Education 2014 Masters of Fine Arts, Fibers & Material Studies, Tyler School of Art, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USA 2007 Bachelor of Fine Arts, Visual Arts, York University, Toronto, ON, Canada Grants and Awards 2024 Ontario Arts Council, Craft Projects Individuals Grant 2023 David Suzuki Foundation, The Rewilding Arts Prize 2022 Ontario Arts Council, Exhibition Assistance Grant, Harbourfront Centre Canada Council for the Arts, Concept to Realization Project Grant Ontario Arts Council, Craft Projects Individuals Grant 2021 Canada Council for the Arts, Research and Creation Grant 2020 Ontario Arts Council, Exhibition Assistance Grant, Textile Museum of Canada 2019 Ontario Arts Council, Visual Arts Projects Grant Canada Council for the Arts, Arts Across Canada Grant 2nd Place, Young Masters Art Prize, London UK Emerging Woman Artist Award, Young Masters Art Prize, London UK Shanks Memorial Award in Textiles, Craft Ontario 2018 Toronto Arts Council, Artists in the Libraries Grant Ontario Arts Council, Exhibition Assistance Grant, Craft Ontario 2017 Ontario Arts Council, Craft Projects Individuals Grant 2016 Toronto Arts Council, Animating Historic Sites Grant, Montgomery’s Inn Ontario Arts Council, Exhibition Assistance Grant, Textile Museum of Canada Ontario Arts Council, Exhibition Assistance Grant, Craft Ontario Mary Robertson Textile Award, Craft Ontario People’s Choice Award, Penn College Gallery, 10th Anniversary Invitational Exhibition 2015 Ontario Arts Council, Exhibition Assistance Grant, Textile Museum of Canada Canada Council for the Arts, Fine Craft Grant Ontario Arts Council, Craft Projects Individuals Grant Toronto Arts Council, Level One Visual Arts Grant 2014 Ontario Arts Council, Exhibition Assistance Grant, Harbourfront Centre Teaching Assistantship, Temple University Handweavers & Spinners Guild of America, Convergence Conference Grant Surface Design Association, Outstanding Student...
Window Display: Hermès New York CityAmanda McCavourAugust 7, 2025Latest Updates(0)One Sentence Summary: My embroidered installation at Hermès Madison Avenue features Pegasus in Bloom, where the mythical...Read MoreExhibition: Of Wonders Wild and New at The Burlington Botanical GardensAmanda McCavourJanuary 31, 2025Latest Updates(0)Short Statement: My installation Ode to a Prairie at Royal Botanical Gardens creates an immersive...Read MoreExhibition: Bloom at The Lake of the Woods MuseumAmanda McCavourSeptember 30, 2024Latest Updates(0)One Sentence Summary: My wire installation at Lake of the Woods Museum creates a floating...Read MoreExhibition: The Blue Afar at the Thames Art GalleryAmanda McCavourJanuary 7, 2024Latest Updates(0)Short Summary: My latest exhibition at Thames Art Gallery explores the longing of distance through...Read MoreExhibition: In Her Garden at the Peel Art GalleryAmanda McCavourSeptember 7, 2023Featured(0)One Sentence Summary: My installation Floating Garden is paired with Jannick Deslauriers’ Phasmes to explore...Read MorePublic Art: Floral Canopy at Albee Square NYCAmanda McCavourAugust 31, 2023Featured,Latest Updates(0)Short Summary: My new installation Floral Canopy transforms native New York plants into hundreds of suspended wire...Read MoreOnline Course: Embroidery with a sewing machine with DomestikaAmanda McCavourAugust 7, 2023Latest Updates(0)Short Statement: My new Domestika course is now available online! Date: August 2023 In November...Read MoreStudio: Prairie PlantsAmanda McCavourJanuary 19, 2022Latest Updates(0)A look into my works in progress for an upcoming show at the Chazen Museum...Read MoreStudio: Wire SculpturesAmanda McCavourAugust 9, 2021Latest Updates(0)This summer, I've been working on a new installation using wire to create lines in...Read MoreExhibition: Spirals, Loops and Circles at Harbourfront CentreAmanda McCavourJune 8, 2021Featured,Latest Updates(0)I created a floor mural that will be up for the summer of 2021 in...Read MoreWorkshops 2021Amanda McCavourFebruary 20, 2021Workshops(0) I will be teaching some online workshops about water soluble...
