BORN in London, Ontario and raised in Toronto, Canada, Michael Sillers studied drawing, painting and experimental media at the Ontario College of Art, Visual Arts at the Toronto School of Art, and Illustration and Design at George Brown College. He went on to spend several years in the photography industry, designing point of sale (POS) marketing signage and developing full window displays for major photographic retailers including the Blacks Photography and Japan Camera chains. IN RECENT YEARS Sillers’ interest in computer technology has led him to explore the combination of traditional visual art techniques with digital photography. The results have been described as "having infused the industrial, urban and rural landscape with an ethereal romanticism". His work has also been referred to as "having achieved a fusion of historical and traditional sensitivities with contemporary insight and a classical visualization of the world made possible through the versatilty of digital and electronic tools". HIS WORK has been exhibited internationally in Argentina, the United States (California and Texas) and in Canada, most notably in Toronto and across Ontario, as well as in Montreal, Quebec. SILLERS continues to produce artwork that combines the painterly with the digital.
ARTIST'S STATEMENT
"My work comes from a life-long fascination with people and places. I've travelled extensively throughout South and Central America, the United States, and across Canada. The people, what they do, where and how they live, the landscape, the architecture, the sound and smell of the streets, are all things that have imbued me with a sense of wonder and curiosity. My work comprises digitally and manually manipulated photographs that I combine with various materials including paper, found images, pencil, paint and sometimes wax. I then mount the result on metal, wood or glass, or whatever seems most aesthetically appropriate so that the pieces thematically compliment each other in unexpected, and hopefully, quite magical ways. Ultimately each viewer takes away what they will, and if that means they gain a new insight or a different way of looking at things, then I have done my work well." / Michael Sillers, 2016.