honorable Mention in sculpture at the Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition. Combining skills attained in my Bachelors in Art and Art History (Sheridan College and University of Toronto), Masters in Library and Information Studies (University of Toronto) and Masters in Art History (University of Toronto, forthcoming.

My work explores the concept of gender as a social construct, specifically as influenced by clothing and gender-specific colour coding. The irony is that in these feminist sculptures where the cocoon acts as a metaphor for female socialization, I am complicit: I cast my vote as a consumer when I scour baby stores for ultra-feminine garments. I am admittedly seduced by luscious fabrics in myriad shades of pink; and like a good Victorian, I contentedly stitch and embroider. Although I had never considered the relationship between my name and my work before, I now realize that the frequent emphasis on floral imagery (as a signifier of femininity) may be more than coincidental, considering that heather is a flower.

My parents chose the name because it couldn’t be shortened, which gave me a fixed identity. I too have never wanted to change it.

I was stunned by the number of women named Heather when I tried to register for my first Hotmail account. Frustrated that every variation I tried (Heather plus various numbers, heatherina@hotmail.com, etc.) was taken, I eventually settled for toomanyheathers@hotmail.com. The address has always made people laugh.