Harmony and Polly and Regina, oh my

Grey Scale I by Polly Apfelbaum,
marker on silk/rayon velvet, 60 x 37 inches,  2015

 

Ned and I went to the National Gallery of Canada to view Woven Histories: Textiles and Modern Abstraction when we were in Ottawa last February.  

Grey Scale detail, marker on silk/rayon velvet, by Polly Apfelbaum, USA

This is the important exhibition that you have probably read about online.  It debuted in Los Angeles at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in September 2023, and then travelled first to the National Gallery in Washington DC in the spring of 2024, and then to Canada in late 2024 until the end of February 2025.  The exhibition is scheduled to open at the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) in New York in April. (April 20 - September 13 2025. ) 

Syaw (Fishnet) by Regina Pilawuk Wilson,
acrylic paint on canvas, 48 x 79 inches, 2011

Fishnet (detail) by paint on canvas by Regina Pilawuk Wilson, Australia

The exhibition was beautifully installed in our spacious national gallery.    

I was familiar with Regina Pilawuk Wilson's work as I own the catalogue for the Marking the Infinite exhibition.  It was great to see this painting face to face.  I really appreciated understanding with my body that that this painting is as large as one of my quilts.  (48 x 79 inches) 

Pink Weave, by Harmony Hammond, USA
 oil and cold wax medium on canvas, 24 X 24 inches, 1974 

Harmony Hammond   is a recognized artist in a wide variety of materials, and has, through out her 50 year career,  privileged textiles in her work.   I find it interesting that of all her work, the curators chose these two oil/wax paintings to represent her contribution to abstract art.  

Grey Grid, by Harmony Hammond, USA
oil and cold wax medium on canvas, 20.5 x 20.5 inches, 1974 

These two paintings by Harmony Hammond along with the velvet piece, Grey Scale I, by Polly Apfelbaum, (who is no slouch in the art world either, btw,) expand the thinking of those of us who unconsciously put art into categories.  Why? I wonder.  Polly Appelbaum's audacious idea to use permanent marker on sensuous silk rayon velvet gives me such pleasure.  (see top photo of this post)    

Untitled #8 by Agnes Martin,
india ink, graphite and gesso on canvas, 72 x 72 inches, 1977 

Untitled #8 by Agnes Martin, A Canadian who worked in the USA for most of her career.

It's rare to see an Agnes Martin piece in real life.  

I love that her pencil drawing is so much larger than the Harmony Hammond cold wax pieces.  That's one of the main reasons I like to go to art galleries.  The scale and the texture of the work can only be understood when you stand face to face with it. 

(By the way, the above artwork is not included in the beautiful catalogue, although two other Agnes Martin pieces are.  This makes me wonder if each installation of the exhibition is slightly different.)  

Floor Pieces II, III, and VI by Harmony Hammond,
acrylic on fabric, dimensions variable, 1973

Floorpiece by Harmony Hammond, paint on linen that has been braided  USA

I looked carefully at these floor pieces to see what had been painted and what had not been painted.  

In this post, I am showing some of the artists who created work that highlights the idea of domestic textile methods, (woven cloth, braided rug, pieced quilt) with fine art techniques (painting, drawing).

I plan to write another post about this exhibition.  If you are near New York City this summer, I hope that you will visit the MOMA and walk through this beautiful exhibition.    

World of Threads installations and weaving from the USA, Spain, Finland and Canada

Pacific Ocean by Bonnie J Smith, California USA

Indigo dyed  cloth and thread 

While walking along the shore every day I gaze to the west and view the vastness and beautiful Pacific Ocean.   

My thoughts while creating this installation were for the viewer to love the Pacific Ocean as much as I do.  My belief is that when someone loves something they will also want to take care of it.

Ecologically all oceans represent what is happening on this earth.  Let us keep them in great shape for future generations.  Bonnie J. Smith

Hand Woven Tapestries by Anna Kocherovsky from Michigan USA.  Anna used wool, linen, cotton and metallic threads for all these pieces.  

