cut
Rachael Ashe
weave Amanda Wood
throw Alwyn O’Brien
print Aurora Landin
curated by Lesley Finlayson
elissa cristall gallery
2239 granville st. vancouver, bc v6h3g1 canada +1 604 730.9611 www.cristallgallery.com
cut weave throw print Rachael Ashe Aurora Landin Alwyn O’Brien Amanda Wood curated by Lesley Finlayson
September 13 - 29, 2018
CUT WEAVE THROW PRINT coincides with the Textile Society of America 16th Biennial Symposium taking place in Vancouver September 19 - 23, 2018. © 2018
INTRODUCTION
In a world of artifice easily facilitated by user friendly technology I curated this exhibition to present art in which the works elegantly manifest the artists’ discernment, understanding and knowledge of techniques which are critical to their practices and to the work coming into existence. The skills involved are physical, intellectual, psychological and emotional, combined with a multi-layered and highly specialized familiarity with a range of materials, hand tools and equipment developed over centuries. These are the quanta of the creative processes which allow each artist to explore the infinite possibilities of material and technique. The nature of infinite possibilities of materials in an artist’s hands and knowledge in their minds, drives artists to explore and test the nebulous boundaries of their practice.
Sometimes the results are catastrophic, as forms collapse or materials disintegrate into chaos. Sometimes boundaries are crossed into another realm: weaving becomes sculptural, clay is woven into frozen fire, the staccato snips of scissors through paper become the construction of time, steel incising copper becomes drawing on paper. In all this work we see traces of decisions made and remade, of pentimento, of errors corrected, or not, of directions started, pushed or abandoned. Surrounding the work in the gallery we see shadows cast in light and space, including our own shadows as viewers. More subtly perhaps, within each piece we sense the shadow of the artist’s self, the human.
Lesley Finlayson, Curator
1 Amanda Wood YOU CAN ALWAYS CHANGE DIRECTION, 2018 Maple, linen, paper 148” (approx) x 15” $1800
2 Amanda Wood YOU CAN ALWAYS CHANGE DIRECTION, 2018 (detail)
I am interested in chance, found patterns and networks. I use the grid inherent in plain weave to mimic and explore these ideas. I let gridlines loosen, curve, disappear and push into the space to create effects that mimic the flow back and forth between whole and disrupted networks. The cloth responds to stimulus such as gravity or a shift in materials or tension. I use random integers, computer generated algorithms and Fibonacci numbers to create weave structures that reference chance connections. Natural materials such as silk, cotton, paper, wool, and horse hair combine with these asymmetrical, random patterns in tactile sculptures. 3 Amanda Wood LOOM STATE, 2018 Pine, cotton, silk, horsehair 26� square wood cube 35� x 15� weaving $2600
4 Amanda Wood LOOM STATE, 2018 (detail)
5 Rachael Ashe SEIGAIHA SERIES 1, 2017 Hand cut screen printed paper 16 × 20 inches framed $1100
6 Rachael Ashe SEIGAIHA SERIES 2, 2017 Hand cut screen printed paper 16 Ă— 20 inches framed $1100
Rachael Ashe creates hand-cut artwork and installation from paper inspired by visual patterns found in nature, and influenced by textile design and production. She is attracted to techniques that involve repetitive action as a form of meditation and devotional labour. She is curious to see how far a simple piece of paper can be sculpted and reformed as most of the surface is removed. Organic forms and geometric shapes are carved through an iterative and spontaneous method of freehand paper-cutting, moving in a rhythmic manner to allow the movement of her knife to flow intuitively.
detail
7 Rachael Ashe FINDING A WAY BACK, 2017 Hand cut tyvek 19” × 87.5” $2500
8 Alwyn O’Brien A MATTER OF SHADOW, 2018 Yellow: Porcelain, Oxidation fired glaze, clay, hand built, 11.5” x 10” x 51” Grey: Porcelain, ash glaze, Reduction fired, hand built, 12” x 17” x 49” $10,000
9 Alwyn O’Brien A MATTER OF SHADOW, 2018 Yellow (detail)
10 Alwyn O’Brien A MATTER OF SHADOW, 2018 Grey (detail)
... my work is influenced by the love of clay, phenomenology, mapping, contemporary dance practices, walking, historical porcelain, baroque sculpture, mythology and the unconscious. This is a heady brew that keeps me going again and again to draw out my thinking in clay.
