CV

EDUCATION

MFA 1998 School for the Contemporary Arts, Simon Fraser University.
Diploma 1982 Photography (Honours) Emily Carr College of Art and Design.

RECENT /CURRENT /UPCOMING

2023: The Natalie Brettschneider Archive. Contemporary Calgary, Calgary, AB. Curated by Ryan Doherty.

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2021: Shadow Puppet. The Art Centre Powell River, Powell River, BC. Curated by Laurance Playford-Beaudet.
2020 – 2021: Carol Sawyer: Proscenium. Surrey Art Gallery, Surrey, BC. Curated by Rhys Edwards.
2020: The Natalie Brettschneider Archive. Koffler Art Gallery, Toronto, ON. Curated by Mona Filip.
2019: The Scholar’s Study Republic Gallery, Vancouver, BC.
2017 – 2018: Carol Sawyer: The Natalie Brettschneider Archive. Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, BC. Curated by Bruce Grenville.
2017: I attempt from love’s sickness to fly, in vain. (2017 Colour correction) Republic Gallery, Vancouver, BC.
2016: The Natalie Brettschneider Archive. Art Gallery of Greater Victoria. Victoria, BC. Curated by Michelle Jacques.
The Natalie Brettschneider Archive. Carleton University Art Gallery, Ottawa, ON. Curated by Heather Anderson.
2015: Your Still Life Builds A Home Inside My Head. Collaboration with poet Susan Rich. Highline College Library, Des Moines, WA.
Shadow Puppet. Republic Gallery, Vancouver BC.
2011: Some Documents from the Life of Natalie Brettschneider. Republic Gallery, Vancouver, BC.
Wood Work. Video Installation, CoreVision Screens, Robson and Granville. Public Art Commission from the City of Vancouver. (reprised August/ September 2012)
2009: Proscenium. Republic Gallery, Vancouver BC.
Natalie Brettschneider in BC. Kelowna Art Gallery, Kelowna BC. Curated by Liz Wylie. (Brochure)
2008: Trace Ingredients. Public art commission, exhibit and performance at the Vancouver Public library downtown. Part of the larger project Memory Palace: Three artists in the Library, curated by Karen Love. (Catalogue)
Water Park. CSA Space, Vancouver BC. Curated by Christopher Brayshaw.
Vacant Lot. Republic Gallery, Vancouver BC.
2004: Tribute to the Cambie Works Yard. Permanent public art project, City of Vancouver National Works Yard.
2002: Aide-Mémoire: Memory Games. Gallery 44 Project Room, Toronto, ON.
2001: Aide-Mémoire. Floating Gallery, Winnipeg MB.

