Cal Lane Canada, b. 1968

Originally hailing from Nova Scotia, Canada, Cal Lane has worked out of Putnam Valley, New York for the last 20 years. Her multi-disciplinary practice explores the paradoxical implications of gender and associated cultural traditions and expectations, as expressed through found objects and materials. Lane is best recognized for her steel works, into which she plasma cuts intricate, lace-like patterns. The juxtaposition of steel, a traditionally masculine and industrial material used in objects like oil drums, shovels, car hoods and barbells with the patterns of lace, associated with femininity and domesticity, provides viewers an opportunity to examine their personal assumptions about gender. Lane's preoccupation with this topic has its roots in her background as both a hairdresser and later, a welder. Her love/hate relationship with steel has given her license to subvert its popular meanings while celebrating its tensile strength, as she does her best to push the limits of how much it can be altered.