Biography

Tom Hjorleifson works from his studio in Canmore, Alberta, creating sculpture in a range of scales, from hand-held to monumental, primarily in bronze, with elements of stainless steel and stone. A self-taught sculptor, he began working in clay in 1990, drawing on a lifelong connection to the outdoors that started in his formative years in Winnipeg and Calgary and deepened through extensive world travel. The Rocky Mountain wilderness and his personal encounters with wildlife remain central to his work, driving a desire to capture those moments and, through them, promote the importance of environmental conservation. More recently, his focus has expanded to larger installations and the human form, a subject he finds opens up new complexity and invites viewers into their own imagination.

Hjorleifson graduated from the University of Calgary in 1980 with a BPE specializing in Outdoor Pursuits before moving to Canmore, where he has lived and worked since. He became a member of the Canmore Artists and Artisans Guild in 1992, and his work is held in private and corporate collections around the world.