October 13 until December 15, 2018
The Mississippi Valley Textile Museum is proud to present the work of
two major Canadian artists: Barb Hunt and Line Dufour. Shown together
for the first time, the artists explore social conventions about
vulnerability and femininity. The effect of their haunting and powerful
works is difficult to put into words and must be seen in person to
appreciate their full impact.
Line Dufour’s recent work
integrates new technologies such as smart textiles, fibre optics and
other non-traditional materials. Her recent work - “Re-Collection” - is a
multi-sensory installation of jacquard woven shrouds inspired by
Renaissance patterns. Each shroud depicts the face of a child or young
woman killed by a sexual predator in Ontario. Historically perceived as a
valuable weave, Dufour uses jacquard to honour the victims and their
families. The weft is a UV-activated thread that changes colour when
exposed to UV rays, from white to a flesh tone and essentially
“reanimating” the spirit and presence of the victims. “Re-collection”
has been exhibited in Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver in Canada, in Denver
Colorado and San Jose California in the USA, the World Textile Art event
in Montevideo, Uruguay and the Tuch + Technik Textilmuseum Neumünster,
Germany.
Upon her graduation from Ontario College of Art and
Design University and the University of Guelph, Line Dufour has
exhibited at numerous locations including the American Textile Museum in
Lowell Massachusetts, the Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft in
Louisville, Kentucky and the Scarfone Gallery at the University of
Tampa. She has received numerous awards, grants and scholarships and her
work can be found in many collections that include several commissions.
Numerous publications have spotlighted her tapestries, and the recent
international tapestry installation
, Fate, Destiny and Self Determination
was featured in Artapestry 5 (European Tapestry Network), Fiber Art
Now, HandEye magazine, Fibre Focus, American Tapestry Alliance,
fibreQuarterly, the Danish textile art publication, Rapporter and the
British Tapestry Group publications.
Newfoundland’s rich
tradition of textile practices inspires much of Barb Hunt’s work, which
focuses on gender, mourning rituals (particularly those of
Newfoundland), war, and the natural environment. Through her work “Steel
Dresses” Hunt “expresses the strength of women”, exploring traditional
forms of female clothing to question and challenge dominant ideas
surrounding issues of gender. The dresses are sewn “with fire,” using a
plasma arc cutter to create delicate forms resembling textile patterns,
images from nature, or imagery traditionally associated with women.
Barb Hunt received a Diploma in Studio Art at the University of
Manitoba, and an MFA at Concordia University, Montreal, with a
specialization in Fibres. Her work has been shown in solo and group
exhibitions across Canada and internationally. She has been the
recipient of Canada Council grants and awarded residencies in Canada,
Paris and Ireland. She has presented her research at international
conferences, and she is a recipient of the President’s Award for
Outstanding Research at Memorial University, where she taught in the
Visual Arts Program at Grenfell Campus. She currently resides on
Vancouver Island.
Vernissage: Saturday October 13 from
2 to 4 p.m. For more information please call the Mississippi Valley
Textile Museum at 613 256-3754.
