I keep on meaning to do a post about this upcoming adventure of mine, but it is such a big deal and I've had so little time lately to, well do anything but school work and prepare for this adventure, that I've known that I cannot capture it all in one post.  So I'll do it in installments. 

The gist is I'M GOING TO THE NORTHWEST TERRITORIES TO TEACH TEXTILES FOR 6 WEEKS!!!! 

I'm so excited that it almost got me off track with school while I was doing all the ordering for it.  Yes, there were a lot of orders to be made.  Since there are no yarn shops up there to save me from forgetting something I had to think of everything I'd need for a two week knitting workshop, one week knitting machine workshop and a one week weaving workshop (eek!).  It was a dream planning all the lesson plans and figuring out what yarns I'd need.  Cara at Birkeland Bros was a huge help in helping me decide on replacement yarns for ones she didn't carry.  I ordered everything from her (except the knitting machines); yarn, looms, hand-knitting implements and accessories as well as sliver and spinning wheels for a spinning workshop that will occur before I arrive.  I'm really excited about the Sweetgeorgia sock yarn that I ordered!  I also got some roving from her for the spinning.  Wheeee!  On top of all of this wonderfulness I was told that a large donation of Qiviut was made to my portion of the program (I'll further explain the entire 15 week program in the near future).  It is a mix of 2 ply and 3 ply yarns that have been mixed with silk for strength.  So special!

Are you ready for the kicker?  I get to teach elderly women!  Yep.  I even received an email with a picture of them which was beyond adorable.  I know that this is going to be a special experience.

I leave April 8th!!!

Last night was a total success!  TRACES got filled up.  The location I was in helped a lot as it was right at the entrance of the 3rd floor. With my simple written directions (thanks Jenna Dawn for the french translation) people were happy to participate.  I even took some panels down later in the evening to replace with clean paper for more space.  Tomorrow I go back down to the space to pick up the materials so I can make something sculptural for the organizers Harvey and Judith to have as a keepsake. Not sure what I'm going to do yet, maybe baskets to match the ones in the installation...

Here are some not-so-successful photos of the installation in process...(a bit fuzzy)

I installed TRACES yesterday at Corridor Culturel, a Nuit Blanche venue where there will be a lot of fun things this Saturday night (including my installation): stop-motion video performances, a symphony orchestra, live music, many art installations and much more that I'm not even aware of.  What I do know is that  Danny is playing a one hour set at 1am in the loft, and my Fibres Structures class is coordinating an experiential weaving installation in the outside barn and on the second floor of the main building. 

TRACES is participatory as well; come leave some traces of your own.  You can find me on the third floor where I'm inviting passers by to leave traces on the paper-covered walls by doing pencil rubbings of objects that they have on hand; coins, rings, key chains, anything textured really.  Judith Bauer, one of the organizers told me that last year they didn't have much documentation of the night, so I'll be using the marked paper to create a woven structure for them to keep as a means of remembrance. 

For their schedule visit the website here:

www.corridorculturel.co

About once a month my friend Corrie holds a day at her house where people get together and craft with media that range from knitting, embroidery and sewing to electronics.  There are always culinary artistic ventures occurring at Corries too; today for brunch we ate crepes (with a plethora of toppings including homemade nutella) and for dinner homemade pate with baguette as well as dumplings.  It was a yummy day.  One of the lovely ladies who came today took this picture as she left.  It's of me knotting a large fabric rosary and Annalie embroidering the front of her wedding invitations.


photo: Nadia Lambardo

 Tomorrow, Tomorrow, Tomorrow

performance, production, presentation, repeated utterance, reiteration, reproduction, copy, replica, redundancy, iteration, practice, relation,renewal, litany, repeat, emphasis, monotony, preparation, convention, usefulness, assignment, background, discipline, catalogue, petition,refrain, prayer

Galerie Diagonale, 5455, rue de Gaspé, espace 203, Montréal, March 12 - 26, 2011 (vernissage March 12th 2p.m. to 5 p.m.)

::DIAGONALE::

Tonight I was playing blocks, or tubes rather, with some discarded vintage photo envelopes that I found on the side of the road a while ago.  I wanted to see how much I could do with this material without adding anything to it.  The envelopes had a mild adhesive on the lip, but not enough to keep some of the tubes together for long.  At first it was really lovely watching them slowly ease into pretty piles, but after re-building it about 4 times I realized that I was having a power struggle with them when the whole idea was to discover what they could do.  In the end they decided they wanted to be only partially built.  I like them that way too.

