Betty Goodwin, an accomplished printmaker and sculptor, is perhaps best known internationally for the dramatic, large-scale drawings of human figures she began making in the early 1980s. These highly expressive works reveal suffering, but also strength and empathy. Employing a variety of materials, including graphite, ink and pastel, and frequently using an eraser as a tool, she shapes and re-shapes each drawing until form emerges: the body is inscribed as mutable vessel linking the spiritual and material realms. A key example of Goodwin’s mature work, Figure with Megaphone is one of several pieces that incorporate a megaphone with human figures.

A major senior figure, the Montreal-based artist has been featured in numerous major solo exhibitions; for instance, Goodwin represented Canada at the Sao Paulo Biennal (1989) and in the international “Identity and Alterity” section of the Venice Biennale (1995).