Pictured above:  Travel Diary, Fox and the Forest (two panels). Star Light, Star Bright

Star Light, Star Bright by Anna Kocherovsky 

The Memory of Nature  Jaizkibel III by Lourdes Elizalde from Basque Country, Spain

Handwoven tapestry, plain weave and soumak technique, wool, cotton, silk threads

Inspired by my love and concern for Mother Nature, my desire is to express an intimate, joyful and deep sensation.  Climb those cliffs, enter their hollows, feel the sun on your back and the humidity in the shadiest areas.  Touch the roughness and feel the softness of the sandstone slipping through your hands.   

detail of  Memory of Nature by Lourdes Elizalde

installation by Theda Sandiford from Jersey City, USA.

(made from black zip ties and library ladders)

Her statement:  Racial gaslighting hides in plain sight in everyday conversations.  It subtly shifts dialogue from a raciesst topic at hand onto me, the accuser, forcing me to question and re-assess my response to racism, rather than racism itself.  "are you sure it was about race?"  "I'm sure he/she/they didn't mean it like that."  These comments are a convenient way for people to avoid uncomfortable conversations about race.  The questioning, twisting, and undermining of my truth, manifests in insomnia and anxiety.  In this installation, zip tie blankets draped on library ladders expose the sting of micro-aggressions to dispose of this trauma.

Laurentian Forest

installation by Ixchel Suarez from Oakville, Ontario

cotton, silk, wool, linen, jute, tulle, rope, raffia, human hair, all hand stitched

The soft sculptures presented in Laurentian Forest interconnect trees, forests, and our bodies, visually weaving human-nature bonds.  They reflect on time's juxtaposition with nature, mirroring our evolving, aging, and transient existence within the natural world.  This art prompts contemplation of impermanence and fragile beauty.  It serves as a visual narrative bridging time and nature, inviting viewers ot escape into the timeless harmony between them.  Ixchel Suarez

The Pure Soul in a Dream by Paivi Vaarula, Finland

One morning I woke up and the shade of a dream was still floating in my mind.  There was this person with such a pure soul.  I just had to translate that into a textile.  I chose transparent and white wool yarns and woe these wings to reflect the dream I had.  

Handwoven on a floor loom, the folds  were stabilized by steaming.

 Time of Joy by Paivi Vaarula from Hameenlinna, Finland

Everyday life consists of joys and sorrows.  In this work, I interpret those moments of joy.  My starting point was the joyful times with my sons.  I dyed the yarns with natural dyes, wove the fabric with a traditional floor loom and steamed the folds to stabilize the form.

World of Threads in Oakville, Ontario Canada, is on view until January 14, 2024.  

The Path of the Heart: Lenore Tawney

To be an artist, you must be brave.

You can't let yourself be scared by a blank sheet of drawing paper or a white canvas.

But what you put on that paper or canvas must come from your deepest self.

To discover this place is our aim and our goal.

Your attitude of openness toward this place in yourself can be like the thick layer of leaves on the forest floor, in that it is always there, no matter what goes on above.

Our instinct drives us downward to the source; there we have visionary experiences made visible.

This can be what motivates you to keep on what I call The Path of the Heart
This path and the seed of your own work are within each one of you.

(her work smock)

One thing I must tell you: what we most try to avoid in life is, in fact, our greatest teacher
- that is pain, anguish.

This pain and this anguish, take us off the surface of life and into the depths where the treasure lies.

