Lululemon Perimeter Mall by Lizz Aston

A while back I had the pleasure of working with the design team from Lululemon to conceptualize and create an installation, commissioned for one of their latest store openings - Perimeter Mall in Atlanta!

Working with up-cycled Lululemon fabrics from the lab in Vancouver, I was inspired by patterns, topographies and the local landscape of the Atlanta region. 

While the Grand Opening for the store has recently passed (Nov. 9th) 

If you are in the area please pop by, check it out, and have a look around. At 9 ft long and behind the cash desk, you can't miss it! Here are a couple of images of the project and a time lapse video we made of the install...! enjoy!

Taking reference from the local landscape in Atlanta, I wanted to design a large-scale, textile based pattern that would represent an abstracted topographical view of the land and a major artery that runs through it, the Chattahoochee River.

Inspired by dynamic symmetries and organic forms found in nature; patterns of lines stream outwards, branch off and break away, intersect and re-connect again to form a larger whole.

work in progress

NEW WEBSITE!!!

Hey guys! Just a quick post I wanted to share, as I am really excited!!!

After years of having an out-of-date website of my work, made-up of images spanning back to my school days in the textile studio at Sheridan, 

I finally decided to take some initiative and put together an all new website ON MY OWN! and I am soo happy I did!!!

Over the course of the next few months, I plan on making some big studio equipment purchases and beginning the process of prototyping an all new line of production-based work!

So please feel free to have a look, drop me a line or leave a comment, and let me know what you think! And be sure to keep your eyes open for an online shop coming sometime in the new year!

For more information, go to www.lizzaston.com

cheers! Lizz

SHOP STUDIO HUDDLE

MADE - Give & Take Ornament Exchange

MADE in Collaboration with Moi Moi Present -
Give & Take 2012, Christmas Ornament Exchange and Installation

MADE Design - 867 Dundas St. W, Toronto
Nov. 29th - Dec. 24th, 2012
Opening Reception - Thursday Nov. 29th 6-9pm.

Now in its third year, MADE asks you to Give & Take again! 
This site-specific installation is formed from a collection of ornaments made by local Canadian artists and designers. Ornaments purchased will subsequently be replaced with a momento serving as a record of your contribution and participation in the cycle of exchange. All proceeds from Give & Take will be donated to the registered charity Oolagen.

Participating artists include: Ruth Adler, Alexx Boisjoli, Comrags, Bettie Cott, Kerry Croughan, James Fowler, Dayna Gedney and Joseph Bauman. Scott Eunson, Angela Iarocci, Claire Ironside, Karcass, Christine Lieu, Kristen Lim-Tung, Tania Love, Ashley Mauerhofer, Ellie Oram-O'Donnell, Frieda Periera, Andrea Poorter, Orest Tataryn, Kevin Taylor, Toma Objects, Anneke van Bommel and more.

Laser cut ornaments by Henderson Dry Goods.

Oolagen is an accredited mental health center helping Toronto youth and their families. Highly respected work it does, Oolagen serves as a University of Toronto teaching facility and is a long-term partner with the Toronto District School Board, the Children's Aid Society, Catholic Children's Aid, Ministry of Children and Youth Services as well as other children's mental health agencies and community groups. For more information, please visit www.oolagen.org

MADE (Julie Nicholson and Shaun Moore) engages in the design of objects and interiors; installations; comissions; collaborations and curatorial projects. MADE is committed to the representation of compelling functional works made in Canada. For more information please visit www.madedesign.ca 

Ornaments by Orest Tataryn, Katherine Morley, Tomas Rojcik, and Kristen Lim-Tung

Opening: Ed Pien, Under Water

Pierre-Francois Ouellette art contemporain
372 Ste-Catherine Ouest #216
Montreal, QC

Exhibition: Nov. 28 - Jan. 26, 2013
Vernissage Wednesday Nov. 28th 6-8pm

Pierre-Francois Ouellette art contemporain is proud to present a solo exhibition of current work by Ed Pien featuring exquisite new paper cut works and over eighty unique drawings exploring themes of under water life, sea monsters, and the imaginary. All works are available at www.pfoac.com, and a text by Karl-Gilbert Murray is published online to accompany the work.


Sediment, 2012 
ink on 3M reflector and shoji paper cut

Bloom, 2012 

ink on 3M reflector and shoji paper cut

Here's an excerpt from Ed Pien, Diving Into an Imaginary Water World -

Designed as an exploration of cultural diversity inspired by underwater flora and fauna a thousand leagues beneath the seas, the exhibition Under Water by Toronto artist Ed Pien dives into the heart of an unfathomably profound aesthetic. A meeting of the imaginary that swings between the decorative, ornamental aspect of calligraphed creatures rendered in the chinoiserie style, Ernst Haeckel's plates depicting sea life forms and phantasmagorical worlds, the exhibition illuminates two horizons that evoke a feeling of continuity between two cultures: the East and the West. One horizon, pinwheeling into the exoticism of the Other towards a better mutual understanding, is comprised of a collection of drawings entitled Two Worlds. The other, four paper-cuts of interwoven water dreams and mysteries, cultivates a fascination for the grotesque and constrains the aberrant to better tame it. 

