Since the start of civilization, as we know it, paintings and sculptures have been considered high art. Several decades ago, discussions on whether fibre-made projects were art or crafts became mainstream topics.
“Fibre projects are most definitely art. Everything can be interpreted in art. A lot of people consider hand work that women do as crafts, be it sewing, crocheting, knitting or ironworks. But when something is done with a lot of skill, with thought, it most definitely is art. After all, in the broad context, art serves to make us think,” said Sharon Rubuliak, a Sherwood Park-based fibre artist.
She is a member of the Fibre Arts Network (FAN) whose travelling exhibition, On the Bias, is currently on display at Visual Arts Studio Association (VASA) until Saturday, September 28.
The 48 textile artists contributing to On the Bias interpreted the provocative theme in many ways. For textile artists, cutting on the “bias” becomes a play on words with tongue-in-cheek humour. As human beings, the word “bias” was applied to both negative and positive social, political and environmental issues.
FAN is a cooperative of 124 member artists from British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, the Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut. The coop was first organized in 1998 and its primary mission is to promote fibre arts.
It mounts a new gallery exhibit every year with a different theme. Fibre artist members are free to participate. Once completed, the exhibits are presented in galleries and travel across Canada for three years.
FAN’s creations have helped create a wave of fair representation among textile arts and allowed larger numbers to discover this medium. More importantly, the travelling exhibitions also pay overdue attention to women artists who have historically worked in this medium.
“In North America women are not trained to think of themselves as artists. It’s a process to recognize you’re an artist and how we communicate with our mind. Broadly speaking, there’s more recognition now as it comes to the attention of the general population. We always encourage more gallery exhibitions because they bring people in to share the work and we encourage that,” Rubuliak said.
While many online sources note that COVID lockdowns prompted hobbyists to work with fibre arts, Rubuliak believes other elements are at play.
“To some extent, there’s a movement or shift to using your hands to create. That comes not out of COVID, but out of fatigue from technology and the cutback on human interaction. There is more interest in fibre arts where people want to unplug and do something creative and meditative and find a community you can share with others.”
Rubuliak’s fibre art is titled Gender Bias, two female hands reaching for each other in front of a pink background. It is the image of a woman receiving a Goddess’ gift of life as it might be painted by a woman on the ceiling of the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel.
On a visit to Rome, Rubuliak toured the Vatican and was overwhelmed by the art, in particular The Creation of Adam where God’s hand reaches out to Adam giving him life. Rubuliak questioned where woman was in the grand scheme.
“Because of history, there is a very strong male bias for dominance of males. My interpretation is of two female hands reaching towards each other.”
No two projects are remotely alike. They were all equally stunning and command second looks.
Terry Aske’s Curves Gone Wild brings out graceful curves in fabric and highlights the energy in its curving lines and bold colours. On the other hand, Diana Bartelings’ black cross in The Hidden Shame of Colonialism earmarks the unmarked graves of children at residential schools.
In Darlene Bayley’s The Unbiased, a flamboyant patchwork face of prominent colours and odd shapes reflects the rainbow of the world around us. Donna-Fay Dignace’s Biased Landscape reveals her biased love of British Columbia’s natural beauty.
Also using nature as metaphor, Christine Earl’s Biased View of a tiny frog’s simple vision of life is actually confusing, diverse, complicated, messy and incredibly wonderful. On the other hand, Susan J. Jensen’s trip to Canterbury Cathedral inspired Arch Biases, an image of filtered light passing through a darkened archway.
A crowd favourite is Marianne Parsons’ Women of Colour, a whimsical interpretation of three cartoonish females painted with different eye-popping hair tints and wearing horribly mismatched baggy dresses.
Carol Seeley’s Nurture and Grow focuses on gardening and planting the right seeds for children to follow their own path. And Donna Polos asks the age-old question, Art or Craft, in her painted and stitched work.
VASA member and long-time weaver Helene Giguere is ecstatic about the exhibition.
"It's nice to see a different medium. It gives people a different perspective. Art can be done with many materials and fibre is one of the richest," Giguere said.
Photos and reviews do not do this exhibition justice. It must be seen in its totality to be fully appreciated. The techniques are intricate, inventive and suggest plenty of growth to come. Fibre art’s recognition is long overdue and for art lovers, there is a huge sense of discovering something new.
