artist statement

I paint a fish- a good shape, flowing lines, but that one soon becomes many, shapes within shapes, all leaping for the same hook. My imagination spins the ordinary into a more interesting image, adds magic to the mundane. I use acrylic, watercolour, oil, and paint on paper, board, canvas and wood, usually using a textured underbase, wiping out areas, layering paint back in, playing with subtle colours and textures, trying to make the negative space as interesting as the positive image. It’s a long, meditative process, and I work on some paintings for weeks, some for years.

selected biography

Taiya Barss graduated from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, immigrated to Canada in 1973, lived in Cape Breton for many years and has resided in Halifax since 1998. She claims a grandfather from Dartmouth and one son who was born in Cape Breton. She has exhibited widely, and is represented in collections in Canada, the United States, Brazil and Europe.