Show: Articulated Materials: Bridging Waters - ReBecca Paterson, Searsville, New Brunswick

 

ARTICULATED MATERIALS: BRIDGING WATER

St John Arts Centre

 20 Peel Street

 Saint John, NB

November 8, 2013 – January 10, 2014

Everyone is invited to attend the official opening 

Friday, November 8 from 5 to 7 pm

SJAC is open Tuesday through Saturday 9 am to 5 pm

Free admission

Articulation, a Canadian fibre arts group has teamed up with Material Girls, a London, UK, based fibre arts group, to produce bodies of work based on the studies of and responses to their countries' iconic bodies of water: Bay of Fundy and River Thames. After a successful 2012 gallery tour in London, the exhibition is in Canada for a cross country tour. 

Articulation, a Canadian exhibiting art group working with textiles and fibre as a fine art medium, takes traditional fiber art techniques in new and contemporary directions. Since 2004 they have organised annual study sessions to unique places in Canada, which serve to unify the resulting individual bodies of work when shown in their group exhibitions across Canada.

A recent study of the Bay of Fundy coastline has generated a new path for Articulation leading to exhibiting internationally with another contemporary fiber arts group, Material Girls, based in London, England, who were inspired by their iconic River Thames. The resulting combined body of work, ARTICULATED MATERIALS: BRIDGING WATERS, consists of one 2D artwork each from ten Material Girls members and ten Articulation members. In addition, each group will have available more works to include in the exhibition while it is touring their respective country.

Material Girls is an exhibiting group of textile artists based on the borders of Essex and East London. The artists produce work using a diverse variety of textile disciplines from quilting and embroidery to felt making and mixed media. Formed in 2001, the group has exhibited regularly in the UK and is just beginning to venture into 'international waters'. website- www.the-materialgirls.co.uk

After a successful three-exhibition tour of London, UK, the work arrived back in Canada and  began its cross country tour. Starting in Winnipeg it was hung in time for the National Embroiderers’ Association of Canada’s annual May seminar.  The next stop was a gallery on Vancouver Island that looks out over another historically important body of water, the Salish Sea. The work has now travelled to the Bay of Fundy where it is exhibited in the Saint John Arts Centre, Saint John.

This exhibition offers unique perspectives on both bodies of water encapsulating the local geological, environmental and social histories. In both groups there are members who have grown up living beside their waterway, while other members have responded as first time visitors to the shoreline.  Articulation’s work reflects the experiences of  seeing rapidly eroding fossil bearing cliffs, walking on the ocean floor, and viewing the history of European settlement through distinctive architecture. Material Girls’ work explores memories of watching rowers competing, locks operating and days spent on the river’s beaches. It will remain for the viewer to make trans-Atlantic connections between places and people with long, interwoven histories.

ReBecca Paterson, a member of Articulation, has three talks booked at the Frazee Gallery: Thursday, November 14 at 12 pm, Thursday, November 28^th at 12 pm and Thursday, December 12^th at 12 pm.

Hand dyed, felted, stitched and beaded - ReBecca Paterson