Fei utilizes a variety of media to create sculptures and collages. Experimenting with textiles — both hand-made and found — imagery, photographed and found, and building materials, she creates visceral abstractions.

In her latest body of work, she has become fascinated by cryptogams — particularly lichen and moss — drawn to their lush forms, range of colours, and variety of textures.

Using her camera as a drawing tool allows her to observe and select, leaving her subjects undisturbed. She prints her images directly onto metal, which provides the physical structure for the unique outline she composes for each piece. In cutting the metal, she makes a selection of presence, while subtracting the site’s cues and identifiable markers. By isolating these remarkable organisms and shifting their scale, each piece becomes a quiet contemplation.

BIO

Fei Disbrow experiments and plays with a variety of media to form sculptures and collages rooted in embodied experience. Her work prioritizes texture and form, composition and restraint. Disbrow’s pieces are visceral abstractions, emerging from both a rigorous and intuitive approach to making. Her use of materials challenges static notions of a medium’s meaning and purpose.

She earned her BA in Geography from University of British Columbia, her MFA in Sculpture from Cranbrook Academy of Art. Recent exhibitions include a selection of works in Emily Carr University of Art + Design’s programmed space in the Vancouver Art Gallery’s Fashion Fictions exhibition and a commission for an outdoor installation at the Art Gallery at Evergreen in Coquitlam, BC. Disbrow has participated as an artist in residence at Listafólkabústaðurin, Faroe Islands; Material Matters department at ECUAD; Vermont Studio Centre; Banff Centre for Arts & Creativity; and Pacific Northwest College of Art, Oregon. Disbrow has exhibited in Canada and the US, and is represented by Gallery Jones in Vancouver and FriesenSolo in the US.