Co.Lab Gallery presents

CHRIS STONES

ROCK PAPER CHISELS

APRIL 18TH - MAY 5TH, 2026

Beyond a strong and affective tie to the environment and memories surrounding his hometown and northern Ontario, Stones’ has developed a specific sensitivity for the materials he chooses to work with, be it organic materials or man made objects.

What began as a habit of collecting curiosities gradually became more deliberate, guided less by logic than by form, gesture, and the quiet resonance of history. While often described within the tradition of drawing, found object sculpture and installation, the work is rooted in wonder, discovery, and the transformation of the everyday into something newly charged with meaning.

Born in 1955 in Port Arthur (now Thunder Bay), Stones was shaped by the surrounding landscape of the Current River, Boulevard Lake, and Trowbridge Falls. Forests, water, and rock formed an early visual and sensory language; one grounded in observation, movement, and material presence. This connection to place continues to inform the work, where collected objects are recontextualized with a sensitivity akin to natural forms.

Educated in Fine Art at Lakehead University and later completing an MFA at the University of Waterloo, Stones’ practice bridges landscape and sculpture, translating lived experience into assembled form.