Artist Talk: Dawn Grant 

Grant shares how her art has carried her to become an artist in resident at Hamilton Art Council and the Cotton Factory. 

Dawn Grant has made her name in the art industry throughout the years as an artist who practices art through variety of ways, including hair, makeup, special effects and wearable arts.  

Grant’s love for art was instilled early as the daughter of an artist. She began her work as a painter when she moved to Toronto for school over a decade ago. Despite having an interest in painting, she admitted she and her parents wanted a sense of security when looking for employment.  

“I studied to do makeup complexions and that was it. I just decided that I needed to take my skill from painting on canvases to painting on faces — more for income,” said Grant. 

She has taken part in many projects, including helping design the visual aspects that go behind the creation of a character or create props for enhancing a scene. She loves the work she does through these projects and acknowledges they play a large part in fueling her other passions. 

For instance, working as a makeup artist for a project with Revlon led to her beginnings in wearable art.  

“I was working with Revlon and I was doing makeup for hair artists. One of the hair artists there, she had a sister who made fascinators— little tiny fascinators with the little feathers on it and that's what I started doing,” said Grant. 

However, Grant eventually began to stray away from using animal products in her wearable art and found interest in upcycling found objects for her wearable art projects.  Grant believes her image as an artist of wearable works has stood out largely due to this shift in the sourcing of items for her work. 

“I'd say I climbed to this wearable art side that I'm recognized now because I stopped working with feathers. It made me want to explore different organic stuff,” said Grant. 

Currently, she has just been selected as the Artist in Resident for the Hamilton Art Council and The Cotton Factory. This involves creating wearable pieces for exhibition in their spaces. For the first time in her lengthy art career, she will get to create art wearables without the pressure of consumption. In terms of consumption, she finds that sometimes her art is catered towards a specific audience, occasionally sidelining her her own voice in the process.  

Additionally she will host therapeutic art sit-ins, which encourage people to explore their own emotions through art. This is something she is very passionate about as she has been facilitating herself as well. She is appreciative of the opportunity and excited to explore in the position. 

“I'm grateful — that's all I can say. I'm grateful . . . It's been a long time since I've been able to create openly — they want me to create artistically and go as far as my mind can go and that's amazing,” said Grant. 

Grant shared advice for those who are pursuing art as a career. She believes it’s important to have a form of art for oneself and to separate it from the art that is used to make money. 

“I would say my biggest advice is to have two streams . . . Make your money but have your creative side,” said Grant. 

For example, Grant doesn’t sell her paintings even when people have offered to purchase them. She doesn’t like the anxiety and pressure associated with painting something others would like, so she keeps painting as her personal hobby.  

Ultimately, Grant continues to create work that is respected in the industry and gallery-based art fields. She has adapted to her profession and continues to take opportunities to learn more. She inspires those around her by working hard and focusing on her goals. As an artist in residence, she is using the title is to create art and to work with the community of Hamilton.