Anna Torma (born 1952) is a Hungarian-Canadian fibre artist.

Work

Torma specializes in large-scale hand embroideries, and her work draws upon multiple artistic and textile techniques, including appliqué, felting, photo transfer, collage, and quilting. She appropriates visual imagery from multiple sources, including

anatomical Anatomy () is the branch of biology concerned with the study of the structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old science, having it ...

drawings,

folk art Folk art covers all forms of visual art made in the context of folk culture. Definitions vary, but generally the objects have practical utility of some kind, rather than being exclusively decorative art, decorative. The makers of folk art a ...

, and her children's drawings. She combines traditional methods of the Hungarian

textile Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not the ...

tradition with the radical reclamation of craft art forms from the

avant-garde The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

movements of the 1960s and 1970s.

Life and career

Torma was born in 1952 in

Tarnaörs Tarnaörs is a village (község) in Heves County, Northern Hungary Region, Hungary. Baroness Orczy, the author of ''The Scarlet Pimpernel ''The Scarlet Pimpernel'' is the first novel in a series of historical fiction by Baroness Orczy, publi ...

, Hungary. She learned to embroider from her mother and grandmothers and studied textile art and design at the Hungarian Academy of Applied Arts (1974-1979). She received a degree in Textile Art and Design from the Hungarian University of Applied Arts, Budapest, Hungary in 1979. She immigrated to Canada in 1988. Torma was a 2007

Artist-in-Residence Artist-in-residence, or artist residencies, encompass a wide spectrum of artistic programs which involve a collaboration between artists and hosting organisations, institutions, or communities. They are programs which provide artists with space a ...

at the

McColl Center for Art + Innovation McColl Center (formerly McColl Center for Art + Innovation) is an artist residency and contemporary art space located at 721 North Tryon Street in Charlotte, North Carolina.20 years of Artists-In-Residence
McColl Center Torma has exhibited throughout Canada, the United States, and Europe, and her work is held by the

Beaverbrook Art Gallery The Beaverbrook Art Gallery is a public art gallery in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada. It is named after William Maxwell "Max" Aitken, Lord Beaverbrook, who funded the building of the gallery and assembled the original collection. It opened i ...

, the New Brunswick Art Bank, the

Museum of Arts and Design The Museum of Arts and Design (MAD), based in Manhattan, New York City, collects, displays, and interprets objects that document contemporary and historic innovation in craft, art, and design. In its exhibitions and educational programs, the mus ...

, the

Art Gallery of Nova Scotia The Art Gallery of Nova Scotia (AGNS) is a public provincial art museum based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. The art museum's primary building complex is located in downtown Halifax and takes up approximately of space. The museum complex compr ...

, Mint Museum of Craft and Design, Owens Art Gallery, and the

New Brunswick Museum The New Brunswick Museum, located in Saint John, New Brunswick, is Canada's oldest continuing museum. The New Brunswick Museum was incorporated as the "Provincial Museum" in 1929 and received its current name in 1930, but its history goes back muc ...

. ''Anna Torma: Permanent Danger'', a major solo exhibition was organized by the

Textile Museum of Canada The Textile Museum of Canada, located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, is a museum dedicated to the collection, exhibition, and documentation of textiles. History The Textile Museum of Canada was founded as the Canadian Museum of Carpets and Textiles ...

in 2020. This exhibition travelled to the Art Gallery of Guelph (2021), and the Owens Art Gallery, Mount Allison University in Sackville, NB (2021).

Recognition

In 2008, Anna Torma won the

Strathbutler Award The Strathbutler Award is a biennial prize awarded to a New Brunswick visual artist. It was first awarded in 1991 as an annual prize of $10,000, which increased to $15,000 in 2005. In 2011 it became a biennial award with a value of $25,000, the hi ...

from the Sheila Hugh Mackay Foundation. In 2014 she received the Lieutenant-Governor's Award for High Achievement in the Visual Arts. She was the 2020 laureate of the

Saidye Bronfman Award The Saidye Bronfman Award is a Canadian award for fine craft. It is one of the largest individual visual-arts prizes in Canada. The $25,000 annual prize is administered by the Canada Council for the Arts as one of the Governor General’s Awards i ...

(Governor General's Awards in Visual and Media Arts) for excellence in the fine crafts. Anna Torma is a member of the

Royal Canadian Academy of Arts The Royal Canadian Academy of Arts (RCA) is a Canadian arts-related organization that was founded in 1880. History 1880 to 1890 The title of Royal Canadian Academy of Arts was received from Queen Victoria on 16 July 1880. The Governor General ...

References

Bibliography

* Koval, Anne; Madill, Shirley (2007), ''Anna Torma: Needleworks'', Mount Saint Vincent University Art Gallery. {{DEFAULTSORT:Torma, Anna 1952 births Living people Hungarian emigrants to Canada People from Heves County Canadian textile artists Women textile artists 20th-century Canadian artists 20th-century Canadian women artists 21st-century Canadian artists 21st-century Canadian women artists Artists from New Brunswick Hungarian embroiderers Canadian embroiderers Members of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts