M.E. Sparks uses painting and collage to examine the relationships between surface and image, materiality and content, legibility and disorientation. In her paintings Sparks pulls apart and recombines art historical imagery, searching for the moment a form dislocates from its origins to resist classification. Recently, this method of abstraction occurs through the cutting, draping, and layering of painted canvas. The work plays with the experience of not being able to pin down and define, and of both the vulnerability and transformative potential that arise when we are not quite able to name what we see. By reconsidering the conventions of painting Sparks searches for uncertain and unsettled spaces of representation, as well as the reconciliation and transformation of historical narrative.
M.E. Sparks (she/her) is an artist and educator based in Winnipeg, Treaty 1 Territory, Canada. Sparks completed her MFA from Emily Carr University and BFA from NSCAD University. She is a recipient of project and research grants from Canada Council for the Arts, Manitoba Arts Council, Winnipeg Arts Council, BC Arts Council and Arts Nova Scotia. Sparks has participated in residencies in Canada, USA, Germany and Finland, and was a finalist in the 2016 and 2017 RBC Canadian Painting Competition. Sparks’ work has been exhibited at Gordon Smith Gallery of Canadian Art (North Vancouver), Alternator Centre for Contemporary Art (Kelowna), Trapp Projects (Vancouver), Access Gallery (Vancouver), among others. Upcoming projects include a solo exhibition at aceartinc. (Winnipeg) in 2025.
M.E. Sparks' residency at NARS is made possible by the support of Canada Council for the Arts.
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