'' in 2006 Liz Magor works in
sculpture, installation,
public art and
photography. Her sculptural work investigates the
ontology of ordinary or familiar objects, which she remakes and presents in new contexts. For example, Magor has created facsimiles of food items and their containers, as well as other objects such as driftwood, logs, tree stumps, and clothing. A studio- and object-oriented artist, Magor's work emphasizes process and materiality, and highlights the difference between the real and the simulated. In previous work, Magor used
mold-making and casting techniques to make replicas of coats, trays and cutlery (which she calls "serviceable objects") as receptacles for other materials (such as candies or cigarettes). These works reference the accumulation of discarded goods and vices that appeal to our common impulses. They also raise questions about the social and emotional life of objects. Magor's more recent work involves the repurposing of used clothing and old wool blankets (other types of "serviceable objects"). In her article entitled ''Magor's Timeless Transitions'', Robin Laurence writes, "Art, Liz Magor says, is the place where our perceptions are opened and examined for prolonged periods of time. Much longer, she suggests, than in our day-to-day encounters with the visual world, where we tend to interpret given signs in fixed ways, and where our first impressions are usually consolidated by our second [impressions]. Magor's art refutes such consolidation: irresolution prevails and closure eludes us. Her sculptures consistently play reality against unreality, meaning against alternative meaning, initial appearance against later revelation." Magor's permanent or temporary public works have been installed in Vancouver and the Greater Vancouver Regional District, and Toronto and the Toronto area. Magor is represented by Susan Hobbs Gallery and Catriona Jeffries in Canada, Andrew Kreps Gallery in the United States, and Marcelle Alix in France. In her early career, she was represented by
Ydessa Hendeles's The Ydessa Gallery in Toronto. == Collections ==