SELECTED TWO PERSON AND GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2022: Inherit. Art Gallery at EVERGREEN, Coquitlam, BC. Curated by Kate Henderson.
2022: too much light is blinding. SFU School For The Contemporary Arts, Vancouver BC. Curated by Claudette Lauzon.
2022: Listening to Pictures: Artists on the SFU Art Collection. SFU Galleries, Vancouver BC. Curated by Kimberly Phillips.
2021 – 2022: The Baroness Elsa Project. Carleton University Art Gallery. Curated by Heather Anderson and Irene Gammel. Touring to Owen’s Art Gallery, Mt. Allison University, Sackville, NB.
2018: Visitations (Or, Thirteen Ways to Live with Ghosts), Gordon Smith Gallery, North Vancouver, BC. Curated by Kimberly Phillips. (Catalogue)
2018: Supernatural: Art, Technology and the Forest, Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, Victoria, BC. Curated by Haema Sivanesan.
2017: UTOPIAS CONSTRUCTED III. Republic Gallery, Vancouver BC.
2017: This now, more than ever. SFU Gallery, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby BC. Curated by Melanie O’Brian and Stephen Collis.
2016: Theatre Theatre. Four person show with Deborah Edmeades, Adad Hannah, and Oliver Hussain. Evergreen Art Gallery, Coquitlam BC. Curated by Gregory Elgstrand.
2015: Silva: Booming Grounds. Nanaimo Art Gallery, Nanaimo BC. Curated by Jesse Birch.
Through a Window: Visual Art and SFU. Simon Fraser University, Burnaby BC. Curated by Melanie O’Brian.
Views from the Southbank I: Histories, Memories, Myths. Surrey Art Gallery, Surrey BC. Curated by Jordan Strom.
2012: Again and again and again. Vancouver Art Gallery. Vancouver BC Curated by Daina Augaitis.
Scenes of Selves, Occasions for Ruses. (group show, artist talk) Surrey Art Gallery, Surrey BC. Curated by Jordan Strom.
2011: Vancouver 125: Time-Based. Brockton Oval, Stanley Park, Vancouver BC. Curated by Marlene Madison.
2010: Truth or Fiction? Kamloops Art Gallery, Kamloops BC. Curated by Annette Hurtig.
Cue: Artist’s Video. Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver BC. Curated by Daina Augaitis and Christopher Eamon.
Culture Shock: video interventions at the QET. Vancouver BC. Curated by Stephanie Rebick.
2009: How Soon is Now. Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver BC. Curated by Kathleen Ritter.
2008: The Most Violent Thing. Republic Gallery, Vancouver BC. Curated by Vanessa Sorenson.
2006: Prologue I. Republic Gallery, Vancouver BC.
Home Theatre. SFU gallery, Burnaby BC. Curated by Bill Jeffries.
2005: ReCollect. Two person show with Mary Kavanagh. A Space, Toronto ON. Curated by Corinna Ghaznavi.
2004: Hitting the Wall. Installation and performance collaboration with Ya-wen Vivienne Wang. Access Gallery, Vancouver BC.
ReCollect. Two person show with Mary Kavanagh, curated by Corinna Ghaznavi. La Centrale, Montréal QC.
2003: Going a Journey. Charles Scott Gallery, Vancouver BC. Curated by Cate Rimmer.
Carol Sawyer and Adalgisa Campos. Or Gallery, Vancouver BC. Curated by Sydney Hermant. (Publication)
The Female Aim. G. Gibson Gallery, Seattle, WA.
Here. Artropolis 2003, Vancouver, BC. Curated by Donna Szöke.
2001-5: Facing History. Presentation House Gallery, North Vancouver BC, toured to Canadian Cultural Centre, Paris, and Centre d’Art Contemporain d’Herouville St. Clair, Basse Normandie, France. Curated by Karen Love. (Two separate catalogues for North Vancouver and Paris shows)

