Featured Artist: Sandra Tarantino

Whether goldfinch or hummingbirds, Sandra Tarantino's work uses the metaphor of human experience, sentimentality, and connectivity to our natural environments. Each bird is created from an original hand-sculpted piece from which moulds were made. Wings and bird bodies are cast separately, assembled in different positions and stages of flight, hand-detailed, and painted to create unique, individualized pieces.

Sandra Tarantino is a Toronto-based artist with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from OCAD and a Visual Arts Educator with the Arts Access Fund, bringing art programming to Toronto's priority public schools. Sandra is a member of AWOL Collective, having co-run AWOL Gallery and Studios of the Queen West Gallery District in the early 2000s. A past recipient of the Visual Artist Grant and Exhibition Assistance Grant from the Ontario Arts Council, her works are in private and corporate collections across Canada, the United States, and Europe.

A collection of Sandra's recent work will be on view in a Retail Window Feature at the Craft Ontario Shop from March 14 - April 19, 2026. Shop the Online Collection and learn more about the artist in the below interview with Craft Ontario!

Craft Ontario: With a background as a painter and mixed media artist, how did your journey with clay begin? 

Sandra Tarantino: My background in art mainly focused on drawing and painting while at OCAD, but I always dabbled in clay from a young age. My middle school classroom had a kiln and I was part of the ceramic club which I remember fondly. In university, I took the occasional elective course—hand building, wheel throwing—small but meaningful encounters that kept me connected to the medium. Even then, my sensitivity to three-dimensional form and my interest in transforming space manifested in my practice through sculptural paintings and material experimentation. 

It wasn’t until 2013 that I fully committed to working exclusively in clay.

After graduating in 1996, I developed shared studio spaces as part of the AWOL Collective in Toronto’s Queen Street West area. Clay continued to pull at me, and I felt a growing desire to explore it more deeply. In 2004, my partner and I opened C1 Art Space on Ossington Ave. in Toronto, which became a formative learning ground for me across many media. I borrowed a kiln from a neighbour—bartered in exchange for studio space—and we began running classes. I had to teach myself how to operate the equipment, building upon my foundational knowledge of ceramics through trial, error, and persistence. I also invited other artist-educators to share their expertise, and I gained a deeper understanding of the mechanics of ceramics through these collaborations. The space evolved into a collective environment centred on shared knowledge and experimentation. Alongside ceramics, we explored screen printing, encaustic, and other processes, all of which informed both my artistic experimentation and my teaching practice.

My transition into sculptural ceramics happened gradually and organically, shaped both by creative evolution and the practical need to work on a smaller scale. I was drawn to the tactile nature of clay and the profound transformation of a raw, natural material into something expressive and enduring. Ceramics has taught me resilience and surrender; outcomes are never fully guaranteed. Working with natural elements means relinquishing control, embracing unpredictability, and finding beauty in the unexpected. That tension—between intention and chance—continues to deepen my appreciation for the medium.

CO: How does your background in visual arts affect the ceramic work you produce?

ST: My ceramic sculptures emerged from drawing. What began as a painted series of birds and foliage evolved into three-dimensional works where line inhabits space. I approach clay as an extension of my illustrations, creating quiet, story-like moments between flora and fauna.

Surface is central to my work. I apply grey washes to each piece to emphasize fine hatching, preserving a pencil-drawn quality, and use underglazes like watercolour to build soft, translucent layers. This approach allows the sculptures to feel intimate, as if paper has taken form.

CO: Where did the flora and aviary motifs that we see in your work come from? Was there anything in particular that inspired this?

ST: There are both conscious and subconscious influences that inspire the bird and flora themes in my work. From a young age, I was immersed in symbolic iconography through my parents’ Catholic roots and our visits with family in Italy. During Sunday mass, I would often drift and become mesmerized by the paintings and sculptures surrounding me. The symbolic use of birds and botanical motifs appeared again and again in the decorative details.Those motifs were woven into daily life as well. Many Italian households displayed Capodimonte porcelain bouquets and hand-painted floral ceramics. These ornamental traditions became part of my visual language early on, quietly embedding themselves in my sense of beauty and symbolism.

On a more personal level, my connection to nature deepened during a significant transition in my life. After stepping away from a fast-paced period of running a business and teaching, I realized how much I needed a stronger connection to the natural world to feel grounded and well. That shift in priorities naturally began to reflect in my artwork. The birds and flora became more than inherited motifs — they became symbols of restoration, balance, and wellbeing.

The birds and flora symbolize human relationships and our deep connection to nature. The work prompts reflection on our environmental impact, the loss of generational knowledge that links us to natural elements, and how we are nourished by these connections. It invites viewers to consider themes of belonging, movement, and the quiet interdependence between humanity and the natural world.

CO: Can you share more about what we can look forward to in your upcoming floral series?

ST: In my current floral series, hummingbirds take centre stage, which are rendered with intricate detail and delicate fragility. I find these creatures endlessly fascinating—their movement and presence both mesmerizing and symbolic.

Culturally, hummingbirds have long been associated with the voices of past lives, and this resonance informs these works. Alongside them, the imagery of blossoms subtly alludes to the iconic apple of Western tradition—not the fruit itself, but I choose its precursor, the blossom—invoking ideas of potential, innocence, and the moment before knowledge, ideology, or indoctrination shapes perception.

Through this lens, the series explores the childlike state of learning and being nurtured, unburdened by misrepresentations or imposed narratives. It visualizes a deep human need to reconnect, to relearn, and to approach the world with curiosity and openness.

Being able to exhibit at Craft Ontario is incredibly nostalgic for me. Growing up, my parents ran a small business in Yorkville starting in the 1970s when it was a hippie village, and I often spent my weekends helping out, working, but also exploring the neighbourhood. My favourite places to frequent were the local paperie, where I would collect gift cards featuring inspirational artworks—what I could afford to collect—and I also spent many hours in the Craft Ontario gallery and gift shop. I loved exploring the artworks the Indigenous collection and handmade pieces, and I feel those early experiences have had a lasting influence on my career today.