The Open Call Podcast hosted by Anne Stagg and Laura Tanner, features conversations with contemporary artists about their work. 

In this episode of The Open Call Podcast, we talked with  Michelle Forsyth who lives and works in Toronto, Canada. Michelle creates richly detailed artworks that combine a multitude of artistic practices including painting, sculpture, fabric and clothing design, printmaking and photography, as well as others. She designs new patterns as a way to mark her identity: hand drawing films, which are then screen-printed onto fabric, and sewn into the garments that she wears in her “Improvisations” photographs. She thinks of these layered patterns as painterly skins that simultaneously evade and describe her individuality. 

Michelle has advanced stage Parkinson’s and over the course of her artistic career, she has had to contend with the increasing physical limitations of her body. Because her work is often characterized by very labor intensive processes, her hand has effectively marked the progression of her disease. Michelle is an Associate Professor at OCAD, Ontario College of Art & Design University where she teaches painting and graduate studies.

New podcast episodes are released bi-weekly on Thursdays. In addition to the podcast, we keep an active Instagram where we share images of the artwork that we talk about. Discover our Instagram @the_open_call_podcast. 

Special thanks to Susan Cooper for voicing our Outro, Scott Stagg for composing our music, and to our wonderful research assistants:  Erin Miller and Alyssia Price who help with web and social media design.