11 Alwyn O’Brien A MATTER OF SHADOW, 2018 Grey (detail)
12 Alwyn O’Brien NAKED, 2018 Porcelain, hand built 17 × 15 x 16 inches $4200
13 Aurora Landin REFERENDUM, 2011 Intaglio etching 76 × 50 inches $6,000
While my studio practice also includes drawing, painting and photography, it is the ability to combine these in printed images and installations that makes me essentially a print-based artist at heart. Considered as both a material and, in its broadest sense, a strategy, it becomes perfectly suited to my interest in the Mediated Image and its relationship to, and distance from, the Grand Gesture of painting. From a formal perspective, the works embrace a love of tactility, surface, representation and perception, often pushing to the edge of abstraction. And my beginnings as a painter lead me to expand the traditional scale limitations of printmaking, either through it’s potential for repetitive tiling or in largescale singular works. 14 Aurora Landin GIUGNO 3, 2011 Drypoint & Monoprint 48 × 24 inches $3,000
15 Aurora Landin GIUGNO 30/THIRTY DAYS IN VENICE, 2011 Drypoint 48 × 24 inches $3,000
Rachael Ashe is a graduate of the Creative Photography program at Humber College, and is self-taught in papercraft and installation work. She credits her former position as a photographer at the Textile Museum of Canada, and the extensive exposure to handcrafted textiles it allowed, as a major influence on her work with paper to this day. She has exhibited across Canada, the US, and the UK, as well as been published in Uppercase Magazine, Design Genius, and Paper Play. Rachael lives and works in Vancouver, Canada.
Aurora LandĂn is a Mexican/American/Canadian whose work ranges from drawing and painting to installation and traditional printmaking. Aurora LandĂn received a Diploma of Art and Design from Red Deer College, a BFA from the University of Calgary, and an MFA from Washington State University. In addition to a long working association with galleries and other arts organizations, Aurora has taught in a number of institutions including the University of Manitoba, the Alberta College of Art and Design and currently, Langara College. A recipient of various grants and awards, her work has been shown and collected through numerous solo and group exhibitions in Canada, the United States, Mexico, Italy and Poland. She lives and works in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Alwyn O’Brien was born on a rural property on Salt Spring Island, B.C. to a family of makers and gardeners. Her ceramic practice has taken her across Canada, studying at Capilano College, Sheridan College, and Emily Carr University. She completed her MFA at the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington, 2010. Her work has been shown nationally and internationally, and is held in Museum collections in Canada and the U.S including the Seattle Art Museum, WA, Boise Art Museum, ID, the Surrey Art Gallery, BC and the Mackenzie Art Gallery, SK and private collections. In 2015 she was the recipient of the Winifred Shantz Award for ceramics. She currently divides her time between Salt Spring Island and Vancouver, where she is an Instructor at Langara College. Amanda Wood’s primary medium is weaving using traditional weaving techniques and tools within a contemporary framework. Amanda is fascinated by cloth as a historical document, a marker of growth and connection, and as a means of communication. The versatility and strength of plain weave and natural fibres are often found in her three dimensional structures. Amanda has a BA in Communications from SFU and a diploma in Textile Art from Capilano University. Her work has been shown across Canada and has been published in Uppercase Magazine and in the book Strange Material: Storytelling Through Textiles. Amanda lives and works in Vancouver, BC.
Lesley Finlayson was born in Scotland and graduated with honours from the Glasgow School of Art, Glasgow and received her MFA from the University of Calgary, Calgary AB. She has received numerous grants including the Alberta Art Foundation Scholarship and the Graduate Assistantship (teaching) University of Calgary in 1989, the Graduate Assistantship (Research) University of Calgary in 1987 and the Elizabeth Greenshields Scholarship in 1983. She is the former Department Chair and Instructor, Fine Arts, at Langara College in Vancouver, BC and is now a full-time painter. Finlayson has had numerous solo exhibitions in Canada and the United Kingdom. Her work is in corporate and private collections in Canada, Europe and the United States.
Photo Credits Amanda Wood, photo: Byron Dauncey Rachael Ashe, artist Alwyn O’Brien, photo: Ken Mayer Aurora Landin, artist
cut weave throw print Opening Reception: Thursday September 13th, 6 - 8 pm Dates: September 13 - 29, 2018
elissa cristall gallery 2239 granville street vancouver, bc v6h 3g1 canada +1 604 730.9611 www.cristallgallery.com