Persimmon Blackridge

Persimmon Blackbridge is an award-winning sculptor, writer, curator and performer whose remarkable career spans more than 45 years. A trailblazer in Canadian socially engaged art, her work has been exhibited across Canada and the United States, as well as in Europe, Australia and Hong Kong.

Working primarily in sculpture and assemblage, Persimmon transforms carved and found wood, discarded objects and unexpected materials into expressive human figures. Often witty, provocative and deeply personal, her work explores the complexities of identity, disability, institutionalization and the ways people see and understand one another.

Persimmon’s pioneering projects include Still Sane, created with Sheila Gilhooly in 1984, and her work with the influential Vancouver art collective Kiss & Tell. Her many honours include the VIVA Award for Visual Arts, Lambda Literary Award, Ferro-Grumley Fiction Prize, VanCity Book Prize and Emily Carr Distinguished Alumni Award.

Now based on Hornby Island, Persimmon continues to create from her Anderson Road studio, bringing humour, intelligence and an unmistakably individual voice to work that has challenged and engaged audiences for decades.