Background
Fusing printmaking and site-specific installation, Colin Lyons employs the chemistry of etching to reflect on issues around geoengineering, extraction, climate change, alchemy, historical preservation and brownfield rehabilitation. His most recent installations have been located in sacrificial landscapes such as mine tailings, decommissioned landfills, historic flood infrastructure, urban brownfields and remote islands, where he develops speculative contingency plans for the post-extraction landscapes we leave behind. Within these projects, Lyons brings to the forefront the behind-the-scenes, labor-intensive and chemical roots of printmaking, while exploring possibilities for transmutation beyond the natural life-cycle of the printmaking matrix.
In recent years, Lyons has participated in fellowships and residencies at MacDowell (Peterborough, NH), The Arctic Circle Residency (Longyearbyen, Svalbard), 脰RES (脰r枚 Island, Finland), Frans Masereel Centrum (Kasterlee, Belgium), Rabbit Island (Lake Superior), The Grant Wood Fellowship (University of Iowa), Klondike Institute of Art & Culture (Dawson City, Yukon) and Kala Art Institute (Berkeley, CA). His work has been presented in more than 30 solo exhibitions across Canada, the United States and Northern Europe, and his ongoing project titled We will find salvation in strategic chemical spills has been featured in recent solo exhibitions at Atelier Circulaire (Montreal, QC), Galleria Ratamo (Jyv盲skyl盲, Finland), Mesaros Gallery (West Virginia University) and Rosemary Duffy Larson Gallery (Broward College). Lyons鈥 work has also been included in group exhibitions at International Print Center New York, Krakow International Print Triennial, Museum Giersch der Goethe-Universit盲t, International Print Biennale Yerevan, 膶a膷ak International Biennial of Graphics, Platform Stockholm, Museum London and The Soap Factory, among others.
His projects have been supported by the Canada Council for the Arts, NYFA, Conseil des Arts et des Lettres du Qu茅bec, Alberta Foundation for the Arts, The Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation and The National Trust for Historic Preservation.
Education
- MFA, University of Alberta (2012)
- BFA, Mount Allison University (2007)
Teaching Interests
- Printmaking
- Site-Specific Installation
Awards
- The Arctic Circle Residency, Art & Science Expedition, Longyearbyen, Svalbard (2023)
- Canada Council for the Arts, Research & Creation Grant (2022)
- MacDowell Fellowship, Peterborough, New Hampshire (2022)
- 脰r枚 Island Residency, 脰RES, Archipelago National Park, Finland (2022)
- Frans Masereel Centrum Residency, Kasterlee, Belgium (2022)
- Special Prize of the Rector of Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts, International Print Triennial Krakow (2021)
- New York Foundation for the Arts, Keep NYS Creating Project Grant (2020)
- Rabbit Island Residency, Lake Superior, Michigan (2019)
- The Santo Foundation Individual Artist Award (2019)
- The Grant Wood Fellowship, The University of Iowa (2016)
- Kala Art Institute Fellowship, Berkeley, California (2013)