Amy Shackleton
Oshawa, Ontario
Shackleton drips, pours and layers liquid paint to depict our uncertain future – be it utopian or apocalyptic.
Message
Amy Shackleton is a Canadian artist known for her innovative gravity painting technique and imaginative urban landscapes. She earned her BFA with Honours from York University in 2008 and most recently completed a two-month international residency in London, UK (2024). Her work is held in private collections worldwide, as well as public and corporate collections including Colart, Facebook Canada, and the Town of Cobourg. Shackleton has received multiple Ontario Arts Council grants, First Prize awards from juried exhibitions, and the 2024 Oshawa Culture Counts Professional Artist Award, nominated by the Robert McLaughlin Gallery. Her solo exhibitions include THEMUSEUM and the Visual Arts Centre of Clarington. She lives and works in Oshawa, Ontario, where she maintains her home studio.
Statement
I paint imagined urban landscapes where trees rise from rooftops, rivers wind through streets, and waterfalls cascade over buildings—scenes that exist between hope and collapse. Drawing on experiences from my travels, I blend elements from different cities and natural environments into speculative urban worlds.
I’ve always been drawn to nature, spending much of my childhood in cottage country among forests and lakes. Moving to Toronto for school was a shock at first due to the lack of green space. At the same time, I was excited by the environmental benefits of city life—density, public transit, and a reduced footprint. My paintings emerged from this tension, exploring ways to reintroduce nature into urban living.
My bold colour palette is both optimistic and alarming. My work reflects the frightening power of nature reclaiming urban spaces. Yet the landscapes can also feel beautiful, even inviting. I’m fascinated by how viewers respond differently; some see devastation, others possibility. I aim to spark conversation and inspire a more sustainable world.
My process embraces both control and unpredictability. I’m drawn to the push and pull between spontaneous mark-making and meticulous precision. Years of experimentation allow me to predict where a line will fall, adjusting paint opacity to control each drip. Using squeeze bottles, water spritzers, and surface rotation, I allow paint to flow, creating organic forms that mimic natural processes like gravity, rainfall, and erosion. In contrast, architectural elements are built with carefully planned lines guided by rulers and levels. This balance mirrors the interplay between nature’s resilience and human intervention.