World of Threads Festival
De rerum natura (On The Nature of Things)
2012 Exhibition: Artwork
This major Festival exhibition is a highly eccentric show evoking the collection of a mad 18th century naturalist. All artwork deals with themes of nature, plants and animals in a huge variety of media. Festival Curator, Gareth Bate, has observed that environmental work is the most dominant theme in contemporary fibre art. The title of the show comes from the ancient Roman poem by Lucretius who's rediscovery was a major inspiration for Renaissance artists. The show is set up in thematic opposition to the Memento more exhibition.
Curated by Gareth Bate
Photography by Gareth Bate
Emily Jan
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Curator
- Canada: Ontario: Toronto: Gareth Bate
Artists
- Canada: British Columbia: Vancouver: Bettina Matzkuhn, Carlyn Yandle. Manitoba: Winnipeg: Heather Komus, Ingrid Lincoln. New Brunswick: Saint John: Sandra Betts. Ontario: Alliston: Amy Bagshaw, Kingston:Phillida Hargreaves, Robin Laws Field, Sylvia Naylor, Kitchener: Joanne Young, Mississauga: Pat Hertzberg, Oakville: Sybil Rampen, Ixchel Suarez, Ottawa: Sayward Johnson, Rockwood: Susan Strachan Johnson, Toronto: Lizz Aston, Karen Darricades, Libby Hague, Jillian MacLachlan, Liz Menard, Leanne Shea Rhem, Sheila Thompson, Tweed: Marta Mouka. Quebec: Montreal: Soufia Bensaid, Emily Jan, Valerie D. Walker, St-Sauveur: Marjolein Dallinga. Saskatchewan: Meacham: June J.Jacobs.
- Denmark: Copenhagen: Birgitta Hallberg.
- UK: Liverpool: Sarah Martin.
- USA: California: San Francisco: Chris Motley. Georgia: Atlanta: Leisa Rich. Massachusetts: Somerville: Jodi Colella. Oregon: Philomath: Laura G. Berman. Virginia: Charlottesville: Lotta Helleberg.
Gallery
- Joshua Creek Heritage Art Centre.
City
- Oakville, Ontario, Canada
Dates
- Nov. 2 - Dec. 2, 2012
Working your way through the exhibition, can you speak about the artists work and how they fit within your show?
Gareth Bate: There were 35 artists in the show, so I can't speak about every person's work but I'll go through some of the major pieces.
There are two artists whose work was central to the show. The inspiration for the show came from encountering Emily Jan's work which evokes natural history museums. I'm particularly fond of Durer's Rhinoceros and the whole story of how the Rhino travelled to Europe from India and captured everyone's imagination -- and then drowned in a ship wreck. There is a fabulous version of this story in the BBC's podcast and book A History of the World in 100 Objects.
TheDikdik/ghost dikdik sculpture at first seems very cute until you realize that it's hoofs are in jars next to it! These were the central pieces of the show and it wouldn't have been the same without them. I'm really glad Emily came down from Montreal to install the work herself as it was quite an undertaking!
Ixchel Suarez
Oakville, Ontario, Canada
Gareth: Another crucial artist to the show was Oakville's Ixchel Suarez who exhibited three tapestries and one installation. The most prominent was Memories of a Birch Tree which was actual created on site at Joshua Creek the previous year. I loved this tapestry and wanted it to feature prominently in the show. On arrival at the gallery Jamie Owen (installer) and I realized the tapestry was too big for the space. Although the walls were high enough to accommodate the work, the beams dropped down lower and thus cut the work in half visually. This was a real dilemma. We solved it by choosing to drape the tapestry onto a riser at the bottom so that it could be seen fully. I actually really liked how this turned out. It was an unconventional way to exhibit it, but it really worked.
Synchronistic Curating
Something that's different about World of Threads Festival is that we let the art guide us. Festival curators Gareth Bate and Dawne Rudman don't have predetermined curatorial ideas or impose our concepts on the artists. Each new festival is a blank slate. Shows develop entirely out of the submissions we receive.
To find our main exhibitions we look for connections and common themes between thousands of artworks. These works were made by hundreds of artists from around the world. Often artists seem to be on the same wavelength during a particular period. Over time, through many hours of sorting through artworks, the exhibition themes just emerge and become clear to us. This method has been very successful and resulted in compelling and unique exhibitions.
Heather Komus
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Heather Komus's Gerridae was part of a larger body of work. This mixed media wall hanging freaked out a number of viewers. I heard comments about how it was both beautiful and really gross at the same time!
Joanne Young
Kitchener, Ontario, Canada
Joanne Young's Postcards from the Scrap Yard really rewards close inspection. From far you can't really get a sense of how intricate and detailed the work is. I heard several people say this was their favourite piece in the show.
Leanne Shea Rhem
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Gareth: I wanted to establish the idea of humans as part of nature, rather than separate from it, so Leanne Shea Rhem's Armour was part of that theme as well as Jillian MacLaughlin. Armour is quite remarkable for its use of Kozo paper, polyester thread, metal grommets, and lambskin leather, sculpted into a suit. In Leanne's interview you can see her wearing the suit which is pretty cool.
Jillian MacLachlan
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Gareth: Jillian MacLachlan's Anatomical self made quite an impression on viewers. Most did not really put two and two together at first. There was often a shock when they realized that the piece depicted bodily organs and that when you stood in a particular spot they assembled themselves into a body formation.
Birgitta Hallberg
Copenhagen, Denmark
Libby Hague
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Libby Hague and Lizz Aston were invited to create new work for the show. I was familiar with both of their work and thought they might be inspired by the theme to create something interesting. I was very happy with what they made. Libby's work is always whimsical and I think this piece stands out in the room. Lizz's beautiful pieces were the first time she'd taken on a water theme in her work which was exciting. Her work played off beautifully with Sayward Johnson's Ocean.
Lizz Aston
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Sayward Johnson
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Bettina Matzkuhn
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
An important part of the show was the smaller sculptural work scattered in groupings around the gallery. These were intended to evoke museum collections of bizarre plants and animals. This included the work of Jodi Colella, Leisa Rich, Marjoleine Dallinga, Sarah Martin, Chris Motley, June J. Jacobs, Carolyn Yandel, and Valérie d. Walker. These artists all seemed to be on the same wavelength. They were creating bizarre objects evoking plants and animals but without literally referencing the animals. These sculptures are truly strange and I loved being able to bring them all together in one show and make that theme clear.
Jodi Colella
Somerville, Massachusetts, USA
Leisa Rich
Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Sarah Martin
Liverpool, United Kingdom
Marjolein Dallinga
St-Sauveur, Quebec, Canada
Chris Motley
San Francisco, California, USA
June J Jacobs
Meacham, Saskatchewan, Canada
Carolyn Yandle
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Sylvia Naylor
Kingston, Ontario, Canada
Lotta Helleberg
Charlottesville, Virginia, USA
Soufia Bensaid
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Sheila Thompson
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Ingrid Lincoln
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Marta Mouka
Tweed, Ontario, Canada
Karen Darricades
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Pat Hertzberg
Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
Sybil Rampen
Oakville, Ontario, Canada
Amy Bagshaw
Alliston, Ontario, Canada
Valerie D Walker
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Robin Laws Field
Kingston, Ontario, Canada
Phillida Hargreaves
Kingston, Ontario, Canada
Laura G Berman
Philomath, Oregon, USA
