Multi-disciplinary artist Michelle Forsyth works at the cross-section of sculpture, printmaking, photography, and performance. With a keen interest in fashion and  pattern,  Forsyth  makes clothes from textiles with designs that excite her, which she then replicates in a painted backdrop. The resulting photograph is a sculptural composition of multiple repeated patterns.

Forsyth’s practice explores the creative potential of her tremor in dialogue with the fine motor skills of her hand after being diagnosed with early Parkinson’s. In her new body of work Improvisations, Forsyth performs in her patterned creations to celebrate the movements of her body. By photographing herself wearing her hand-made clothes, the artist integrates her persona in a visual dichotomy of appearing and disappearing from within the bold patterns. 

Forsyth holds an MFA from Rutgers University (New Brunswick, NJ); and a BFA from the University of Victoria (Victoria, BC). Her work has been exhibited internationally in the USA, Portugal and Qatar. Forsyth has been the recipient of grants from the Canada Council for the Arts (Ottawa, ON), and Artist Trust (Seattle, WA). Her printing practice has been supported and awarded from the Larry Sommers Memorial Fellowship (Seattle Print Arts, WA) and the Nick Novak Fellowship (Open Studio, Toronto, ON). Forsyth has been a resident at the Frans Masereel Centrum (Kasterlee, Belgium), The Banff Centre (Banff, AB), The Textile Centre (Blöndos, Iceland), and The University of Southern Maine (Gorham, ME). She currently holds a tenured position at OCAD University (Toronto, ON).