BIO

Shannyn Porter is a Toronto based artist and educator. Her practice explores the intersections of history, environmental awareness, and artistic representation, aiming to revitalise a sense of connection with Toronto’s lost waterways and their impact on the city’s evolution. She often uses materials sourced from the land to create her own ink, emphasizing a tangible connection to place within her work. Creating a multidimensional exploration of memory, history, and place through the use of foraged materials, her work aims to recontextualize our understanding of past and present while reinforcing the connection between land, memory, and human experience. 

Shannyn holds an MFA and BFA from OCADU and a BEd from Queen's University in the Artist in the Community Education program. She spent four years in Stockholm, Sweden as Head of the Aesthetics Department at a school she helped start and grow. Currently, Shannyn is an educator with the Toronto District School Board.

AWARDS

(2023) Graduate Studies First Year Award

(2017) David W. Bain Award

PUBLICATIONS

(2024) An Artistic Exploration at the Intersection of Time, Place, and Memory: Foraging for Toronto’s Lost Rivers. Masters thesis, OCAD University.

(2019) Queen’s Alumni Review. Issue 1, Page 28.