Rosemary Sloot
Rosemary Sloot was born in Simcoe, Ontario, two months after her parents arrived in Canada. They had just immigrated from the Netherlands.
Rosemary graduated from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design with a Bachelor’s and with a Master’s from the University of Alberta, both in Painting. Rosemary has exhibited her works extensively. Her works are included in a number of major corporate collections in Canada and in private collections in Canada, the USA, Australia, and the Netherlands, among others.
Rosemary’s Early Work was influenced by things she was familiar with; the north shore of Lake Erie, shells, bones, feathers, and flotsam/jetsam. She spent 3 years at Humber College, both teaching and painting,
Rosemary Sloot’s Immigrant collection tells an intensely personal, yet universal story. Her beautifully detailed paintings stun by the familiarity of their narrative. The images and objects presented in intricate detail come from the Sloot family album and attic, but nevertheless, they are intimately recognizable. The divide between old country and new, which is evoked in several of the works, must resonate with anyone, or whose relatives had made the leap between two countries.
The Ghost Paintings collection departs from the relatively small, tightly focused and highly detailed paintings, shown in much of her previous work. These are large works with blurry images at times. In her introductory artist’s statement, she writes: My works have always been highly illusionistic but with this series the images lack specificity, are out of focus and quite abstract in some cases.” One result is that the viewer has to ‘work’ with the paintings, and study each one carefully to understand the meaning behind the images.
Media/Interviews
A Driving Force
The “A Driving Force” website is part of McIntosh Gallery’s Canada 150 celebrations. Women artists, supporters, collectors, donors, writers, critics, administrators, educators, and volunteers have been a driving force in the London art community, ensuring its vibrancy and moving it forward.
Rosemary Sloot gave this interview, outlining her history, education, process and approach to her work.
Dutch the Media, The Immigrant Paintings
Rosemary Sloot was featured in the magazine “Dutch the Magazine”, a full colour bi-monthly English language magazine, about The Netherlands and its people.
Read the full online interview here: Dutch the Media
Listen to Rosermary talk about her work in episode 4 of Dutch the podcast!
Rosemary Sloot’s book, Immigrant is available for purchase here: Dutch the Store
“About the Immigration collection: “My efforts as artist chronicler have resulted in a series of intimate works that are narrative by intent and reveal themselves readily while they recover personal history and speak to common universal themes of loss, uprootedness, family and individual identity, sacrifice, persistence, hope, and faith.”
Centred.ca Art Review, The Ghost Paintings
“Rosemary Sloot has worked as an artist in London for many years and is known as a ‘photo realist’. It was hard to imagine what her recent exhibition at the Satellite Project Space (London, Ontario) would be like, given the somewhat enigmatic title of “The Ghost Paintings.” - Madeline Lennon
Read the full review here: The Ghost Paintings