SELECTED PERFORMANCES

2023: Natalie Brett and Friends: with Christopher Dadge, Mark Limacher and Nate Waters. Performance at Contemporary Calgary to celebrate the launch of the Natalie Brettschneider Archive.
2022/ 2023: Natalie Brett Quartet LP Launches! December 2022 at 8EAST in Vancouver, and January 2023 at the Vancouver Art Gallery. With Lisa Cay Miller, Clyde Reed, and Kenton Loewen.
2021: Le Matin Dans Ta Poche performance as part of NOW Society’s Creative Music Series #10, with John Korsurd trumpet, Matthew Ariaratnam guitar, Cécile Savage bass and voice, Carol Sawyer voice, Mili Hong drums, Fred Jackson Jr. alto saxophone, Ron Ruiten engineer.
2021: Bewegung and Novembertag music video as part of TV8E Season 2 Episode 5 – Pterodactyl, based on two short poems by Baroness Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven.
2019: NOW Society Ensemble perform as part of Soundings: An Exhibition in Five Parts, Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Kingston ON.
2018: Recital: Carol Sawyer, Lisa Cay Miller, Elisa Thorn and Katie Rife Musical Repertoire from the Natalie Brettschneider Archive presented in collaboration with NOW Society. Vancouver Art Gallery, B.C.
2018: CoexisDance: Western Edition 1 improvised duet with Julia Carr, Scotiabank Dance Centre, Vancouver BC.
2018: An Incompleat History of the Voice performance by Carol Sawyer in 1997 as part of Acts of Transfer, Western Front, Vancouver BC.
2016: Reconstructions and Deconstructions: Carol Sawyer and Lisa Cay Miller perform music inspired by the repertoire of Natalie Brettschneider and her contemporaries. Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, Victoria BC.
2016: Performance of Natalie Brettschneider Repertoire at the opening of The Natalie Brettschneider Archive, Carleton University Art Gallery, Ottawa ON, January 18, 2016. Carol Sawyer and Jordan Zalis voice, Tariq Amery bass flute, Nicolas Fobes harpsichord, Agnes Malkinson cello, and Reiko Lokker violin.
2007-2016: VOXY improvising choir. Over the span of almost ten years, together with Kate Hammett Vaughan, I planned and coordinated a yearly series of workshops on improvisation for singers that culminated in a public performance.
2015: Shadow Cast. Live performance with improvised score, by Carol Sawyer, Meredith Bates, and Chris Gestrin. Merge collective, Vancouver BC
2000-2014: ion Zoo – musical ensemble co-founded with Steve Bagnell in 2000. Numerous performances of original improvised music at various venues in greater Vancouver BC including the Vancouver Art Gallery, the Jazz Cellar, 1067 Granville, the Charles H. Scott Gallery, Presentation House Studio, and Dancing on the Edge, as well as Gallery 1412 in Seattle WA.2013: Commissioned to create and perform six songs based on six plays in development, for PTC’s 40th anniversary celebration. With Ron Samworth and Bill Clarke.
Appearance with Vancouver Improvisers Orchestra at Presentation House Studio, North Vancouver BC
2012: Collaborated with pianist Lisa Cay Miller to research and perform early Berlin cabaret songs and improvisations, for Music on Main, at the event Arnold Schoenberg’s Pierrot Lunaire @100.
2010: Shadow Machine. Company Erasga Dance. Interdisciplinary performance collaboration with Alvin Erasga Tolentino, Peter Courtemanche, and Ken Gregory. W2 Media Arts Centre, Vancouver, BC.
Selected Works of Natalie Brettschneider. with pianist Dale Rasmussen, Evening Soiree, Kamloops Art Gallery, Kamloops BC
2009: The repertoire of Natalie Brettschneider. Performance with pianist Neville Bowman, GO Party, Kelowna Art Gallery, Kelowna BC
2008: Star Songs (with Joel di Stefano), performed for the Playwrights Cabaret, Playwrights Theatre Centre.
Parlour songs (with Joel di Stefano), for Proximity Arts, in conjunction with their installation at Blim.
2005: Cry Pitch Carrolls. Opera by Ruth Margraff. Performed the role of Alice in the Canadian premiere. Produced by Proximity Arts at Performance Works, Vancouver BC.
2004: Newly rediscovered repertoire of Natalie Brettschneider. Performance with violinist Régis Huby. Canadian Cultural Centre, Paris France.
2002: Acted the role of the “guide” for Michael Fernandes’ work By Appointment Only, Helen Pitt Gallery, Vancouver BC.
Natalie Brettschneider: a Portrait. With pianist Patrick Dubois. Presentation House Gallery, North Vancouver BC.
Bel Canto Chamber Ensemble. Performed Michael Conway Baker’s “Vocalise” and other works in recital in Vancouver and Victoria BC.
White. Duet with Alvin Erasga Tolentino performed for “The White Exhibition”, Portfolio Gallery, Vancouver. Curated by Jay MacDonell.
2000: Shadow Machine. Interdisciplinary performance collaboration with Peter Courtemanche, Ken Gregory, and Alvin Erasga Tolentino. Presented at Ironworks by the Western Front as part of “Industrial Ear”.
More Than the Love of Women. Opera composed by Michael Kurek, libretto by Deborah Schnitzer. Created the role of the Historian for the world premiere. Contemporary Dancers Studio, Winnipeg, Manitoba.

ARTIST PROJECTS AND ARTICLES CREATED FOR PUBLICATION

Tilt/Shift – a Koffler Digital Publication on Self-Portraiture. 2020.
Bringing Forgotten Women Artist Back to Light. Carol Sawyer, Canadian Art. 2016.
Feminist Artifact? Carol Sawyer negotiates the questions raised by Haarscherp. Gemak, April 2012.
ION ZOO: Venus looks good. Self-produced music CD, distributed by openform audio. 2009.
Ion Zoo Set Free at the Cellar. Music CD recorded for the NOW label, distributed by Cellar Live. 2007.
Street Cabooses. The Vancouver Review, Number 12, Winter 2007.
Blue Bedroom. The Vancouver Review, Number 6, Summer 2005.
Cambie Works Yard Picture Cycle. Interactive web project, in collaboration with Dan Campbell.
A Meditation on Desire, Disappointment, and Detritus, Front Magazine, March/April, 2001.
Elevator Music, Front Magazine. Western Front. January/February, 2001.

