Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- [ca. 1970]-2021 (Creation)
Level of description
Extent and medium
2.5m of textual records and other material
Ca. 530 photographs
1 USB drive
2 optical discs
1 floppy disk
1 cyanotype self-portrait : cotton fabric
Note: Photographs include photoprints, slides, and transparencies. Other material includes a diverse range of materials used by the artist teaching, such as etchings on wood and glass, as well as cyanotypes, vandyke photoprints, collages and experimental image transfers.
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Barbara Astman (1950- ) is a Toronto-based artist who has worked in a wide range of photographic and mixed-media formats. Born in Rochester (NY), Astman was educated at the Rochester Institute of Technology School for American Craftsmen and, after moving to Toronto in 1970, the Ontario College of Art. She was a pioneer in the field of colour xerography, and her practice has included a mix of camera art, new media, sculpture and light projection installations. Thematically, her work has explored issues of identity, history, memory, systems of representation and gender perspectives, often involving her own body as a subject. She has executed a number of public art commissions for clients including the Calgary Winter Olympics, the City of Ottawa (St. Laurent Complex Recreation Project), Hayter Street Developments (Bay/Hayter Condominiums, Toronto) and Cadillac Fairview Corporation (Simcoe Place, Toronto). Astman is now a professor at the Ontario College of Art and Design in Toronto, where she has been teaching since the mid-1970s. She is represented by the Corkin Gallery. Her work is found in prominent public collections including the National Gallery of Canada, The Art Gallery of Ontario, The Bibliotheque Nationale (Paris, France), and the Victoria and Albert Museum.
Archival history
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Series consists of records from Barbara Astman’s career as an instructor at the Ontario College of Art and Design (OCAD) in Toronto from the 1970s until her retirement in 2021. Includes course outlines, correspondence, notes, other course material and related documents.
Accrual to series includes similar textual documents to previous transfers, as well as Astman’s teaching samples, which include graphic material such as negatives, transparencies, prints, image transfers and other experimental works of a variety of materials, such as glass, stone, and plastic. Astman used these samples in her courses and workshops as educational tools to provide students with visual examples of certain processes and techniques. Astman used a wide variety of materials to create her samples in order to demonstrate to students that regardless of budget or available materials, almost anything can be used to create a negative or other photographic artworks. Some samples were created in front of students during demonstrations, workshops or lessons, while others were made by Astman for experimentation and later repurposed for use in the classroom. Samples were often handled by students in class or workshops and passed around to allow for hands-on learning.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Conditions governing reproduction
Language of material
- English
Script of material
Language and script notes
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Finding aids
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Notes area
Note
Includes 12 photographic slides.