Meet Dean Jackson
Dean Jackson is a Toronto-based multi-disciplinary artist whose textured mixed media sculptures transform hand-carved, high-density foam board and acrylic paint into three-dimensional snapshots of historic architectural details.
Layers of History: Contemporary Artifacts
My work is driven by a search for visual character in the places I visit, particularly within the historic towns and cities of Mediterranean Europe. I am drawn to old walls—surfaces that hold the weight of time, bearing textures, patinas, and architectural details shaped by generations. These walls speak. They carry embedded stories of culture, history, and human presence. When one resonates with me, I isolate a fragment and hand-carve it, not just to replicate the edifice, but to honor the legacy and history that created it. Through this process, I aim to share a sense of place, to offer a tangible connection to distant cultures, and to preserve the silent narratives that make each location in the world unique.
Biography
Dean Jackson is a multi-disciplinary artist with a passion for travel and history. He has spent 39 years drawing, painting and sculpting character walls from around the world, emphasizing the beauty that exists when man, nature and time converge. By re-creating sections of walls and presenting them as artifacts, he is sharing the stories that make each place in the world unique.
Since graduating with an Honors degree in Fine Arts in 1984, Dean has operated an independent studio/workshop in Toronto, making art and one of a kind furniture pieces. It was through his foray into woodcarving in the 90's that he acquired the tools and skills necessary to complete his current wall sculptures. The series itself began in 1986 after a year of backpacking throughout Europe, North Africa and the Middle East, beginning with colored pencil on paper renderings, followed by larger oil on canvas paintings. Because texture is so important to conveying the nuances of centuries-old walls (some cities go back 3000 years or more), three-dimensional shallow relief sculpture utilizing high-density but lightweight foam board material is now Dean's preferred medium