My name is Brooke Ali and I am a mixed-media textile artist. I was raised in Nova Scotia, have lived abroad in England and South America, and currently live in Toronto, Ontario. I love my international experiences and the opportunities for culture I find living in such an international city. Although it is known as a concrete jungle, Toronto is also a fascinating mix of urban and natural and I love collecting plants to use in my work. I work on fabric and apply paint, natural dyes, needle felting, applique, and embroidery to give my work a sense of movement and texture. 

I began to learn textile art from a very young age, having been taught embroidery by my grandmother at age 5 and knitting at age 7. My childhood was full of craft kits and exploration where I mixed new skills and mediums with ones I was already familiar with to create new kinds of art.

My undergraduate years as an English major exposed me to a variety of different time periods and I became fascinated with social history, especially “women’s work” like spinning, weaving, and stitching. 10 years spent as a freelance genealogist cemented this love of the details of individual lives and how they created the everyday items they needed.

In 2020 I graduated from the 6-year OHS Hand Spinning course at Haliburton School of Art and Design. This is where I learned many of the spinning and dyeing techniques that I am continuing to experiment with in my work. I love playing with different materials and techniques, as well as mixing historical practices with modern aesthetics and subjects.