ABOUT - ZARA GARDNER

Zara was born and raised on the Caribbean island of Barbados and spent her formative years studying and working between Canada and Barbados, respectively. She has a diverse background in the arts, particularly in the mediums of painting, drawing, printmaking and ceramics. She received her BA (Hons.) in Fine Art from the University of Guelph (Guelph, ON, Canada) in 2010 and most recently a Certificate in Ceramics from the Haliburton School of Art and Design, Fleming College (Haliburton, ON, Canada) in 2016.

​Initially beginning her artistic practice as a painter, Zara decided to dive into the world of ceramics as she was intrigued by the unlimited possibilities that clay has to offer. Being the most versatile of mediums that combine an array of techniques such as drawing, painting, printmaking, sculpture, design and installation, it only seemed fitting as she could combine all of the techniques explored in her prior artistic studies and work and merge them into a new form. This new found interest in ceramics proved very exciting as she was able to translate past subjects done on a two-dimensional surface into the realm of three-dimensional objects.

The majority of Zara's work aims to visually communicate and inspire environmental awareness by focusing on issues that are of personal concern, particularly those that arise from in and around her home country of Barbados. The critical issues of plastic pollution in our marine environments and coral bleaching due to climate change are the main areas of investigation in her artistic practice. Inspired by coral reefs and the human caused threats they face, her work strives to stimulate and provoke the conscience of consumers of single-use plastic disposables.