Melanie Chikofsky’s creative journey began in childhood, with her hands in clay and her head full of ideas. From early experiments in ceramics to a specialized arts high school and craft & design studies at Sheridan College, she followed her muse wherever it led—usually elbow-deep in something artistic.
After graduation, Chikofsky dove headfirst into the glamorous world of fashion, designing high-end hats that graced many a runway, the pages of Harper’s Bazaar, turned heads at Ascot, and even strutted their stuff in Tokyo. Her handmade accessories and jewellery lines sold across Canada and in luxury boutiques, funding what she calls her “fine art habit”—particularly her love affair with sculpture.
A serious accident in her thirties forced a decade-long detour through reconstructive surgeries and chronic pain, but even that couldn’t keep her from making and teaching art. She spent those years turning her inner-city classroom into a vibrant art studio, where a lack of supplies only sharpened her inventiveness, and sense of play .
Between 2000-2024, Melanie was the Director and Lead Instructor at the Al Green Sculpture Studio School, where teaching adult students how to wrestle with plaster, wax, and Winterstone supercharged her own practice. Her work continues to evolve—rich in texture, layered with story, and not afraid to get a little messy.
Chikofsky has exhibited widely since 1983. Her many accolades include the 2020 KDS Fibre & Textile Established Female Artist Award, from the Mississippi Valley Textile Museum, in 2019 a sponsored award from the Japanese Paper Place for “Relic I”, and in 2008 “Best in Show” for “Threadbare” both from the Ontario Society of Artists Juried exhibitions. Her 2019 solo exhibition “Remains To Be Seen” caught the attention of CBC’s Exhibitionists, who featured her in a short documentary
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