Episode 25 - Cole Swanson

Art Conversations with Lisa Jayne Irvine

Cole Swanson is an artist and educator based in Toronto, Ontario. Through a multidisciplinary, collaborative, and materially-focused practice, he explores interspecies dynamics evolving in the anthropocene.

Cole has exhibited works in national and international institutions on four continents and is two-time arts fellow through the Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute for his research on natural materials, miniature painting, fresco, and earth pigments. With a sustainable and access-oriented approach to creation and dissemination, Cole often engages conservationists, scientists, and social/community partners to integrate advocacy, education, and lived experience into the creative process. His work has been featured in several media and academic publications and his artistic research on Toronto’s double-crested cormorant colony was a feature on the celebrated program “The Nature of Things” with David Suzuki. He has attended residencies in Canada, India, Brazil, and Spain, and recently contributed to an expansive survey exhibition on art, nature, and ecology at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago Galleries called ‘Earthly Observatory,” curated by Giovanni Aloi and Andrew Yang.

On today’s episode Cole talks about his practice, travel, and the influence of materiality on his process.

Interested in seeing some of Cole’s work. Go to his website at coleswanson.org

Find Cole on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/coleswansonart/

Find me on instagram at https://www.instagram.com/artconversationswithlisajayne/ or at my website at www.lisajayneirvine.com