David Hartman Captures Sandra Brewster’s Creative Process in New Short Film
Back in 2021, the McMichael teamed up with the Koerner Foundation and the acclaimed Canadian filmmaker David Hartman to create a series of short documentaries that pull back the curtain on the lives and practices of some of Canada’s most celebrated contemporary artists represented in the McMichael’s collection. Each film offers an intimate glimpse into their studios and landscapes, inviting us to listen as they share stories of creativity, process, and the inspirations that shape their work.
This year, we were delighted to capture Sandra Brewster’s month-long creation of a new site-specific installation on the McMichael’s gallery walls. FISH draws inspiration from the Essequibo River in Guyana, home to a remarkable diversity of fish species. In Brewster’s imagination, these fish are transformed into symbols of migration, belonging, and cultural memory. For the artist, they are not just beautiful living creatures—they also embody resilience and agency as they navigate purposefully through dark waters.
Sandra Brewster“When we talk about stories about migration, many times they’re told that the people who are in movement are at the mercy of something or somebody, and I don’t see us like that at all”
When we talk about stories about migration, many times they’re told that the people who are in movement are at the mercy of something or somebody, and I don’t see us like that at all,” explains Brewster of her family’s own diasporic experience in coming to Canada. “I see us as having agency, making decisions. We are in control of us, and it is important to have those depictions of us. I think that’s where the fish come in. When I look at them, they are all determined and making decisions of their own accord.”
We are proud to share Hartman’s moving short film, and we warmly congratulate Brewster on being shortlisted for the 2025 Sobey Art Award as well as for receiving the Canada Council for the Arts’ prestigious Photography Prize.
About the Artist
Sandra Brewster
Sandra Brewster is a Toronto artist working in drawing, video, photo-based material, and installation. Her themes are identity and representation, and movement in the depiction of gesture resulting in a reconsideration of the portrait genre. She uses specific landscapes as metaphors and manipulates old photographs to centre the people within them. Born to Guyanese parents living in Canada, Brewster in her work often refers to the migration of Caribbean people from the region, suggesting a formation of identity that encompasses multiple geographies and temporalities, and a sense of identity that exists within the diaspora. Recent exhibitions include the Musée d’art Rouyn-Noranda (2023), the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago (2022–23), The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery, Toronto (2022), Les Rencontres d’Arles (2022), Hartnett Gallery, Rochester (2022), Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto (2018–2022), and Or Gallery, Vancouver (2019).
About the Filmmaker
David Hartman
David Hartman is an award-winning documentary filmmaker whose recent work is focused on the creative process of some of Canada’s most exciting visual artists. The films take the viewer into the studios and creative worlds of the artists and offer insight into what drives their work forward. The short films feature a national scope of artists ranging from living legends to emerging talents. The films have been distributed on PBS and as in-flight entertainment on Air Canada. David works in Toronto, Canada.
Sandra Brewster: FISH
On view through JULY 2026
Experience Sandra Brewster’s striking, site-specific wall installation in the McMichael’s permanent collection galleries.
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