Lisa Neighbour lives and works in Toronto. Her interests range from printmaking and mixed-media works to installation, sculpture, electricity, knots, and water dowsing. Neighbour actively exhibits with Persona Volare, a collective of Toronto-based installation and media artists. Recent exhibitions include the following: Dalgas Underground (1996) Copenhagen, Denmark; Rococo Tattoo (1997) The Power Plant in Toronto; Illuminations (2001) Saidye Bronfman Centre des Arts, Montreal; Home Show (2002) Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg; Canadian Club (2005) Canadian Cultural Centre, Paris; D-Lux (2006) Katharine Mulherin Contemporary Art Projects, Toronto; hic (2006), Installations and Interventions at Hart House, Toronto; Night School, Hart House Nuit Blanche (2007), Toronto; Love/Hate (2007), Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art, Toronto; I’m just going home like a shooting star (2008), Katherine Mulherin Contemporary Art Projects, Toronto.
Approach to Teaching
My approach to teaching begins with the awareness that my students are not a homogenous group, or a blank slate waiting to be inscribed with knowledge. I'm interested building on their individuality to develop the creative, technical and intellectual tools that they will need to be self-sufficient artists when they graduate. My role as a teacher is to create an environment where students are invited to learn, and where information is provided in as many forms as possible. I respect my students, and I promote an atmosphere of trust, mutual support and critical analysis. I find that students learn as much from each other as they do from their teachers. A single interaction (teacher to students) may be replaced with hundreds of interactions, each one leading to more possibilities. If I can facilitate and extend this learning environment, then I feel that my role in the process has been successful.