• born in 1927 in Kenora, Ontario
• mother from Poland, father from Russia

click on thumbnails at left to view larger images

A self-taught sculptor, George Sawchuk does not claim to be influenced by his cultural background, except to admit that his parents' socialist inclinations may still be informing his work today. Attending both Catholic school during the week and Russian school on Saturdays, Sawchuk grew up exposed to the conflicting ideologies of Catholicism and communism with which he still struggles in his portable works and works in nature. Rejecting formal education at a fairly young age, Sawchuk was working on a construction crew when an accident resulted in the amputation of one of his legs, an event that ironically left him with the time that enabled him to explore his artistic interests. Instinctively using found materials to create sculptures that interacted with trees, gradually being overgrown and disappearing into the nature from which they originally came, Sawchuk was essentially unaware of his connection to previous and current art practices until he met the Baxters, two artists who had founded the N.E. Thing Co. and had moved to North Vancouver. Beginning with his discussions with them, Sawchuk began also to carve a place for himself in the art world, creating portable sculptures that could be displayed in galleries and museums, as well as his outdoor pieces. The portables are usually made with wood and metal, often incorporating found objects, as when a Bible is imprisoned behind bars (The Last Dinosaur, 1989) or an apple suspended inside a log (The Consummation, 1989). Sawchuk employs a strange iconography in which crosses are combined with coins, church steeples with cash registers, religious symbols, capitalist symbols, and symbols of the communist working class, functioning together to convey his intended social message. The forest site works around his home are well-known, particularly as they extend beyond his property onto Crown land and were the subject of a much-documented controversy in 1997. Sawchuk was elected to the Royal Canadian Academy in 1979.

Denman Art Gallery, Denman Island, British Columbia

Grunt Gallery, Vancouver, British Columbia

Rubin/Mardin Gallery, Seattle, Washington

Mendel Gallery, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan

Royal Canadian Academy of Arts, Vancouver Island Chapter, British Columbia

Lieux de travail
Concordia Art Gallery, Montréal, Québec

Recent Canadian Sculpture: Selections from the Canada Council Art Bank
Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg, Manitoba

Wood of the West: Direction Est
Optica Gallery, Montréal, Québec

Beyond the Malahat
Open Space Gallery, Victoria, British Columbia

Off the Wall
Art Alliance Gallery, Courtenay, British Columbia

Reconstituted Elements
Mercer Union Gallery, Toronto, Ontario

Graphic Design Canada, 25th Anniversary
Mendel Art Gallery, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan

980, 000
Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, British Columbia

557, 087
Seattles World Fair Center, Seattle, Washington

Amaya, Mario. Sondages 70: Réalismes = Survey 70: Realisms. Montréal, Québec: Musée des Beaux-Arts de Montréal; Toronto, Ontario: Art Gallery of Ontario, 1970.

Amos, Robert. "Beyond trees and ducks." Monday Magazine (17 October 1984): n.p.

Art Gallery of Ontario. Contemporary Canadian Art. Toronto, Ontario: Hurtig Publishers, 1983.

Bringhurst, Robert, ed. Visions: Contemporary Art in Canada. Vancouver, British Columbia: Douglas & McIntyre, 1983.

The Canada Council Art Bank Catalogue, 1972-1987. Ottawa, Ontario: Canada Council, 1987.

Christy, Jim. "Weirder Homes and Gardens." Equinox (March/April 1990): 36-37.

---. "Yard work." Western Living (May 1990): n.p.

Ferguson, Bruce. George Sawchuck. Saskatoon, Saskatchewan: Mendel Art Gallery, 1980.

---. "A natural Politic." Vanguard 10, no. 3 (April 1981): 10-17.

Folio. Saskatoon, Saskatchewan: Mendel Art Gallery, 1980.

Garver, Thomas. "I've got to get backed up against the bush." Artscanada (December 1969): 30-34.

Glowen, Ron. "An honest playfulness." Artweek (12 February 1983): n.p.

---. "Landscape art in the Pacific Northwest." Idaho Arts Journal (Fall 1984): n.p.

Harris, Steve, et al. October Show. Vancouver, British Columbia: Contemporary Art Gallery, 1983.

Hurtig, Annette-Debby, and Ronald Gordon Glowen. Sawchuck: Yard Work. Vancouver, British Columbia: Western Front, 1988.

---, et al. Artropolis: Exhibition of Contemporary British Columbia Art. Vancouver, British Columbia: Artropolis, 1987.

Jorden, Terry. "An artist's search for freedom." Lifestream Magazine (5 March 1982): n.p.

Lansoo, Mati. "An artist in artless times." Vancouver Magazine (September 1982): n.p.

---. "Images - Sawchuck could chuck wood." Vancouver Magazine (January 1977): n.p.

Lippard, Lucy, and Morrie J. Alhadeff. 955, 000. Vancouver, British Columbia: Vancouver Art Gallery, 1970.

Macdonald, Murray, et al. Wood of the West - Direction Est. Montréal, Québec: Galerie Optica, 1985.

Martin, Tony. "Sawchuck - sculpture." Arts Alliance News (Winter 1992): n.p.

Paikowsky, Sandra. Lieux de travail. Montréal, Québec: Concordia Art Gallery, 1990.

Penny, Francis. "The enchanted forest." In Focus Magazine (March 1997): n.p.

---. "Profile of an artist." In Focus Magazine (August 1993): n.p.

Perry, Art. "Artist George Sawchuck is a 'True Canadian'." The Province (29 March 1981): n.p.

Reinhardt, Derreth. Graphic Design Canada - 25th Anniversary. Saskatoon, Saskatchewan: Mendel Art Gallery, 1982.

Tousley, Nancy. Welcome to Our World. Kleinburg, Ontario: McMichael Canadian Art Collection, 1996.

Wiseman, Les. "Outsider art. George Sawchuck's forest sculptures are among the many unique things to explore on nearby islands." Georgia Straight 31, no. 1535 (22 May 1997): 15, 17-18.