Amanda McCavour is a Toronto-based artist who works with stitch to create large-scale embroidered installations. She is interested in thread’s assumed vulnerability, its ability to unravel, and its strength when it is sewn together. McCavour uses a sewing machine to create thread drawings and installations. By sewing into fabric that dissolves in water, she can build up stitched lines on a temporary surface. The crossing threads create strength so that when the fabric is dissolved, the thread drawing can hold together without a base. With only the thread remaining, these images appear as though they would be easily unraveled and seemingly on the verge of falling apart, despite the works raveled strength. Through an exploration of line and its 2-d and 3-d implications, stitch is used in her artwork to explore various concepts such as connections to home, the fibers of the body and more formal considerations of thread’s accumulative presence. Amanda’s work explores embroidery’s duality- it’s subtle quality versus it’s accumulativepresence and its structural possibilities versus its fragility. Through experimentation and creation within her studio, she continues to investigate line in the context of embroidery, drawing and installation. McCavour holds a BFA from York University where she studied drawing and installation and has recently completed her MFA in Fibers and Material Studies at Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia, PA. McCavour shows her work in galleries nationally and internationally with recent solo exhibitions in Gatineau (QB), Williamsport (PA) and Vancouver (BC). She has received grants and awards from The Canada Council for the Arts, The Ontario Crafts Council, The Toronto Arts Council, The Handweavers and Spinners Guild of America,...
Amanda McCavour is a Toronto-based artist who works with stitch to create large-scale embroidered installations. She is interested in thread’s assumed vulnerability, its ability to unravel, and its strength when it is sewn together. McCavour uses a sewing machine to create thread drawings and installations. By sewing into fabric that dissolves in water, she can build up stitched lines on a temporary surface. The crossing threads create strength so that when the fabric is dissolved, the thread drawing can hold together without a base. With only the thread remaining, these images appear as though they would be easily unraveled and seemingly on the verge of falling apart, despite the works raveled strength. Through an exploration of line and its 2-d and 3-d implications, stitch is used in her artwork to explore various concepts such as connections to home, the fibers of the body and more formal considerations of thread’s accumulative presence. Amanda’s work explores embroidery’s duality- it’s subtle quality versus it’s accumulativepresence and its structural possibilities versus its fragility. Through experimentation and creation within her studio, she continues to investigate line in the context of embroidery, drawing and installation. McCavour holds a BFA from York University where she studied drawing and installation and has recently completed her MFA in Fibers and Material Studies at Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia, PA. McCavour shows her work in galleries nationally and internationally with recent solo exhibitions in Gatineau (QB), Williamsport (PA) and Vancouver (BC). She has received grants and awards from The Canada Council for the Arts, The Ontario Crafts Council, The Toronto Arts Council, The Handweavers and Spinners Guild of America,...
ACCUMULATE LIVING ROOM THE HORIZON, THE OCEAN, THE SKY PINK FIELD, BLUE FOG POPPIES SAMPLE WALL MOVING BOXES NEON HERBARIUM Floating Garden BLOOM CLOUDS OF COLOUR STAND-IN FOR HOME ODE TO A PRAIRIE PRAIRIE PLANT...
