An Unexpected Discovery - by Regina Marzlin

 Two weeks ago, I spent a few days in Fredericton, New Brunswick. It is the capital of our neighbouring province and I was there for the first time. Fredericton is not a large city, the population is about 63000, but being the capital of the province, there was a lot to see and do. One of the stops on my list was the Beaverbrook Art Gallery, the provincial art gallery that houses important Canadian and British collections in a modern building that was expanded in 2017.

To my delight, I discovered an exhibition by Canadian sculptor and textile artist Sarah Maloney (b. 1965) called "Sarah Maloney's Pleasure Ground: A Feminist Take on the Natural World". I had seen some of her pieces before at the Confederation Centre of the Arts in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada. This exhibition was a deep-dive into several bodies of work developed between 1993 and 2021.

 Her representations of the human body and of botanicals reference gender, pleasure, desire and power. From the wall plaque: "Meticulous, witty and historically researched, Maloney interprets mythology and symbolism in labour-intensive techniques, from welding to stitching. Her work challenges how people think about icons of Western colonialism, such as museum collections, domestic gardens, and landscape art."

The "Collect-Arrange" (No. 1,2,3) pieces depict vases from the British Museum filled with cut flowers modelled after historical botanical illustrations. It prompts questions about collecting - what is collected by public museums and by whom? It was hard to believe that those vases are embroidered!

Three life-sized stitched panels titled "Skeletal System, Circulatory System, Major Organs" depict just that. The sheer size is impressive, as is the detailed stitching.

More art dealing with body imagery (unfortunately I didn't get all the individual titles):

I really appreciated her combination of embroidery, knitting and painting with 3D objects and her sculptural approach. A very well done exhibition that I stumbled on unexpectedly. It is always satisfying to see textile art on par with all the other media in a museum setting.

"High in Fiber" at the Abington Art Center by Dianne Hricko

 I really enjoyed visiting High in Fiber curated by THECOLORG. 

The exhibition presents works that span a variety of mediums, all using fiber in innovative ways. Whether through the delicate use of thread, the manipulation of fabric, or the sculptural possibilities of the materials, the artists push the boundaries of what fiber art can be. 

Liz Quay

The exhibition runs until [Jan 6 2025]. Admission is [free/price], and The Abington Art Center, with its beautiful grounds is well worth a visit. You can get a preview here https://abingtonartcenter.org/high-in-fiber-2/ I've included a few of my favorites .

Valarie Goodman 

Margery Amdur 

Well worth the visit. 

Dianne

 

Artist talk with Elise Findlay in Canmore - by Regina Marzlin

  While we met in Canmore, Alberta, for our annual in-person meeting we had the opportunity to listen to an artist talk by emerging fibre artist Elise Lavallee Findlay. We convened at the Arts Place in Canmore where her exhibition "Another Life" was on display. Elise is located in Banff, Alberta, just a short drive away from our meeting location. She is a visual artist known for her versatile, process-driven practice. Her work is centering around the themes of community, place, identity, and the intricacies of human interaction with the world. 

The exhibition we saw was motivated by Elise's experience as a wood worker and cabinet maker. The series of pieces was started during the pandemic and Elise used some materials she had at hand during the lockdown. She pulled threads from drop cloth canvas material and stiffened it with cornstarch after shaping it around objects. The objects she depicts are woodworking tools that she used in her former job.

This is her artist statement about the series:

"This body of work began with an examination and a sculptural expression of my past experiences, and by extension, the challenges faced by women working in the construction trades. Through material and process I explored memories of my previous life, resulting in a series of fibre sculptures, which, while referencing woodworking tools, have become strange canvas shells. Each sculpture is a duplication that is and is not. The installation represents a place that no longer exits for me, yet it also is a starting point. Something here goes beyond the original idea and the process. It is a beginning, a way to explore transformation, and how, while I used to be a cabinetmaker, like the sculptures themselves, I am now something new."

Larger sheets were produced in the same way and then stitched into 3D models of woodworking tools like a band saw or a work bench. The pulled threads are part of the installation, they are scattered on the floor to resemble saw dust.

 I was impressed with the concept of using the humble material to convey her thoughts about a male dominated workplace. Deconstruction, reconstruction and transformation are key processes of Elise's art making. She also brought with her a body of work that is going to be shown at the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa, Ontario. The exhibition is "Outside the Lines - Women Artists and War" and her pieces were made in response to some of the artifacts shown in this exhibition. It was thought provoking to see a gas mask (see photo above) or shells made from the light and transparent fibre material. 

She also showed us a birch bark piece that was stitched.

Elise was a great and inspiring speaker and we had lots of questions for her. It was wonderful to connect with a fellow fibre artist. Please look up her website at elisefindlay.ca if you're interested to see more of her work.