Her work makes visual connections between lush patterns, shapes and colours found in our surroundings, cultures, and in our present and past experiences. Now based in Canada, but having had a highly mobile childhood (Bahrain, England, Zambia and Libya), she explores the fleeting connection to memory and how these traces both form identity and belonging and can obscure it. She works in multiple mediums often bringing together emotive intricate ink-work and bold collaged colours. Intangible recollections/impressions of landscapes, flora and fauna entwine and clash creating new surreal forms, connecting to the past and sending roots into the present.
Jacqui’s work has been exhibited in Toronto, Montreal, L.A., San Francisco, Philadelphia, San Diego and Shanghai. She has taught at Toronto’s OCAD University (Ontario College of Art and Design) and Oakville’s Sheridan College and talked at The School of Visual Arts (New York), Method and Madness (AIGA Arizona), Creative Mornings (Toronto), Creative South (Columbus, GA), Louisville Graphic Design Association (Louisville, KY), WMC Fest (Cleveland, Ohio), The Design Exchange (Toronto) and Inspiring the Art (The AGH Design Annex, Hamilton, ON). Her work has been featured in The Dieline, Lovely Package, The Great Discontent and more. Recently she was awarded a recently in Tartu, Estonia with the Nordic Artist Exchange.
Her illustrations have been used by an international roster of clients including The New York Times, Reebok, Penguin Random House, Rolling Stone, National Geographic, Time and Amazon. She has received awards from Applied Arts, Communication Arts, Society of Illustrators of LA and American Illustration.
She often collaborates on large scale murals and design jobs with her husband Jamie Lawson under the moniker Ver Sands.
Solo Exhibitions
Some Faraway Shore (Solo Exhibit) / Gallery 206, Cotton Factory
Hamilton, ON / May, 2025
See / Saw (Ver Sands Solo Show) / Smokestack Gallery
Hamilton, ON / Mar 7-Apr 11, 2025
Drowned World (Ver Sands Solo Show) / The Assembly
Hamilton, ON / Aug. 2017
The Painted Page: Book Illustrations
by Jacqui Oakley (2015) The Art Gallery of
Hamilton Design Annex, Hamilton, ON
Prowl / Solo Art Exhibit / Bobbyfive Gallery
Toronto, ON, 2026
Bestiary, DeFacto Gallery
Hamilton, ON / Dec 13 – Feb 6, 2012
Group Exhibitions
The Garden / Oda Ada
Hamilton / Apr 6-May 31, 2026
BloomLand in Oz / Royal Botanical Gardens
Burlington, ON / Jan 31-Apr 6, 2026
Hundred Dollar Gallery / James Gallery, Hamilton Artists Inc.
Hamilton, ON / Sept 12-Oct 25, 2025 – Curated by Andrew McPhail and Stephen Altena
Biennial Juried Exhibition / Glenhyrst Art Gallery
Brantford, ON / Sept 6-Nov 7, 2025
A-Side /B- Side / Smokestack Gallery
Hamilton, ON / July 25-Aug 29, 2025
Guess Who / B-Side Gallery
Hamilton, ON / Aug 6-Sept 7 2025
Easy Tiger / B-Side Gallery
Hamilton, ON / July 11-Aug 4, 2025
Wallflowers / B-Side Gallery
Hamilton, ON / May, 2024
ICON / Red Bull House of Art
Detroit, MI / July 14, 2018
Ting Fest / The ARTS Project
London, ON / Apr 17-May 5, 2018
The Assembly Group Show / The Assembly
Hamilton, ON / Dec. 2016
Hyakki Yagyo: Night Parade of 100 Demons / Northern Contemporary Gallery
Toronto, ON / Oct 20-31, 2016
20/20 Boundless Brooklyn Tour / Mindzai
Toronto, ON / May, 2015
The Painted Page: Book Illustrations by Jacqui Oakley / The Art Gallery of Hamilton
Design Annex, Hamilton, ON / May 8 – Aug 29, 2015 – Curated by Melissa Bennett, Curator of Contemporary Art at the AGH
DOS Show / Evergreen Brick Works
Toronto, ON / July 19, 2013
Fall Classic Art Show 2 / Steam Whistle Brewery
Toronto, ON / Apr 3, 2013
UNO Show / Evergreen Brick Works
Toronto, ON / Apr 13, 2012
Fall Classic Art Show / Smash Gallery
Toronto, ON / Oct 26, 2012
ZOO / Loose Canon Gallery
Hamilton, On. / July-Sept, 2011
Urbanatomy / New Heights
Shanghai, China / Feb 29, 2008
Batteries Not Included / Super 7 Store,
San Francisco, CA, USA / Mar 2006
Boys’ Club / Xspace Gallery
Toronto, ON / Apr 1-14, 2025
Boys’ Club / Receiver Gallery
San Francisco, CA, USA / July, 2025
Boys’ Club / D.O.A. Gallery
Detroit, MI, USA / Aug, 2025
Les Femmes de Siecle / Spin Gallery
Toronto, ON / Aug, 2005
Lifestyles, Yves Larouche Gallerie
Montreal, QC / May, 2006
The Art of the Burlesque / The Gladstone Hotel
Toronto, ON / Aug, 2003
Awards
2026 Hamilton Arts Award Recipient
Applied Arts
Communication Arts
Society of Illustrators of Los Angeles
American Illustration
Residences / Fellowships
Smokestack Analog Studio Residency
As Ver Sands with partner Jamie Lawson
February 2025 / Hamilton, Ontario
Nordic Artist Exchange
July 2024 / Tartu, Estonia
Cabinscape Artist Fellowship Program
May 2024 / Kawarthas, Ontario
Collectives
The Assembly
Oct 2016 – May 2018
As Ver Sands with partner Jamie Lawson
Clients
The New York Times
Lyft
Reebok
Penguin Random House
Rolling Stone
National Geographic
Time
Amazon
Talks
Dundas Valley School of Art
2026, DVSA, Dundas, ON
Illustration Symposium Talks & Reviews
2015-2024, Sheridan College, Hamilton, ON
Method & Madness / AIGA Arizona
Oct 17-18, 2015, Phoenix, AZ
Inspiring The Art
June 18, 2015, Hamilton, ON
Creative Mornings
April 6, 2015, Toronto, ON
Creative South with Jamie Lawson
April 10-12, 2014, Columbus, GA
Louisville Graphic Design Association
May 23, 2013, Louisville, KY
WMC FEST
Aug 16-18, 2013, Cleveland, OH
DX Salon Night with Marco Cibola
Feb 22, 2012, Toronto, ON.
Murals as Ver Sands
Jamie & Jacqui do collaborative work focusing on design, illustration and murals on Ver Sands.