Patrizia BrasCH
mosaic artist
ARTIST STATEMENT
The underlying intent of my art is to expound on an idea or concept; to convey a message or express any of the wide range of emotions and sensitivities we experience as human beings. As a result, most of my mosaics come with their own narrative to tell their unique story.
Equally important in my mosaic practice is upcycling - taking what we consider worthless and/or useless and transforming it into something useful. I combine scavenged corroded construction materials considered worthless and ugly with materials deemed precious and beautiful – pairing the ugly with the beautiful to offer “worthless” materials a new purpose.
BIO
Art has always been a part of Patrizia's life, having inherited her love for art, and a bit of talent, from her family that includes ceramists, architects, painters, commercial designers, sculptors and photographers.
Her own art education began when she was 15 with art classes in Rosèmere, Quebec. Her teacher, Maryanne Anderson, was a wonderfully eccentric artist in her 70’s who introduced Patrizia to different media, including oils, acrylics, pastels, pen & ink, and copper relief. Patrizia went on to study painting, drawing, art history, and art education for a minor in Fine Arts from Concordia University in Montreal.
In 1984 Patrizia moved to Toronto, Ontario, where she worked in library research and electronic publishing. Corporate restructuring gave Patrizia the opportunity to leave the corporate world behind and after taking a mosaic class she never looked back. Within a few weeks she bought some tools and materials, and started creating her own original designs in her home studio.
Patrizia is proud to be one of the five Toronto-based mosaic artists, led by Tanya MacFarlane, who created the mosaic mural titled "The Welcome Wall" located in the Victoria Park subway station. It took 18 weeks to create this 303 sq. ft. mural with over 275,000 pieces of glass!
Patrizia’s mosaics have been shown in juried exhibits and fine art shows in Canada, the U.S. and Europe. Her work is in private collections across Canada, the United States, Germany, and Italy.
Patrizia is a co-founder and organizer of Ontario Mosaic Artists. OMA was established in 2020 by 6 like-minded friends to build and strengthen the community of mosaic artists in Ontario and to promote the artform through regular exhibits of contemporary mosaic art.
Patrizia is a member of Mosaic Artists of Canada, Society of American Mosaic Artists, Contemporary Mosaic Art, Fusion: Ontario Clay & Glass Association, and serves as a board member of the Artists' Network.