On display from Friday 26 July – Sunday 15 September, 2019; a solo exhibition Capturing Liberty by Laura Williams and a group exhibition Labour of Body, featuring Arielle Walker, Maria Kingi, Sarah Houle, Georgina May Young, Kathryn Tsui and Doris Tsui.

Historically, fibre-art tends to swing between being defined as craft or contemporary art. The artists in our July exhibitions each consider this tension, interacting with textiles in their own unique ways.

In Labour of Body the six artists’ employ textiles and women’s craft to engage with their own individual concerns. In many of the works textile is combined with another specialty. For instance, in this exhibition, textiles are presented in conjunction with lens-based practice, allowing us to see fibre arts in a new light. We are also excited to include Indigenous Métis artist Sarah Houle, who has created traditionally beaded masks that serve as reminders of the role that textile makers have in her Indigenous community.

At its core, Labour of Body encourages the public to think about their social values and consider the hidden labour involved in fibre-art, it further urges us to increase our awareness of production and our surroundings.

In Capturing Liberty, a series of newly produced oil paintings, artist Laura Williams was inspired by the luxury fabric store Liberty Fabrics in London, who are renowned for their floral designs. The painter explores fabric design and patterns from her childhood. Through an obsessive combination of patterns, vases and objects, the artist’s vivid kitsch works draw heavily on nostalgia to create imaginary detailed worlds.

Our understanding and engagement with fibre arts is always developing, particularly in a contemporary art context with an ever-increasing acknowledgement of heritage practices as valid art forms. With the combination of artists working, producing, and documenting textiles in art, shown alongside the oil painted depictions of fabric by Laura Williams, these exhibitions ultimately present other paths of understanding textiles and labour.

We look forward to seeing you all soon as we learn together about new textile practices and how they are developing in our community.