Year: 2019-2022 Dimensions: 28’ x 8’ Medium/ Technique: Thread/ Machine Embroidery **Produced with the support of the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council “Prairie Plant Studies” originates from pressed flower specimens indigenous to the Wisconsin prairie that I studied at the Wisconsin State Herbarium during a 2019 research visit to the University of Wisconsin–Madison. The work investigates how botanical forms move between scientific documentation and decorative tradition—tracing connections between herbarium specimens, textile patterns, and wallpaper designs. Each embroidered study is created by sewing into water-soluble fabric, building up dense layers of stitched lines and crossing threads. When the fabric dissolves, the thread drawings hold together through their own interlocking structure, suspended without backing. This technique echoes the subject matter itself: just as prairie plant ecologies function as interconnected biological networks where individual species sustain each other through root systems and symbiotic relationships, these thread works depend on accumulated connections to maintain their integrity. The species I reference—goldenrod, milkweed, and other native plants—are markers of memory and place. The recent movement to restore these ecosystems made me think of how these plants represent both loss and the possibility of regeneration. This work has been included in the following exhibitions: Exhibition: Suspended Landscapes at the Chazen Museum of...
Year: 2019-2022 Dimensions: 30’ x 54’ x 30’ Medium/ Technique: Chiffon, Netting, Digital Print **Produced with the support of the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council Ode to a Prairie shifts the perspective of a traditional prairie landscape, inviting viewers to walk underneath—rather than through—a floating field of indigenous Wisconsin plants. This large-scale installation for the Chazen Museum of Art’s Paige Court explores plants as markers of memory and place, referencing species including goldenrod and milkweed while engaging with the recent movement to restore Wisconsin’s prairie environment, which was almost completely destroyed by decades of farming. The work transforms the 1,713 square foot central atrium through approximately 50-75 large silk prints measuring 5-10 feet wide by 15-45 feet long. Individual embroideries based on pressed flower specimens from the Wisconsin State Herbarium are sewn at specimen size, scanned at high resolution, and printed on transparent silk or sheer polyester fabric. I then cut and stitch into these prints to add space and air, disrupting the surface and creating organic edges while adding metallics, additional embroidery, and appliquĂ©d chiffon for texture. The installation creates a lace-like environment that contrasts dramatically with the heavy marble brutalist interior, bringing textile forms that burst forth and overtake the ordered architectural space. Source material from the herbarium is altered, cropped, repeated, and mutated to reference repeat patterns found in fabrics, lace, and wallpaper—expanding embroideries from 10-inch units to monumental 10-foot scale to address the site’s grandeur. Each piece hangs from a single point, allowing the work to spin and sway, creating changing compositions as air currents move through the court. These...
Title, Year: Stand In For Home, 2009-2010 Dimensions: 8′ h x 8′ w x 4.5′ d (Dimensions Variable) Medium/ Technique: Thread/ Machine Embroidery * produced with the support of the City of Toronto through the Toronto Arts Council This installation is a thread rendering based on my kitchen table in my previous home. I am interested in the vulnerability of thread in relation to the home, as both things share qualities of fragility. Though susceptible to breaking or unravelling, thread demonstrates remarkable strength when stitched together—a duality that mirrors how domestic spaces can feel both very present and impermanent. Making this piece required me to revisit, remember, and recreate a space that I called home but is no longer mine. The process involved reconstructing specific details from memory and photographs: the contours of the chairs and table, the details of the wallpaper and window. Through accumulated hours of stitching, I rebuilt the space by stitching onto water soluble fabric, translating three-dimensional forms into their flat embroidered equivalents. The embroideries are hung from the ceiling at different depths to create the impression of a space. There is one ideal viewing position where the elements align to form a cohesive scene. Installing the work this way allows the pieces to move and sway with air currents, adding a kinetic quality to the static image of domestic life. The chairs and tables are lifted from the floor to hover, creating a ghost-like presence. Visitors can walk behind the work to view it from the reverse, where the shadows cast on the wall resemble pencil lines, further emphasizing the drawn quality of the...
