Artist Artist Statement: I create woven blanket-like structures, weaving under

and over and often burying what lies beneath. My textile formations contain

painted fragmented shards covered in hot molten wax, adding firm, unyielding

surfaces that shatter the safety and warmth they provide. Some areas are very

dense in their woven application, where threads become very close, and little light

can penetrate. In contrast, the lacy open sections often create nuanced shadow

​reflections that bounce off the walls. The assembled thread coverings contain a

symbiotic relationship between yarns, colours, patterns, surface textures, light and

shadows. My sculptures investigate memories of destruction, loss, covering up of

truths, hiding under covers, being alone with one's thoughts, being trapped and

unable to breathe, and the opposite notions of beauty concerning the fragility of

decay and death—a return to a conflicting state of being vulnerable and human. 


Artist Biography: Anna Wagner-Ott was born in England and immigrated to

Canada at a young age. Wagner-Ott studied art at the University of  Alberta and the

University of Toronto and has a Ph.D. in Art Education from Penn State

University. From 2000 - 2013, she held a tenured teaching position at California

State University in Sacramento. She has shown extensively in solo and group

juried exhibitions in Canada and the USA since the early 80s. In addition, many

private collections in Canada and abroad have purchased her artworks. She was

awarded the Best in Show at the Trinity Art Gallery at the Shenkman Center in

Ottawa. Wagner-Ott's assemblages often focus on themes relating to silencing and

​suppressing women's voices.