Feature Gallery: InTENSIONS

January 17 – April 18, 2009

InTENSIONS

medium & message in fibre art

This exhibition features work by a trio of craft artists, each exploring fundamental issues of life, death and belief.

Backyard Art: Natural Impressions

Margie Davidson

My backyard is a small but significant natural area within the city environment. The trees that shade me each summer and the leaves that I sun-print with are an important part of my urban forest. Using the ferns and leaves from my backyard in the making of fabrics that I work with allows me to connect with the natural world as I see each leaf print is a celebration of natures beauty and each stitched line is a connection of my hand to nature creation.

At the heart of my backyard is our clothesline. To me, it is an icon of environmental responsibility. A clothesline is a sustainable use of solar heat and wind power; it evokes nostalgia and makes old-fashioned good sense amidst the explosion of technological advancements of our time.

Backyard Art celebrates the beauty that is all around us, from the straight lines and grids of the city to the delicate unfolding fern. Combining these organic and geometric shapes into one artwork continues my exploration of the tensions between humankind and the natural world.

Casket Covers

Mary Sullivan-Holdgrafer

This series of work began as an explanation of the paradox of joy and grief that comes at lifeÕs end. The original covers conformed to the typical casket size, 84Óx28Óx23Ó, however through the process I began to consider other uses for the work. Who would be comforted by the covers? How would they be used after the celebration of life?

It seemed to me that the cover could be used as a literal adornment for a casket, hung on a wall as a memorial to the deceased or it could be used to console the grieving partner, wrapping themselves in warmth and comfort. In some ways the casket cover can represent the life of the deceased person; a beautiful life imperfectly lived or an imperfect life beautifully lived.

In the construction and quilting of the casket covers I have attempted to create my own mark by cutting and piecing without the use of a ruler and then free-handing the quilting grid. Perhaps the relationship between the piecing and the quilting is a metaphor for how we live our lives. Events and circumstances are imposed upon us. We live with various constraints. As we age we display our life story in our gain, our shape and the wrinkles on our faces. In this way, we can think of the piecing as our essence and the grid as our life experiences.

The Casket Covers simply celebrate life and provide comfort to those left behind. My wish is that they embody the fullness of life joys and sorrows, hope and grief, successes and failures.

In Jesus’ Name

Matt Gould

Children are baptized, wars are fought, gratitude is expressed, and cultures are destroyed all in Jesus name.The name of the Christian deity carries enormous weight with global consequences, and in the summer of 2006 with a grant from the Alberta Foundation for the Arts, I began to explore the power of those three simple words. By reading, researching and talking to people, I looked at what people mean when they invoke this phrase.

I was raised in the Christian tradition and confirmed at age sixteen. As an adult, I rejected the religious institution that considered me, a gay man, to be an abomination. As I have watched more extreme fundamentalist Christians mounting attacks on my right to love whom I choose, celebrating our young people marching off to war, and helping to destroy the planet in their greed, I have to wonder where Jesus is in all of this. What would he think of the things that are done in his name?

At the same time I see around me many Christians who are kind, generous, inclusive and loving. I ask myself if the contrasts are simply a question of fundamentalism vs. moderation, of the powerful vs. the meek. As an artist, a gay man, and a human being, I grapple with the contradictions that arise when Jesus's name is invoked. This project reflects and illustrates my spiritual and intellectual journey.

Our place in the world as beings of Spirit, surrounded by examples of human behaviours devoid of any spiritual dimension, is of concern to us all. I see the destruction of our fellow human beings and the exploitation of the earth itself, and I find that as a man and artists, I am no longer willing passively to say no comment. For me, a creative response to the three simple words In Jesus Name is a first step towards clarity, compassion and understanding.