My sculptural practice encompasses object-based works, installations, public interventions, and public art. My recent artworks pore over the politics of policing, considering the roles and structures of authority through castings of uniforms. I’ve used both the peaked cap and badge to scrutinize the identity taken on by officers, and the larger collective culture of police forces. I’ve been radicalized by seeing continual injustices play out with little resolution. I believe that providing adequate supports (financial, health, and social programs) to improve people’s living conditions should take priority over punitive and harmful community practices. Some of my main concerns include the growing militarization of police forces over the decades, excessive force against peaceful protesters, the brutalization of marginalized peoples in my community, and huge budgets that leave little funding for other social services.

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ARTIST BIOGRAPHY

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Michelle Cieloszczyk is a Toronto-based visual artist. She holds a BFA in Sculpture/Installation from OCAD University. She has been awarded the Haydn Davies Memorial Award, Best of 3D Works Award at Toronto Outdoor Art Fair, and Third Place in the VAM41 Juried Exhibition at Art Gallery of Mississauga. She won the 2017 FCR Sculpture Competition; her public sculpture, CAN, was commissioned for 85 Hanna Avenue in Toronto. Michelle has exhibited work at Toronto Nuit Blanche, London Culture Days, Long Winter Festival, Yorkville Village Arts Festival, Red Head Gallery, and Main Street Gallery.

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