Year: 2022 Dimensions: 16’ x 16’ x 10’ Medium/ Technique: Powder Coated Hand Bent Wire **Produced with the support of the Canada Council for the Arts Clouds of Colour, commissioned for Harbourfront Centre’s main entrance foyer, is conceived as both drawing and sculpture—an installation where hundreds of individually hand-formed wire units hang from single points to create a tactile environment filled with line, colour, and movement. Each sculpture is shaped from black annealed wire using lashing and bending techniques, then powder-coated in vibrant plant-inspired colours: yellows, pinks, purples, reds, and oranges. The accumulation of these units, ranging in size, creates a large expansive canopy that envelops viewers as they pass through this transitional gathering space. Through the repetition of floral imagery and circular motifs, the installation achieves a presence that is both delicate and substantial, activating the passageway with shifting layers of shadow and light. My interest in this work stems from finding connections between scientific research and decorative patterns found in textiles and wallpaper. While much of my practice involves creating lace-like embroidered pieces by sewing into water-soluble stabilizer—building stitched lines on a temporary surface that dissolves to leave only thread—Sunset Canopy translates this approach into wire. Here, colourful wire forms replace thread to create lines that exist in space, shaped on-site during installation to respond to the architecture. The work lives in a place of movement and gathering, inviting people to pause and look up—to encounter a daily moment of wonder as floating forms shift with ambient air currents. I believe strongly in art that welcomes everyone, making space for joy, care, and reflection through the sensory...
Year: 2022 Dimensions: 16’ x 16’ x 10’ Medium/Technique: Powder Coated Hand Bent Wire **Produced with the support of the Canada Council for the Arts Bloom translates the mathematical roulette curves of Spirograph toys into sculptural wire lines that combine the playful gesture of drawing toys with the radial patterns found in textile structures like crochet rings and tatting. I am drawn to wire for its lightness, the shadows it casts, and its capacity to exist as both line and form. This interest in mathematical patterning embedded within textile traditions results in a hanging, mobile work where each circular form is individually shaped and suspended, creating a dense collection of fine lines arranged in the gallery ceiling. The installation presents a floating cloud of colour in bright blues, pinks, and purples—a vivid atmosphere of saturated lines that suggests simultaneously a galaxy, a bouquet of flowers, and a surreal cloudscape. Viewers are invited to move around and beneath the work, experiencing how it shifts subtly with air currents and transforms from different vantage points. This work has been included in the following exhibitions: Exhibition: Bright Little Day Stars at The Columbia Museum of Art Exhibition: Bloom at The Lake of the Woods Museum (links to be added) Exhibition: Wanderings and Traces at Cambridge Galleries (links to be...
Year: 2011-Ongoing Dimensions: 25’ x 20’ x 9’ (Dimensions Variable)’ Medium/ Technique: Thread, Machine Embroidery **Produced with the support of The Ontario Arts Council, The Surface Design Association and la Maison des mĂ©tiers d’art de QuĂ©bec In my work, I use a sewing machine to create thread drawings. By stitching into water-soluble fabric, I build up layered lines on a temporary surface. The crossing threads create structural integrity, so that when the fabric dissolves, the thread drawing holds together without a base. With only the thread remaining, these images appear fragile and seemingly on the verge of unraveling, despite their actual tensile strength. I am interested in this paradox—thread’s assumed vulnerability, its potential to come undone, and the surprising resilience it gains when sewn together. “Floating Garden” emerged from my fascination with idealized spaces and dreamlike environments. The installation addresses the history of botanical themes in traditional embroidery, liberating flowers from the confines of embroidery kits and pattern books to create an immersive, experiential space. While researching English embroidery, I noticed the persistent recurrence of certain flowers—buttercups, English asters, daisies, and other blooms common to North America. These standardized motifs became the foundation of this piece, though it felt essential to interpret them anew, creating my own versions rather than reproducing historical patterns. In “Floating Garden,” I have extracted these flowers from their original contexts—the samplers and botanical illustration books where they were catalogued and contained—and reintegrated them into a simulated garden environment. The installation transforms disembodied embroidery motifs into a spatial experience, surrounding viewers with suspended, stitched forms. The work exists in a state of tension: delicate yet...
