The CONNECTIONS FIBRE ARTISTS Exhibition,
re: FASHION
continues through January 5th at the Wellington County Museum in Fergus/Elora
The Exhibition moves the following week to the Southhampton Art Centre, Southhampton, ON
I am so proud to have two pieces in this outstanding CONNECTIONS group exhibition and thought I would take a minute to document the information for my own records and your information.
TRANSITIONS, A Conversation Through Time
The Wool Jacket – Circa 2019
(Hanging in front of the quilt on the back wall in the photo above)
My goal in creating this wall art Kimono Jacket is to present a companion piece to the Woman's Wool Coat I chose for inspiration from the WCMA Archives. Wool was the fabric of the period when this coat would have been worn, however, over the century between the Museum piece and my own, the use of woven cloth and the dynamics of painted silk have evolved - as the lining of the jacket I created was'design play' which has taken the coat to a new place in time. My inspiration piece stands beside my work and is a woman's long coat, circa 1870 and the handwoven cloth in this century-old coat is in beautiful condition.
My jacket includes my own handwoven yardage using five wool singles threads and my hand-painted silk fabrics as the lining combined to create a version of the British WIKSTEN Jacket.
Elements of the jacket share in a conversation I have had with the maker of the period garment and are incorporated into my Kimono Jacket. The lining silk was hand-painted in a workshop I took with Betty Busby at Quilting By The Lake in Syracuse NY this past summer.
I intended the Kimono style Jacket for this exhibition as wall art to be displayed with arms extended, using copper pipe for hanging. In this piece, I share a 'Cloth Diary' that represents my take on the relationship between my weaving practice, love of creativity and new skills acquired at QBL in silk painting.
The "CONVERSATIONS IN TIME" Quilt that hangs behind the jacket is 23" x 118" and was created using my hand-dyed cotton fabrics and a selection of the painted silk that went into the Jacket lining. The quilt is backed with wool and machine quilted.
NOTE: Also seen in the photo above are the work of NancyYule (Drum fashioned from paper and encaustic with photos of the artist/family with inspiration from a Paper dress in the WCMA Archives) and Elizabeth Duggan Litch (replica of Hockey gear expanded into wall mounted contemporary art).
Have a great New Year everyone!
Bethany
www.bethanygarner.com
Visit Beth at the TETT CENTRE for Creativity and Learning, STUDIO D in the Creativity Studios
Second Floor, 370 King Street W., Kingston ON
Note: email Beth for studio hours when you are coming - bethanygarner.art[at]gmail.com'
