JOANNE GUTHRIE

Sculptor & Mixed Media Artist

Metal insect sculpture with a wooden body, wire legs, and metal flowers, set on a light-colored surface against a plain background.

MATERIALS WITH A STORY

I create sculpture and mixed-media works using salvaged steel, foraged pigments, handmade paper, charcoal, and other materials gathered, reclaimed, and transformed through my practice.

My work brings together the industrial language of fabrication with the textures, colours, and stories of the natural world.

COLLECTIONS

Every collection begins with a material, a question, or an observation.

From steel and salvaged materials to handmade paper, natural pigments, and charcoal, each collection develops through a process of experimentation, discovery, and transformation.

These bodies of work explore the relationship between industry and nature, and the possibilities that emerge when overlooked materials are given new meaning.

Abstract sculpture consisting of several metal rings and square pieces arranged in a vertical composition on a plain white background.

ā€ ā€Elemental Daydreams

FROM FABRICATOR TO ARTIST

I fell in love with metal before I ever knew where it would take me.

Long before I thought of myself as an artist, I was a fabricator. I learned to understand materials through my hands, how they move, bend, resist, join, and transform.

Those lessons never left me.

Today, fabrication is still at the heart of how I work, but my materials and the questions I ask of them have expanded. I approach each material with curiosity, paying attention to its character, its history, and the possibilities hidden within it.

For me, making is a process of discovery. The finished piece is important, but so is everything that happens along the way.

LEARN MORE →

Disassembled LED light fixtures with wires and foam shells on a work surface.

IN THE STUDIO

New work begins with a question, a material, and a willingness to see where the process leads.

Right now, I’m developing Occupying Space, a new body of sculpture made from single use plastics collected over several years.

What began as something ordinary and disposable has become a material to explore through sculpture.

The work considers consumption, waste, presence, and the space these materials continue to occupy long after we are finished with them.

The work is still evolving.

Follow the Work in Progress →

Clear plastic snowflake decorations on a wooden surface.
Clear plastic snowflake decorations on a wooden surface.

Beyond The Studio

PUBLIC ART

Sculpture for Shared Spaces

When sculpture leaves the studio, it becomes part of something larger. It changes with its surroundings, becomes part of the landscape, and creates new experiences for the people who encounter it.

My public art practice brings together sculpture, fabrication, and reclaimed materials to create work that responds to place, invites curiosity, and gives people a reason to pause and look again.

Interested in discussing a public art project?

Explore Public Art →

Person welding metal components in a workshop, wearing protective gear and helmet.

COMMISSIONS

Made for a Place, a Story, or an Idea

Some pieces begin with a material.

Others begin with a space, a story, or an idea.

I create original sculpture, site-specific work, and custom metalwork for private collectors, businesses, and organizations.

Every commission begins with a conversation and develops through concept, material, and making.

EXPLORE COMMISSIONS →