Year: 2023 Dimensions: 12’ x 8’ Medium/ Technique: Thread/Machine Embroidery “Neon Herbarium” draws from pressed flower specimens native to Ontario that I studied at the Wisconsin State Herbarium. The work investigates the intersection between scientific documentation and decorative tradition—specifically, how botanical forms migrate between herbarium sheets, embroidery samplers, and textile patterns. The vivid neon greens and yellows I’ve employed push these botanical forms away from the muted, aged tones of preserved herbarium specimens and into the realm of synthetic materials—evoking the artificial brightness of plastics and their unsettling presence in contemporary environments. Each piece is created by sewing into water-soluble fabric, building up dense layers of stitched lines and crossing threads. When the fabric dissolves, the thread drawings hold together through their own interlocking structure, suspended without any backing. This technique mirrors the subject matter: just as plant ecologies function as interconnected biological networks where individual organisms sustain each other through invisible bonds, these thread works depend on accumulated connections to maintain their integrity. This work has been included in the following exhibitions: Exhibition: In Her Garden at the Peel Art Gallery (links to be added) Exhibition: Wanderings and Traces at Cambridge Galleries(links to be...
Year: 2015 Dimensions: 2.5’ x 1’ x 1’ each (Dimensions Variable) Medium/ Technique: Thread, Wire/ Machine Embroidery In my work, I use a sewing machine to create thread drawings. By sewing into water-soluble fabric, I build up stitched lines on a temporary surface. The crossing threads create structural integrity so that when the fabric dissolves, the thread drawing holds together without a base. With only the thread remaining, these images appear fragile and seemingly on the verge of unraveling, despite their actual tensile strength. I am interested in this paradox—thread’s assumed vulnerability, its potential to come undone, and the resilience it gains when sewn together. “Moving Boxes” recreates the cardboard fruit boxes I used to move my belongings from Toronto to Philadelphia and back again. Constructed at 1:1 scale, these highly decorated moving boxes are sewn flat and then assembled into three-dimensional forms. Through my water-soluble fabric technique, I render these solid, utilitarian objects transparent—transforming the opaque container into something you can see through, something that reveals rather than conceals. The work explores the intersection of labor, movement, and value. Cardboard fruit boxes are mass-produced objects designed for transit and disposal, marked with colorful graphics that advertise their contents and origins. By meticulously recreating them in thread—a process that requires hours of careful stitching—I invert their disposability. The contrast between embroidery’s associations with craft, domesticity, and slowness, and the box’s purpose as a vessel for commerce and rapid transport, creates a tension between permanence and ephemerality, care and efficiency. These boxes also hold personal resonance as containers of transition, marking the physical act of relocating a life between cities....
Year: 2007-2024 Dimensions: 30’ x 12’ (Dimensions Variable) Medium/ Technique: Thread, Wool Roving, Organza, Wire, Linen, Pins/Machine Embroidery “Sample Wall” is an archive of tests, experiments, and sketches spanning seventeen years of studio practice. Arranged to resemble wallpaper, this collection includes early undergraduate explorations from 2007 alongside recent samples for large-scale installations. The wall functions as both inspiration and record—a visual diary of my evolving relationship with thread, technique, and material possibility. My process relies on sampling. Before embarking on any major work, workshop, or exhibition, I create tests to explore ideas, color relationships, and technical approaches. Some samples on this wall still retain the water-soluble base fabric, showing the structure before dissolution. Others have been carefully dissolved and ironed into pristine thread drawings, revealing the final form these works will take. Each sample represents a moment of discovery or problem-solving, a small decision that might inform something much larger. As individual samples accumulate across the wall, shadows fall between them, details emerge, and the evidence of process becomes visible to the viewer. There are hundreds of stories embedded in these threads—some already realized in completed installations, others still waiting to be told. The wall becomes a kind of pattern book, but one that documents experimentation rather than standardization. This installation offers a rare view into the usually private aspects of art-making: the trials, the accidents, the gradual refinement of technique. Where my larger sculptural installations present polished, ethereal environments suspended in space, “Sample Wall” reveals the accumulated labor and curiosity behind those illusions—the messy, essential work of learning what thread can do. This work has been included in...
