12 Facts About Allyson Mitchell

Allyson Mitchell is a Toronto-based maximalist artist, working predominantly in sculpture, installation and film.

Allyson Mitchell's work is rooted in a Deep Lez methodology, which merges lesbian feminism with contemporary queer politics.

In 1996, Allyson Mitchell cofounded the fat activist and performance art collective, Pretty Porky and Pissed Off with Ruby Rowan and Mariko Tamaki.

In 2010, Allyson Mitchell cofounded Feminist Art Gallery with Deirdre Logue.

Allyson Mitchell's Ladies Sasquatch is an ongoing project that has taken up various forms.

Each has been given a name by Allyson Mitchell, including Silverback, Tawny, Bunny, Oxana, Maxy and Midge.

Still, there is a playfulness and humour to the work, with certain textiles being used by Allyson Mitchell to evoke senses of nostalgia and familiarity rooted in memories of home and childhood.

The work, inspired by Allyson Mitchell's time spent at the Archives while living in New York, brought lesbian feminist history and culture to a larger public by transforming the gallery space into a lesbian feminist library.

Allyson Mitchell apologized directly to the individuals who had negative experiences with the installation in a public letter, in which she took personal responsibility and situated the project in the racist and transphobic histories of lesbian feminism.

Allyson Mitchell's work is rooted in the collective feelings surrounding feminism and lesbian feminism.

Deep Lez is embodied through an ongoing series of artworks by Allyson Mitchell that reappropriate public space for radical, political lesbian identity.

Allyson Mitchell is one of a few contemporary artists using craft as a largely unregulated site of protest and feminist resistance.