AWARDS/ GRANTS

Sawyer has been the successful recipient of more than twenty individual grants of support from the BC Arts Council and the Canada Council.  In 2017 Sawyer was awarded the Duke and Duchess of York Prize in Photography. In 2021, she was nominated for the prestigious Scotiabank Photography Prize.

COLLECTIONS

Surrey Art Gallery, Surrey BC
Burnaby Art Gallery, Burnaby, BC
RBC Dominion, Toronto ON
Canada Council Art Bank, Ottawa, Ontario
City of Vancouver
Microsoft Corporation, Seattle, Washington
The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas
Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC
Vancouver Public Library

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS AND REVIEWS

Calgary Herald. June 30, 2023. Herstory restored: Photographer Carol Sawyer presents the imagined life of Natalie Brettschneider by Eric Volmers.
Video Tour | Carol Sawyer: The Natalie Brettschneider Archive. Contemporary Calgary, 2023.
PhotoED. Spring/Summer 2021 – The FUN! Issue. Carol x Natalie by Walter Markson or Mark Walton.
Carol Sawyer: The Natalie Brettschneider Archive. Published by Carleton University Art Gallery, 2020.
In Conversation: Carol Sawyer and Michelle Jacques. Koffler Arts, 2020.
TILT/SHIFT, Koffler Gallery, 2019.
Border Crossings. Volume 37, Number 4, issue no. 148, page 88-93. The Interventionist Archive: Carol Sawyers Invents Art History by Robin Laurence, 2018.
Archivaria. Number 6, Fall 2018. Review of Carol Sawyer: The Natalie Brettschneider Archive at Vancouver Art Gallery, by Alexandra Wieland.
Comparative Media Arts Journal. September 2018. “What is this New Moment?” The Art of Urgency in This Now, More Than Ever, by Yani Kong.
Ciel Variable. June – September 2018. Portfolio: Entre fiction et réalité: comment mettre en lumière le travail d’artistes laissés dans l’ombre / Between Fiction and Reality: How to Shed Light on Artists Who Have Been Left in the Shadows, by Ariane Noel de Tilly.
Canadian Art. March 28, 2018. Feature: Revising Dada by Godfre Leung.
The Georgia Straight. December 19, 2017. Carol Sawyer plays with fiction, feminism, and art history in The Natalie Brettschneider Archive by Robin Laurence.
C Magazine Issue 30, Summer 2016, page 66-67. Carol Sawyer: The Natalie Brettschneider Archive. Carleton University Archive, Ottawa, ON, by Jaclyn Meloche.
Canadian Art. January 18, 2016. Bringing Forgotten Women Artists Back to Light, by Carol Sawyer.
The Georgia Straight. December 2, 2009. Carol Sawyer’s Proscenium a ghostly ode to a gilded past by Robin Laurence.
Galleries West, Review of Vacant Lot at Republic Gallery, by Ann Rosenberg.

TEACHING & RELATED EXPERIENCE

Sawyer has designed and delivered numerous seminar and studio courses at Emily Carr University and Simon Fraser University in topics related to the practice and history of Photography, including courses on Photography and Performance, Image and Text, Location Photography, Artistic Research Practices, and Drawing Writing and Photography. She also created and refined over the course of several years a comprehensive lecture course on the History of Photography, with a particular emphasis on the changing discourses related to photography over the course of its existence. Sawyer has presented guest lectures at the University of British Columbia, the University of the Fraser Valley, and Langara College, served on the board of Presentation House Gallery, the Western Front and the Or Gallery, and served on a number of juries for public art projects and granting bodies. She has participated in several artist residencies at the Banff Centre, including a thematic residency entitled The Work of the Living Watch, led by Geoffrey Farmer, in 2012.

ARTWORKS DONATED TO FUND-RAISING EXHIBITIONS and EVENTS (partial list)

Sawyer has supported numerous public art galleries, theatre companies, and public charities with the donation of visual artworks and music performances. Organizations supported include the Vancouver Art Gallery, the Contemporary Art Gallery, the Western Front, Centre A, Artspeak Gallery, Or Gallery, Access Artist Run Centre, Playwrights Theatre Centre, Radix Theatre, and the Children’s Wish Foundation, all in Vancouver; the Henry Art Gallery in Seattle; and Presentation House Gallery (now the Polygon Gallery) In North Vancouver.