Tanis Saxby

My mother taught me how to use my hands, how to feel their quiet intelligence and recognize their connection to the heart. That early understanding became the foundation of my practice and I came to fully embrace making sculptures as an intuitive, sensory experience, one that begins not with concept alone, but with touch, presence, and trust in the body.

My artistic discipline is rooted in porcelain clay sculpture, guided by a deeply sensory approach to making. I work primarily with porcelain for its delicacy, strength, and luminous, skin-like surface. Through it, I explore how sculpture can be experienced not only visually, but through the full body.

My practice is inspired by the senses, touch, scent, sight, and the subtle emotional and responses they awaken. I integrate sensual materials into my porcelain works to expand the encounter beyond observation. Silk is sometimes combined with the porcelain surface to introduce a sensual softness both visually and tactilely; perfume oils, which I personally distill from flowers grown in my garden, are infused into the sculptures to create an intimate olfactory dimension, hand crafted pearls are also incorporated, adding a quiet visual elegance and serving as focal points that deepen both the conceptual and sensory experience. These elements invite viewers to move closer, to interact, to become present and to feel, transforming the sculpture into a lived, embodied experience.

By integrating sensual elements into sculptural objects, the work gently invites viewers to slow down and engage their bodies as sites of perception. In a culture increasingly dominated by screens and rapid visual consumption, it emphasizes a quieter, more subtle sensory register. The encounter becomes durational rather than instantaneous, shaped by breath, proximity, and subtle shifts in awareness. In this way, the work fosters a heightened sense of presence, of being grounded in one’s own breathing body, within a specific space, at a particular moment in time.

As an artist, my priority is to create sculptures that do not simply occupy space, but activate it sensorially. I believe that when we truly experience our senses, we become more embodied and more present in our lives. By engaging with the work through multiple senses, the viewer is encouraged to interact not only with the sculpture, but with themselves, grounded in the present moment.

About

Tanis Saxby is a Canadian sculptor whose artistic discipline is rooted in porcelain clay sculpture, guided by a deeply sensory approach to making.

Tanis studied at the University of Victoria and the Kootenay School of the Arts, and further developed her practice through a residency in Vallauris, France, and traditional perfume making in Florence. These experiences inform her integration of hand distilled floral oils, raw silk, and crafted pearls into her porcelain sculptures.

Celebrated for her technical virtuosity and international reach, Saxby has been commissioned for high profile public installations in Singapore and Saudi Arabia, and collections in Monaco, Hong Kong and beyond. In 2025, she published My Mother’s Hands: A Sculptor’s Journey to Becoming a Six Sensory Artist, a reflection on the familial lineage and intuitive, material led philosophy that grounds her studio practice in Vancouver.

A CV is available upon request.

“An artist earns the right to call themselves a creator only when they admit to themselves they are but an instrument.” Henry Miller