IMPORTANT INFO

De rerum natura (On The Nature of Things)

Common Thread International Exhibition

The exhibition will be called De rerum natura (On The Nature of Things). It will be a highly eccentric show where all the artwork is dealing with themes of nature, plants and animals. Environmental work is the most dominant theme I've observed in contemporary fibre art. I'm aiming for a lush and colourful environment with lots of really bold work. There is some very striking and sometimes bizarre work. The title of the exhibition is based on the Roman poem De rerum natura by Lucretius who's rediscovery was a major inspiration for Renaissance artists.

There are 35 artists in the exhibition. It features work in a huge variety of media and will include installation, sculpture and 2D work in a large variety of sizes.

Joshua Creek Heritage Art Centre, Oakville, Ontario

Curator: Gareth Bate, Toronto

Artists: 

Canada: British Columbia: Vancouver: Bettina Matzkuhn, Carlyn Yandle, Manitoba:Winnipeg: Heather Komus, Ingrid Lincoln, New Brunswick: Saint John: Sandra Betts,Ontario: Alliston: Amy Bagshaw, Kingston: Phillida Hargreaves, Robin Laws Field, Sylvia Naylor, Kitchener: Joanne Young, Mississauga: Pat Hertzberg, Toronto: Lizz Aston, karen darricades, Libby Hague, Jillian MacLachlan, Liz Menard, Leanne Shea Rhem, Sheila Thompson, Tweed: Marta Mouka, Oakville: Sybil Rampen, Ixchel Suarez, Ottawa: Sayward Johnson, Rockwood: Susan Strachan Johnson, Quebec:Montreal: Soufïa Bensaïd, Emily Jan, Valérie d. Walker, St-Sauveur: Marjolein Dallinga, Saskatchewan: Meacham: June Jacobs, Denmark: Copenhagen: Birgitta Hallberg, United Kingdom: Liverpool: Sarah Martin, USA: California: San Francisco:Chris Motley, Georgia: Atlanta: Leisa Rich, Massachusetts: Somerville: Jodi Colella,Oregon: Philomath: Laura G. Berman, Virginia: Charlottesville: Lotta Helleberg.

Dates: Nov 2 - 18 (Oakville).

Venue

Joshua Creek Heritage Art Centre in Oakville, Ontario, Canada is an old barn that has been turned into a gallery. They were one of the main exhibitions in the 2009 festival. Joshua Creek is a vibrant arts complex in the countryside of Oakville. The farmland around the complex is very beautiful. The rustic nature of the venue is perfect for the theme of this show. See Venues page on the website for images: http://www.worldofthreadsfestival.com/venues.html

Address: 1086 Burnhamthorpe Road East, Oakville

Opening Reception

I would like all local GTA artists to attend the Opening Reception in Oakville. Sunday November 4th, 2012. 2 - 5 pm. If you are planning to travel from farther away to see the shows, please let me know. The other main Oakville shows will also be open on that day.

Momento mori

Common Thread International Exhibition

I'm setting up the De rerum natura show in opposition to Momento mori my other exhibition at The Gallery at Sheridan Institute in Oakville. That exhibition will deal with themes of death, mortality and grief. All the work is very dark and the polar opposite of the De Rerum Natura show. All the work engages with techniques or the aesthetic of fibre, but none of the work is actually made of fibre materials. This was based on the "Fibre Inspired" call for submissions.

The Gallery at Sheridan Institute, Oakville, Ontario

Curator: Gareth Bate, Toronto

Artists: 

Canada: Ontario: Barrie: Lisa Brunetta, Cambridge: Nancy Yule, Niagara-on-the-lake:Wendyth Anderson Breedveld, Stratford: Wendy O'Brien, Toronto: Carrie Chisholm, Nicole Collins, David Cumming, Robert Davidovitz, Camilla Geary-Martin, Susan Lukachko, Mary McKenzie, Lilly Otasevic, Rochelle Rubinstein, Oakville: Ixchel Suarez, Saskatchewan: Moose Jaw: Anna Hergert, USA: North Carolina: Raleigh:Megan Bostic.

Gareth Bate

Festival & Exhibition Curator

World of Threads Festival

Local, National & International Contemporary Fibre Art

Website: http://www.worldofthreadsfestival.com

Email: garethbate@rogers.com

Home Phone:             416-530-0057      

Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

World of Threads Festival 2012

World of Threads Festival 2012 is here!


I am happy to announce that 4 of my pieces got into this wonderful  International show.









 Not only I am thrilled to participate together with all of these fabulous artists listed below, but also I am glad to know that my art,  in spite of many transformations that have lately been going through, it is still on the eye and interest of viewers. I appreciate this support for it has not been easy keep up the work having health issues due to strong tendinitis in my right arm.


