Woven Work From Near Here
to
Grunt Gallery 116-350 E 2 Ave, Vancouver, British Columbia V5T 4R8
Jovencio de la Paz, "As in the summer, so too the winter," 2017
handwoven natural and synthetic fibers, 19’ x 21’
Curator tour on September 29 at 2 PM as part of BC Culture Days.
Inspired by traditional weaving practices—including Indigenous methods for weaving blankets and baskets alongside structures and patterns that have come from elsewhere—the exhibition presents recent experiments by artists who live and work near here.
Curators Emily Hermant and T’ai Smith emphasize “...that this exhibition will juxtapose experiments in various media. Though some of the works adapt and challenge textile forms either conceptually and metaphorically, they all reference the complex traditions of weaving and plaiting. It is important to remember that such methods of joining threads at right angles have been in use here since time immemorial.”
The curators understand being “near here” as a spatial and temporal condition that defines the region currently known as the Pacific Northwest—a mesh of overlapping Indigenous and Settler cultures, legal-political systems, and territories. To live, work, and weave near here is to contend daily with the legacy of colonial settlement and expropriation. Marked by the dislocation of Indigenous weaving traditions between the early decades of the 20th century and the 1980s—decades after the Potlatch ban in Canada was lifted in 1951—the region has seen the re-emergence of this conceptual, functional, aesthetic and spiritual form. At once capacious and precise, new developments in weaving signal the potential of this practice to realign protocols and values.
Included in the show are works by artists Debra Sparrow (θəliχʷəlʷət), Gabrielle L'Hirondelle Hill, Hank Bull, Jovencio de la Paz, Kerri Reid, Matt Browning, Melvin Williams, and Merritt Johnson. The materials range in the work from cedar to metal; cardboard to wool.
Emily Hermant is an interdisciplinary artist whose sculptures, drawings, and installations explore themes of communication, gendered labor, and the spatial experiences of the body. She is currently Assistant Professor in the Audain Faculty of Art at Emily Carr University of Art + Design in Vancouver, BC.
T’ai Smith is Associate Professor of Art History at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. Author of Bauhaus Weaving Theory: From Feminine Craft to Mode of Design (2014), she has published over thirty articles and chapters on textiles, craft, and media. She is currently completing a book manuscript titled Fashion After Capital.