read, look, think, write

Think. Metaphysical Thinking series, 2005 stitched wool and paper

These past few months I have been working at 'professional practice' through my UK degree. My favourite assignment has been to research the career paths of contemporary artists that I like and to then choose two to write case studies on. I've been examining the web presences, artist statements, and exhibition records of two amazing Canadian textile artists. Anna Torma and Dorothy Caldwell.

I've followed both their careers for a long time but am newly bowled over by the professionalism they have maintained.

Interesting for me is that they are both immigrants to Canada. Dorothy Caldwell came here in 1972 from the United States during the Viet Nam War. Anna Torma came from Hungary with her artist husband and two boys in 1982. While their personal lives are not part of their 'professional practice', those lives do influence the content of their work. Dorothy Caldwell's subject has remained the rural landscape where she and her husband live in Ontario. Anna Torma's subject has been her parenting of two artistic boys and her Hungarian heritage.