EMBASSY CULTURAL HOUSE
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kerry ferris 

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circa 1970
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“i am a landscape, my wrinkles expressing movement – the wind my soul, the toad my magic – nature fragments us into being – our spirits dance – mine in colours and line.” – kerry ferris
kerry ferris, (1949-2016) who preferred in her professional life for her name to be written in all lower case letters, was born and raised in London, Ontario. She attended H. B. Beal Secondary School, and then Fanshawe College where she studied cinematography. While ferris felt she was a self-taught artist, her studies at Fanshawe College inspired her to paint in a style similar to the way a camera can capture a fleeting moment. kerry had worked for Western Libraries for 29 years, and was a founding member of London’s artist-run center, the Forest City Gallery. kerry’s works are in the permanent collections of the McIntosh Gallery, Western University, Museum London, the Art Gallery of St. Thomas-Elgin, the Woodstock Art Gallery, the Art Gallery of Ontario, and many other public and private collections. 

In regards to her 1999 exhibit through webs of light at the London Regional Art and Historical Museum (now Museum London), then LRAHM curator James Patten (now Director and Chief Curator of McIntosh Gallery) observed:

“For ferris, life is cyclical, and her past experiences of the natural environment and the people she has met through her travels inform her work. People and animals she has seen in Zimbabwe, the Canadian arctic, or the Galápagos Islands cross paths with the butterflies and thistles of her own garden. By ignoring the rules of chronological time and boundaries of geography, ferris is able to depict her experience of the world with incredible originality and eloquence.”

ferris’ work expressed her interconnectedness with people and nature. With a unique sense of movement and colour, her works endeavored to capture what she referred to as the “ancient rhythms” that govern nature and the cosmos. ferris’ work emphasizes a highly detailed, fractured surface, paired with a flattening of space that merges foreground and background into a larger, shifting pattern.

“I paint people and landscapes – with people – their lives are on their faces – clenched in their hands or – in children – their eyes – lines are the landscapes of people – I paint people with interesting landscapes or children with the excitement of landscapes – it could be said in reverse I paint landscapes with the interesting lines of people…”

Over the decades she remained an active contributor to exhibitions at the Forest City Gallery, the McIntosh Gallery, Museum London, and the Embassy Cultural House. At the Embassy Cultural House, she had a solo exhibition storm lines in 1985 and participated in Drawings, a group exhibit the same year, as well asSilent Auction: A Benefit Exhibition in 1989.

kerry ferris passed away in London, Ontario on September 20th, 2016, at age 67. The estate of kerry ferris is represented by Westland Gallery, London, Ontario. Please visit the Westland Gallery website for more information and images of her work.

Recent Work

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"autumn", watercolour, conte and watercolour mediums, 2000
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"autumn, quebec", acrylic
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"hawk over lake", watercolour
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"watchful eyes", watercolour
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"green storms/golden souls", watercolour, 1998


EDITORIAL TEAM

ONLINE FOUNDER
Tariq Hassan Gordon

COFOUNDERS & CURATORIAL ADVISORS 
 
Jamelie Hassan 
& Ron Benner

ADVISORY CIRCLE
Samer Abdelnour, Marnie Fleming, Wyn Geleynse, Fern Helfand, S F Ho, Lorraine Klaasen, Judith Rodger, Ruth Skinner, Mary Lou Smoke, and Lucas Stenning 

COORDINATING EDITORS
Tariq Hassan Gordon & 
Olivia Mossuto

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS
Blessy Augustine, Anahí González, Jared Hendricks-Polack, Jessica Irene Joyce, Ira Kazi, 
Shelley Kopp, Jenna Rose Sands, Mireya Seymour, Venus Tsao, Diana Tamblyn, and Michelle Wilson. 

VIRTUAL TOUR
Andreas Buchwaldt

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OUR STORY
Artists Jamelie Hassan and Ron Benner and jazz musician Eric Stach founded the Embassy Cultural House (1983-1990) located in the restaurant portion of the Embassy Hotel at 732 Dundas Street in East London. In 2020, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Embassy Cultural House was re-envisioned as a virtual artist-run space and website. 

The Embassy Cultural House gratefully acknowledges the support of the Canada Council for the Arts, the Ontario Arts Council and the London Arts Council through the City of London's Community Arts Investment Program.
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The Embassy Cultural House is thankful for the mentorship program established by Western University's Visual Arts department and the continued support of the students and Faculty of Arts & Humanities.
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Our Partners

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E M B A S S Y  C U L T U R A L  H O U S E . C A

The Embassy Cultural House (ECH) is located on the traditional lands of the Anishinaabek, Haudenosaunee, Lūnaapéewak, and Chonnonton peoples, at the forks of Deshkan Ziibi (Antler River), an area subject to the Dish with One Spoon Covenant Wampum and other treaties, colonized as London, Ontario. The ECH strives to create meaningful relationships between the Indigenous Peoples of Turtle Island and our contributors. The ECH honours the stewardship of the many Indigenous peoples who have resided on these lands since time immemorial.

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  • Home
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  • Community
    • Advisors & Editorial Team
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    • Governor General Laureates
    • In Memoriam
  • Exhibitions
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  • Background
    • Past Programming >
      • Exhibitions 1983-1990 >
        • Index of Curators
        • Index of Photographers
        • Index of Visual Artists
      • Film 1983-1990
      • Music 1983-1990 >
        • Index of Musicians
      • Performances 1983-1990 >
        • Index of Performers
    • Embassy Hotel History
  • About