Holly Fay

Holly Fay is an Associate Professor in the Department of Visual Arts within the Faculty of Media, Art and Performance at the University of Regina. Her academic career builds on extensive professional experience including her role as Director/Curator of the Art Gallery of Regina from 2015-2019. Fay holds a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Ulster, Belfast and a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Regina.

Fay's research investigates the phenomenological relationship between bodily experience and environmental understanding through painting, drawing, and installation. Her work challenges traditional Western landscape representation by privileging sensory properties and lived perspective over illusionistic space. Current projects explore water systems, cosmic-earthly parallels, and ecological grief through material experimentation with graphite and other media. She examines how consciousness and knowledge emerge from embodied experience within ecological systems rather than purely cognitive processes.

Fay's recent artistic output demonstrates consistent engagement with environmental themes through multiple series including Water Graphs (2023-present), Currents (2021-present), and States of Flow (2024). Her work shows increasing focus on material properties of media (particularly graphite as carbon-based matter) to connect earthly and cosmic processes. The Cosmos series (2019-2024) exemplifies this interdisciplinary approach, using layered graphite techniques to visualize energy flows and multidimensional space.

• Ucross Fellowship Artist Residency (2024)
• Canada Council for the Arts Research and Creation Grant (2022)
• SK ARTS Independent Artist Grant (2018)

Fay maintains active research funding supporting material experimentation and exhibition production. Her supervision approach emphasizes phenomenological engagement with materials and environment, encouraging students to develop their bodily relationship with subject matter through iterative studio practice. Recent exhibitions including solo shows at Estevan Art Gallery (2024) and Slate Gallery (2024) demonstrate her active professional practice. Fay's work is represented in public collections including the Saskatchewan Arts Board, Mackenzie Art Gallery, and Dunlop Art Gallery.

Fay's studio practice encompasses painting, drawing, installation, video, and curation with national and international exhibition history. Her teaching includes studio classes in painting and drawing alongside professional practice seminars that integrate her curatorial experience. Current research trajectories examine plant awareness disparity and ecological freedom through both artistic production and philosophical inquiry.