Join us as we speak to artists about their practice and works that speak to the times. This week, the AGO’s conservator Sherry Phillips and curator Georgiana Uhlyarik will speak to image-maker Tim Whiten about his artistic practice with a special focus on his work Metamorphosis, his use of materials and how this impacts the way in which the work is cared for by the museum.

In over forty years of creating cultural objects, Tim Whiten has sought to navigate the territory of the human condition with the intent of inviting experiences and encouraging “sensing” over “reading”. Whiten’s work extends from two- to three-dimensional forms and includes ritual performances, real-time systems, site-specific and mixed media installations. His work is held in numerous private, corporate, and notable public collections, such as the National Gallery of Canada, the Art Gallery of Ontario, the Art Gallery of Hamilton, the Tom Thomson Art Gallery, and the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (both the de Young and the Legion of Honor/ Achenbach Foundation for the Graphic Arts). He is represented by Olga Korper Gallery in Toronto.

Sherry Phillips has been employed at the Art Gallery of Ontario since 1989, working as the Conservator of Contemporary and Inuit Art Collections since 1996. Following an Honours BSc in microbiology and zoology at the University of Toronto, Sherry studied Art History and Art Studio before receiving her Masters of Art Conservation degree from Queen's University. Although her original focus was the conservation of paintings, working with contemporary objects and installations over the years has cultivated a working knowledge of the unusual. Anything from modern materials to electronics, traditional art materials or living systems may require her intervention for conservation treatment or preservation.

Georgiana Uhlyarik is Fredrik S. Eaton Curator, Canadian Art, and co-lead of the Indigenous + Canadian Art Department at the Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto. She co-curated: Tunirrusiangit: Kenojuak Ashevak and Tim Pitsiulak, the J.S. McLean Centre for Indigenous + Canadian Art, Introducing Suzy Lake, and collaborations with Tate Modern, Jewish Museum, NY, Terra Foundation for American Art and Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo. She is currently an adjunct faculty member at York University and University of Toronto, and research associate, Modern Literature & Culture, Ryerson University. Originally from Romania, she lives in Toronto with her twin sons.