In a way, things I believe happen for a reason. The fact that I had to be more controlled in the times dedicated to my art, detonated interest into working with other materials than the ones I am used to.















For the past 28 years I have been in the process of exploring different techniques both in weaving structures and in surface design. From Batik, reserve techniques and natural dyes, into different weaving structures, from flat weave into 3-D weaving. All were still very organic.

Memories of a Birch Tree
Tapestry Haute Lisse
4.00 M  H  X  1.80 m W

Today while working for my big show next year at the BAC, I started analyzing not only different materials such as paper, metallic ribbons and metal scrap, but also integrating light into them! How cool is that. 



















I don't want to go all the way to ONLY installation, because i am a weaver at heart, but it has been really interesting to work with all of these materials and exploring yet other structures.


I will be attending Convergence 2012 in Long Beach. There I have signed up for interesting workshops integrating optic fibres into weaving structures.























I really don't know where all of this will lead me to. After this trip I will be  having an arm operation, and I am sure, since everything we experience reflects into another situation, my work will have another strange yet interesting detour.


For now i can tell you that everything I am doing I am having lots of fun and cant wait to do even more!
This idea of integrating semi rigid materials and then adding weaving is so fun to do. I am finding more things to weave.  Of course, the idea of processing my own images of nature and the studies of fractals in Nature has been a theme that has been calling my attention for the past years. Today i am studying more and more about textures, repetitions and how they relate both in weaving structures as in nature around us. The repetition of a scar in a tree relates directly on how the tree reproduces around he forest. This in a Macro lens. But if you go deep into the MICRO worlds we see the same patterns repeating until we reach our smallest expression (cells) and we see the same repeated pattern...Isn't it fascinating!


This last image is from own of my pieces: Fractals of Nature:
 The idea came precisely while analyzing a patterned structure. It caught my attention and reading more the research led into the repeated patterns of a hurricane and how, as unpredictable that might be, it can be written in a mathematical equation.




Like cancer cells that they tend to, for some reason, reproduce abnormally, the hurricanes also present a repeated pattern that eventually will break the rhythm and present itself into a huge storm. These patterns follow a structured equation, same as the branches of a tee.

Still need to study more, but for now, all the images I have prepared for interpreting to be fibre-produced, are all related to the same theme. Very organic and yet, free spirited.




Momento mori

Common Thread International Exhibition

The Gallery at Sheridan Institute, Oakville, Ontario

Curator: Gareth Bate, Toronto

Artists: 

Canada: Ontario: Barrie: Lisa Brunetta, Cambridge: Nancy Yule, Niagara-on-the-lake:Wendyth Anderson Breedveld, Stratford: Wendy O'Brien, Toronto: Carrie Chisholm, Nicole Collins, David Cumming, Robert Davidovitz, Camilla Geary-Martin, Susan Lukachko, Mary McKenzie, Lilly Otasevic, Rochelle Rubinstein, Oakville: Ixchel Suarez, Saskatchewan: Moose Jaw: Anna Hergert, USA: North Carolina: Raleigh:Megan Bostic.

De rerum natura (On The Nature of Things)

Common Thread International Exhibition

Joshua Creek Heritage Art Centre, Oakville, Ontario

Curator: Gareth Bate, Toronto

Artists: 

Canada: British Columbia: Vancouver: Bettina Matzkuhn, Carlyn Yandle, Manitoba:Winnipeg: Heather Komus, Ingrid Lincoln, New Brunswick: Saint John: Sandra Betts,Ontario: Alliston: Amy Bagshaw, Kingston: Phillida Hargreaves, Robin Laws Field, Sylvia Naylor, Kitchener: Joanne Young, Mississauga: Pat Hertzberg, Toronto: Lizz Aston, karen darricades, Libby Hague, Jillian MacLachlan, Liz Menard, Leanne Shea Rhem, Sheila Thompson, Tweed: Marta Mouka, Oakville: Sybil Rampen, Ixchel Suarez, Ottawa: Sayward Johnson, Rockwood: Susan Strachan Johnson, Quebec:Montreal: Soufïa Bensaïd, Emily Jan, Valérie d. Walker, St-Sauveur: Marjolein Dallinga, Saskatchewan: Meacham: June Jacobs, Denmark: Copenhagen: Birgitta Hallberg, United Kingdom: Liverpool: Sarah Martin, USA: California: San Francisco:Chris Motley, Georgia: Atlanta: Leisa Rich, Massachusetts: Somerville: Jodi Colella,Oregon: Philomath: Laura G. Berman, Virginia: Charlottesville: Lotta Helleberg.

 Gareth Bate

Festival & Exhibition Curator

World of Threads Festival

Local, National & International Contemporary Fibre Art

Website: http://www.worldofthreadsfestival.com