Continuing on from my last post, I'd like to share a bit more about the process of this project.  Firstly, I am super impressed that my family filled 30 pages in a sketchbook with line rubbings, especially seeing as the sketchbook had to travel from Montreal to Vancouver and then Hawaii.  They only had about a month and a half in total to do this and get it back to me in Montreal.  On top of each having to do over 30 line drawings they also had to record (in an organized fashion) what objects were bellow the paper on each numbered page.  Everyone's object list was indicative of their personalities, interests and passions.  My mother's list was saturated with religious paraphernalia (rosaries, palm leaves, baptismal gown) and my Father's with work related tools and materials; fine scroll stucco, saw, wrench, as well as some hobby related items; Moose-mate call cassette, blues chromatic harmonica, sports watch.  My brothers were a little less thematic, but no less interesting.   A few of Michael's were; broken sunglasses, pool key, fork, guitar strings.  And Davids; Hand, bacon toy, phone, Christmas lights and shark key chain.   It wasn't required for everyone to do a different object rubbing for each page (My list was short and simple since I repeated the same six textile related objects; block print, yarn, ceramic buttons, thread and embroidery hoop) but my mom told me that my Dad insisted that he do so with a total of 30 items saying that it wasn't 'creative' enough if he didn't.  I love it!

Bellow are a few the original line rubbings before I added my lines.  The acetates in the finished project are complete with my lines though,  I just haven't had a chance to scan them again.  I'm applying to a few shows with this series so hopefully I'll have a chance to better photograph them.  The above picture was the only face-on shot that I took.

The process of documenting is something that really interests me.  Also, I am realizing more and more that I am a process based artist.  For me so far this means that the process of making my art often dictates how my ideas evolve and sometimes -like with the installation above - is how the concept is conceived.

When I first began doing line rubbings my mother-in-law was visiting us in Montreal.  As she watched me use various objects she got more and more excited about what else I could use and began passing me textured items like tea towels and lace pillow cases to rub.  That's when I got really excited about the idea of making more line rubbings, but with other people involved in the process.  It was as if I was creating abstract evidence of our relationship.  Right away I knew that my first collaborative line rubbing project would be with my family for the purpose documenting our family relationships and celebrating our interconnectedness.

These pictures are line rubbings which have been layered as acetates to make a series of sculptures.  The unique thing about these rubbings is that they were a collaborative effort by my Mother Fiorella, Father Russell, two brothers Michael and David and myself.  Every page has one line by each member in my family making each page a family portrait of sorts.  Each member used objects of their choosing with pencil on paper.  When layered they create dynamic family sculptures, interlacing each story in ways which allows them inform and augment the meaning of each others stories.

It was such a joy to connect with my family in this way in a time when we are all dispersed throughout North America.  The common act of creating lines in the same book brought us together in such a unique way.  The sketchbook traveled from Montreal to Vancouver then to Hawaii, back to Vancouver and finally to Montreal again where I finished the sculptures.  In another post later this week I'll share more about the objects that were used by everyone - it was really interesting to see themes in each persons object list.  Some of the items made me laugh too like my Dad's Moose-mate-calling cassette tape.  I'll also share the original line drawings which are really interesting on their own.

I'm really looking forward to working more with these.  I already have an idea in mind which involves printing the lines on fabric to make a soft sculpture representing my mother; the matriarch.

Yarn is not so much a textile tool as it is a material.  I think when titling this small series I was keen on the alliteration.  Non-the-less yarn plays a huge roll in the world as it is the building block of most fabrics.  Look around you, it's not likely that you can't identify something right away that is made from yarn that has been knit or woven.  Spinning yarn (or thread) was also one of the first technologies; archeologists have found evidence of it from 50, 000 years ago.  Amazing huh?

This series laments the loss of textile handwork over time.  I learned how to spin yarn at Birkeland bros. Wool in Vancouver a month or so before I entered into the textiles program at Capilano University.  So, you know who to come to when the apocalypse comes.

This series is being shown at the CTRLLAB until Saturday