CV & Relevant Experience

I am a Visual Artist, Musician and Creative Director in the Digital Design Industry. I have been practicing as an artist professionally for 30 years and have exhibited my work across Canada. My conceptually informed artwork takes form in sculpture, and site-sensitive installation and performance. I see my artmaking practice as a ‘rendering of ideas’ and seek to bring each work forth  in whatever materials, means or processes are best suited for each idea. My work explores themes such as identity, territory and boundary. My creative process most often involves a large research component. 

My activities as a musician includes songwriting, composition for film, soundscape composition and live performance. I lead a band that plays my original compositions and I also perform in a free improvisation collective called The Smoking Mothers. I have been recording, engineering and producing my own music for over 30 years in a variety of settings ranging from a modest home studio to large professional studios such as Breakglass Studios, Revolution Sound and Orange.

I have worked as a Creative Director, leading large teams in the digital design field for over 20 years. My specialization is in brand identity design and digital strategy. I am well versed in all the main multimedia authoring tools and have attended many national and international new media and marketing conferences such as C2 in Montreal and Adobe MAX in Las Vegas.

My research project, by design, affords me the opportunity to combine and draw from my experience and abilities as an artist, musician, communications specialist and researcher. I bring a unique blend of technical, creative, musical, and methodological competencies to this research.

Relevant Activities

Visual Art:

  • Co-founder of The Phoebe Street Project, an artist’s studio collective that provided 7000 square feet of working studio space for 12-14 visual artists, as well as an exhibition space that programmed 30 + exhibitions, performances and screenings over the course of its 5 year existence.
  • Session participant at the Banff Centre in 1989 and received a full scholarship to attend.

Music and Production:

  • I am an active multi-instrument musician, songwriter and composer. I have written, produced, engineered and released two full length records of my own material. I have widely performed my music in Ontario and Quebec. I have also participated in a variety of music ensembles. More at www.mcfarlanemusic.com.
  • Wrote and produced the music for Fern Helfand’s video contribution to Stop Extinction Restore The Earth, a virtual exhibition at The Embassy Cultural House. https://www.embassyculturalhouse.ca/stop-extinction-restore-the-earth.html
  • Wrote and performed the score for an original theatre production called Lenny’s Place, by Chris McCaskell.
  • Wrote and produced a popular, 25 episode podcast, called Now We’re Talking Real Estate.

Academic Teaching Experience: Teaching Assistant at Toronto Metropolitan University (Courses: RTA 107, RTA 220), Course Instructor at York University (Course: 1st year studio art for non art majors), Teaching Assistant at York University (Course: 4th year painting studio), Course Instructor at Etobicoke School for the Arts – Continuing Education (Course: Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator). 

Relevant Workshops and Presentations

ISEA2023 (Paris, France) May 16-21, 2023, Author/Presenter “Towards a Methodology for Co-creating Artistic Acoustic Ecologies with the Great Lakes.” https://isea2023.isea-international.org 

RUBIX 2022

Co-moderated a talking circle discussion called “Decolonizing Methodologies” with Justine Woods and Andrew Lockhead. Participants included: Cheryl Thompson, Katty Alhayek, Alexandra Bal, Michael Doxtater, Henry Navarro, Associate Professor. 

https://www.torontomu.ca/the-catalyst/rubix-2022/

Workshop at the 2022 ACM CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems

Hydrones: Programmable Water-Mediating Storytelling Robots. April 13, 2022.

Presentation team: Bakogeorge, A., Verni, A., McFarlane, D., Assadoullaev, F., Fung, V., 

Harley, D., Dietz, P., Mazalek, A.

Body Philosophy & Art: Developing Sam Mallin’s Thinking

Presenter and performer at a Conference at York University, Toronto, April 2-3, 2011. Debut of new audio work: 3 Standard Measures  – more at https://sites.google.com/site/bodyphilosophyart/ 

Creative Outputs

Selected Solo Exhibitions 

1998 – New Work, Nov. 3 – 26, Phoebe Street Project, Toronto, Ontario 

1996 –  Recent Work, Oct. 4 – 26, Phoebe Street Project, Toronto, Ontario 

1994 –  Recent Work, July 8 – Aug. 12, Neutral Ground, Regina, Saskatchewan 

1994 –  Recent Work, Nov. 11 – Dec. 10, Truck Gallery, Calgary, Alberta 

1994 –  Recent Work, Feb. 19 – April 2, (Artist in Residence), Galerie Oboro, Montreal, Quebec. 

1992 –  Commute, A site specific performance/installation in which a right-angled footpath worn into the ground by walking repeatedly for one month, adjacent to the right-angled mouth of the Don River, in Toronto, Ontario 

Selected Group Exhibitions 

2019 –  Claims & Reductions, 2 person show, Art Square Café & Gallery, Toronto, ON. Nov. 12-24. 

2011 –  Body Philosophy and Art, Debut of new audio work: 3 Standard Measures. April 2-3. 

2003 –  Lucid Clutter, 4 person show curated by Elaine Bowen, Jan. 8 – Feb 9, YYZ, Toronto 

2001 –  The Third Body, 3 person show curated by Jack Stanley, Galerie B-312, Montreal 

1998 –  CounterPoses, 12 person show curated by Jim Drobnick and Jennifer Fisher, Galerie Oboro Annual Christmas Show, Dec. 9 – 18, Cold City Gallery, Toronto, Ontario 

1997 –  Ways, 5 person show, Phoebe Street Project, Toronto, Ontario 

1992 –  Tools and Weapons, two person show, 25 Morrow St., Toronto, Ontario 

Grants & Awards

2003 –  K.M. Hunter Award Co-recipient of the $8000.00 award for Visual Arts, Ontario Arts Council $5000.00 Grant
1999 –  Canada Council $15000 B Grant
1995 –  Ontario Arts Council $3000.00 Grant, Ontario Arts Council $3000.00 Grant
1991 –  York University L. L. Odette Senior Sculpture $1500 Award