ARTIST BIO

Silvana Bruni was born and raised in Sault Ste Marie, Ontario, as the fifth of six children. She grew up in a house beautifully designed and built by her father, and on large quantities of handmade, Italian food beautifully "designed and built" by her mother. At a young age Bruni began her own creating. Among her first explorations were wands made of snow and branches, and potions made in her mother's mason jars. When the time came for post-secondary studies she flew from the nest to Toronto to study art. 

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In 1999 Bruni received her BFA Hons Degree from York University and has been developing her visual art practice ever since. This journey to date includes several solo and group exhibitions, gallery representation, private commissions, art awards, and publications. Her original artwork is held in numerous private collections in Canada, the U.S., and abroad. 

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Worn, battered drumheads (she drummed in an indie rock band for many years) and acrylic glass are Bruni's trademark canvases–the unique surfaces where her visual, autobiographical narratives emerge. Informed and inspired by her own life, including the philosophy and practice of Zen Buddhism and yoga, Bruni's established oeuvre on drumheads and glass serves as the foundation for daily observations, quandaries, insights, and revelations. 

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In her work on acrylic glass, she explores the depth and space of its transparency, layering meaningful materials that include found objects from her daily surroundings. Collaged or traced into the image, these pieces converge, with paint and drawings, to build intimate, dynamic narratives. On the other end of the spectrum, Bruni's work on used drumheads has very little added to the marks left from drumsticks (in a previous act of making music), creating latent images that the artist sees afterward–intimate, elegantly minimal and playful pictures that carry on

from where the beat left off. 

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After 16 years of being based in Toronto, Bruni answered an internal call for open space and a slower pace and stepped out of the big city. Coming full circle, she spent a year living in northern Ontario again, soaking up the landscape, which deeply impacted her creative work. From there, Bruni's journey has landed her in charming Stratford, Ontario, where she presently lives with her family. 

In addition to her art practice, she lovingly teaches both art and yoga in the community.