About
OZANA GHERMAN (b. Romania) is a textile artist whose practice explores the intersection of architecture, handmade craft, and the temporal experience of space. Grounded in a multidisciplinary background — holding a Master of Architecture (Dalhousie University) and a Bachelor of Design (OCAD University) — Gherman employs labour-intensive weaving techniques to translate the rigidities of the built environment into fluid, tactile forms..
Through concepts of pliable tectonics, her work looks at how textile structures mediate between being rooted and the ephemeral sense of belonging to a place. This exploration is deeply informed by experiences of displacement and resettlement. Now based on the ancestral lands of amiskwacîwâskahikan (Treaty 6 territory), Gherman uses the loom as a site of synthesis where European textile traditions intersect with a contemporary awareness of colonial and physical topographies. The resulting works function as both structural interventions and records of movement.
Gherman’s practice suggests that home is a temporal state of being rather than a static enclosure. By integrating the material language of built form with the rhythmic permanence of tapestry, she challenges the perceived fragility of the medium, positioning the textile as an architectural element capable of redefining how we occupy and perceive our environment.
She has exhibited her work throughout Canada and internationally. Her most recent exhibitions include New Essentials in Seattle WA (2022), Soft Boundaries: Woven Meanings of Chandigarh in Ahmedabad, India (2019), Woven Light tat Lumiere in Syndey, Nova Scotia (2017), Surface/Surfacing at Artscape Youngplace in Toronto, Canada (2015), House Games Triennial in Helsinki, Finland (2014) and Hand & Machine at the Ontario Craft Council gallery (2014). Gherman holds a Bachelor of Design from the Ontario College of Art and Design University where she majored in Textiles and Environmental Design and an Master of Architecture from Dalhousie University.