| ARTIST BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH: | Mandy Espezel is a Canadian artist of mixed European/settler descent, based in Sikoohkotoki/Lethbridge, Treaty 7, in the traditional territories of the Blackfoot Confederacy. They received a BFA from the University of Alberta, concentrating mostly on painting and drawing, and earned an MFA from the University of Lethbridge (2012), where they currently teach studio art as a part-time Instructor. Working within the expanded field of painting, they explore manifestations of anxiety, desire, humour and failure through material-intuitive processes. They have participated in numerous exhibitions and residencies within Canada and internationally, and have received support for their work from the Alberta Foundation for the Arts, and the Canada Council for the Arts. In the summer of 2024, Espezel was Artist in Residence with Kintai Arts in Lithuania, and is currently participating in the travelling group exhibition Landscape Formations. |