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How three Canadian creatives designed studios to foster artistry
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Three creatives exhibiting at the Art Toronto fair take Anya Georgijevic inside their live/work spaces and explain how they've designed the rooms to foster their artistic ambitions

Anya Georgijevic
Special to The Globe and Mail

This article was published more than 6 years ago. Some information may no longer be current.

Toronto artist Stephen Andrews in his Trinity Bellwoods home. Rodrigo Daguerre / The Globe and Mail

Steven Andrews

Artist Stephen Andrews splits his time between three Toronto-based studios, dedicating his home studio to painting. Andrews's Victorian house in the city's Trinity Bellwoods neighbourhood provides plenty of visual stimulation having undergone a renovation by architect Tamira Sawatzky into what the artist calls a "nouveau cabinet of curiosities." He keeps his garden-facing studio without distractions or unnecessary objects: a purist painting space.

On a typical day, Andrews is at work on his canvases before 10 a.m., working four hours straight, alone or with his part-time assistant Mohammad Rezaei, often tuning his radio to hits of the last four decades. At 2 p.m., he heads out for a late lunch in the neighbourhood, after which he takes a quick nap and heads back to studio for another few hours.

The artist's work deals with memory, identity and technology, and process differs with each medium he tackles. "I work in several mediums: painting, drawing, photography, film, animation and recently dance," he says. "Usually I respond to my intuition and follow it where it leads me. Making the work is a process of discovery and never really know what I am doing until after the fact."

Artist Vikky Alexander in her Montreal condo. Samuel Pasquier / The Globe and Mail

Vikky Alexander

Having spent most of her life in Vancouver, 18 months ago artist Vikky Alexander relocated to Montreal, settling in a 1,800-square-foot condo on the top floor of a two-storey mid-century commercial building in the Verdun neighbourhood. The building was previously home to a bowling alley, and the space that Alexander now shares with her partner, artist Roy Hartling, was renovated and converted into a residence by Projets MJ Inc., retaining its industrial look with concrete floors, 13-foot ceilings and loft windows.

Alexander, who primarily works in photography and sculpture, has a dedicated east-facing studio space but the boundaries between work and live environments tend to blur on a daily basis. "I often use the eight-foot,white marble Saarinen dining table as a work table," Alexander says. "I can spread things out on it." On a typical day, the artist juggles creative work and tedious office keeping, with twice-daily strolls with her 18-month French Bulldog, Rocky, and a head-clearing 30-minute swim at the indoor pool down the street.

Alexander's creative process changes from project to project. "I work intuitively, and I'm inspired by things that give me pleasure, " she says. "Recurring themes in my work are nature, architecture and the seduction of space."

Montreal-based artist Jon Rafman in his Mile End loft. Samuel Pasquier / The Globe and Mail

Jon Rafman

"When not travelling, I base my schedule on Winston Churchill's," says Montreal-based artist Jon Rafman. "I can't think straight unless I'm lying down, either in bed or stretched on a couch." The artist, whose work focuses on technology and digital environments, has a strict daily routine implemented in and around his Mile End loft, once a garter-belt sweatshop during the heyday of Montreal shmata business.

Rafman begins his day very early with a breakfast of bagels, lox and cream cheese from Fairmount Bagel, which he enjoys while still in bed, after which he scrolls through his social media feeds, tends to emails and work notes with the help of Siri before getting up to take a bath, a work habit inspired by Gertrude Stein. (Rafman had an oversized tub custom-designed for this purpose.) After a quick coffee, the artist enjoys a three-course Greek lunch at Milos, followed by a Vodka Red Bull with lemon served slightly below room temperature, before heading into the studio to work. At 5 pm, he takes an hour and a half nap, another bath, and returns to studio after dinner.

When creativity is involved, even his choice of music is unorthodox. "I work best with soothing new age and nature sounds, particularly Heavy Island of Borneo Ambiance [from Nature Sound Collection] and ambiance sound from video games like Mass Effect 3," he says.

Art Toronto continues until Oct. 30. For more information, visit www.arttoronto.ca.

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