This is your life, dear friends.
Meet it with bravery and with great love."   Lenore Tawney

(the black coat she wore to her openings)

The text in this post is Lenore Tawney's commencement address to the graduating students of the Maryland Institute College of Art in 1992

The images are from my visit to the exhibition Mirror of the Universe at the John Michael Kohler Art Center in Sheboygan Wisconsin.   The main exhibit remains up until March 7.  Cloud Labyrinth comes down January 19 2020.    I have written about this exhibition with more clarity on Modernist Aesthetic.   go see. xo

World of Threads festival 2018, some highlights

Lorraine Roy (Canada):   Integration
cotton, acrylic paint, machine applique, embroidery and quilting

"Tree rings record time and events in the life of a tree by building layer upon layer of fresh cells, leaving the marks of its life forever preserved within.  Similarily, we move through our lives, collecting and sometimes burying our own memories"  Lorraine Roy

 Lorraine Roy (Canada):  Call of the Heart
cotton, acrylic paint, machine applique, embroidery and quilting

Lorraine Roy (Canada):   Through the Woods
cotton, acrylic paint, machine applique, embroidery and quilting

The three circles above are 36 inches diameter.
a SOLO exhibition at World of Threads

Ragnhild Monsen (Norway):  Defragmentation I: white  and Defragmentation II: black
two hand woven tapestries, jute wool nylon
each about 7 feet square

Included in the FLOW exhibition at World of Threads 2018  Oakville Ontario
curated by Dawne Rudman and Gareth Bate

masterful tapestry weaving

Ragnhild Monsen (Norway):  Butterfly Days
hand woven tapestry, jute, wool, nylon
part of Botanical Realm exhibition, World of Threads

Hazel Bruce (Northern Ireland):  Space Pattern Place  2
Linen and silk
machine embroidery, applique, hand stitching

part of the FLOW exhibition at World of Threads this year (2018)

Anna Lefsrud (Canada):  One Full Stride
24 horses, woven copper wire
part of the Fibre 3D exhibition at World of Threads

World of Threads Festival (Canada) opened October 13 2018 and continues until December 31.  However, the group exhibition in the gallery space entitled FLOW will close November 25

Elise Vazelakis (USA): Enlightenment

woven steel and wire, about 9 feet x 8.3 feet

included in FLOW exhibition World of Threads

The World of Threads festival is a biennial exhibition that has grown over the years.  The two curatoris, Dawne Rudman and Gareth Bate, allow the work that is submitted by the artists to guide them.  They do not begin with pre-determined ideas, and each festival is a blank slate that is formed from the newest and best work that the artists send in.

Elise Vazelakis (USA):  Repetitive Stillness
woven fiber, steel, and copper
about 10 feet high, 7 1/2 feet wide, included in FLOW exhibition at World of Threads

The festival is hosted in Oakville Ontario at a single venue, the Queen Elizabeth Park Community and Cultural Centre

Sun Young Kang (USA):  In Between Presence and Absence
cast paper - hundreds of vessels from everyday life
The main INSTALLATION at World of Threads festival this year

Sun Young Kang explores themes such as emptiness, the visible and the invisible.

Sun Young Kang (USA):  Freezing Moments to Turn Them into Eternity  Study 1 - 18
canvas, cotton thread, artist's hair, glue  wrapped
a SOLO exhibition at World of Threads

"I try to visualize the invisible ideas in our life in a very minimal but obsessive way.  I question how past experiences and forgotten momemories become the strong force that connect individuals in different times and space subconsciously."  Sun Young Kang

Eva Ennist (Canada):  Nesting - Entangled   and  Nesting - Commit
cast resin,  reed, steel, wood, paint  120" x 21.5"and cold-cast bronze, reed, steel, wood, paint 84" x 20" part of the 3D exhibition at World of Threads

Eva Ennist (Canada):  Nesting - Tolerance 
cold-cast bronze, reed, steel, wood, paint
77" x 21.5"

"Nests, fish traps and spires are forms that shelter, confine and contain.  I am drawn to the conical shapes of these things, some of them open and some of them closed, acting as metaphors for either an abundance of faith, trust or survival - or the absence of it."  Eva Ennist

There are 365 pieces of art at this year's festival and 65 artists from around the world
All exhibitions except for the FLOW exhibition will remain up until December 31, so if you are close to the area, it is well worth your time.