About Jane

Since graduating from OCAD in 2007, Jane Derby has been creating sculptural paintings out of salvaged materials, cast-offs from contemporary living. Lath, (taken from older homes where the lath and plaster walls are being replaced by drywall), tin cans, computer chips, egg cartons and wires are all materials that make an appearance in her work. These are combined with canvas or embedded in plaster, painted in oils, and then gouged and distressed to create three-dimensional wall hung reliefs.  She sees these as "literal landscapes" recreating the surface textures of the countryside around Kingston where she lives and works. It is a roughhewn landscape made up of rock outcroppings, greying barns, water and grasses. Although her work is more curiosity than message driven, the recycled materials lend themselves to an implied critique of our current environmental practices, and she sees herself as part of the growing movement in contemporary art that uses "trash" as material for art making.  

Since beginning her full-time practice ten years ago, she has exhibited extensively in solo and group shows in Kingston, Toronto and Eastern Ontario, and her work is in collections in Ottawa, Toronto, Vancouver and Germany. She has won awards, including the Environmental Spirit Award from the Recycling Council of Ontario. She is past president of the Organization of Kingston Women Artists, and has curated and juried a number of exhibitions in Kingston and Brockville.