Thus, these graphic and cut out representations serve as a reminder that marine biodiversity provides a metaphor that, as interculturalism emerges from the depths of the white page swarming with anguished ecosystems, describes a relationship between cultural metissage and, well beyond appearances, collides with our essential "otherness". Trying to understand how the process of enculturation complicates our relationship to space/place and with our surroundings, Pien reveals the identity construct at the centre of the work. He does not summon the Other; he goes to meet it. Rather than keeping it at a distance, he explores various possibilities of engaging in a dialogue rooted in a fantastical visual language that allows him to create a middle ground, a liberating space where each and every one might easily situate him or herself in the world and adapt to the exoticism of theOther.

OOAK Opens Today!

Wow! I've never done a post like this before, and you can probably tell I've been looking at a lot of design blogs lately, but I am definitely excited to go check out the Christmas One of A Kind Show, which opens today!
Here is a selection of works by some of my favorite craftspeople and designers that will be at the show - on until December 2nd!
You can find more information about each of the vendors, purchase tickets or get directions by visiting the One of A Kind website here.


New to the One of A Kind show this year Keephouse Studio!
Hand printed textiles by Alissa Kloet, Halifax, NS
Rising Star Section, Booth C-48

Shuyu Lu, Textile Artist

Rising Star Section, Booth D-49

Grace Eun Mi Lee, Ceramic Artist

Rising Star Section, Booth C-44

 

Heyday Design, Functional and wearable ceramics.

Booth V-09

String Theory, Knitted and woven textiles 

Booth V-23

Bookhou, Wearable and functional textiles for the home

Booth Q-07

Queen Street Particulate

Walking down Queen street the other day, I stumbled upon the latest installation in the *QueenSpecific project space, and it made me smile.
Here is a quick snap I took of it on my phone... if you are walking by 787 Queen St. West in the next little while, take a moment to stop and check it out. Its located right beside Dufflet Pastries...

Ryan Park
Queen Street Particulate (Blonde Cop), 2012

19.10.12 – 28.11.12

For Queen Street Particulate (Blonde Cop), Ryan Park has turned *QueenSpecific into an air-powered ball mixer reminiscent of lottery draw machines. In his work, Park uses shared objects, encounters, and cultural touchstones as starting points to produce work that oscillate between serious and playful, clinical and poetic. His interdisciplinary practice results in videos, photographs, and manipulations of found materials suggested by presences and absences; urges and constraints. He currently lives and works on Queen Street in Toronto.

Marbelous Wood by Snedker Studio

Snedker Studio is a contemporary design studio which develops innovative surfaces for the interior. Looking at each of the dynamic patterns created by this tradition-based process, its interesting to see how well it lends itself to transforming the use of non-traditional surfaces and materials.
Pernille Snedker Hansen first began the design studio in 2009 and has been developing innovative surfaces at both her studio and through artist residencies. Process is an important factor in Pernille's method of working and she uses nature as a collaborator in both process and inspiration.
Her main drive is to challenge how we look at and experience the surfaces that build up our environments. Through her work, she wants to make people curious and to seek enjoyment in the visual treasures and details of unexpected materials.

For her product line Marbelous Wood, She has re-purposed old marbling techniques to give  the surface of wood a supernatural, organic, colourful and vibrant pattern. The applied decoration engages in a dialogue with the natural growth rings of the underlying wood. Marbelous Wood challenges the way we use wood in our build environment, where function and aesthetics work together in new ways.

  


Here is a video of the age-old, water bath marbling process, she employs in her work:

 

Using paper as a 'test print' for each of the patterns she is trying to achieve, Snedker also produces a series of art works and one-off prints on paper that reference the rings from cross-sections of trees.

 

Opening: Interlace, Deconstruct, the Spaces In Between

Hello everybody! I would like to formally invite you to the opening for our exhibition - Interlace, Deconstruct, the Spaces In Between, Opening tomorrow evening from 6-9pm at Telephone Booth Gallery in the Junction! I am really excited about this opening, as it signifies the end of a crazy autumn exhibition schedule for me! Time to have a glass of wine, kick back and finally relax! Here is some more information on the exhibition, hope to see you there! 

Interlace, deconstruct, the spaces in between

Fibre works by Lizz Aston, Noelle Hamlyn, Pam Lobb

Nov 14 - Dec 22, 2012

Reception:  Fri, Nov 16, 6 - 9pm

www.telephoneboothgallery.ca/interlace.html

Lizz Aston manipulates photographs of her own textile work, expanding upon these predetermined patterns. By altering line, shape, volume, repetition and scale she deconstructs these formal patterns in unexpected ways, creating a body of prints and 3D framed works.

Noelle Hamlyn has washed and exposed many works in this collection to saline solutions to encourage the formation of salt crystals. These crystals are like the sweat and tears of the seamstress – a gentle meditation on the loss of traditional hand skills.

Pam Lobb references imagery from Victorian dinnerware and narrative-themed plates in her monoprints on fine Japanese papers, which are combined with fabric to build layered, porcelain-like framed sculptures.

This exhibition is part of worldofthreadsfestival.com

Highlighting the work of nearly 200 artists from 12 countries and 8 Canadian provinces. Exhibiting diverse wall, sculptural and installation works in a wide variety of fibre media. Organized by Dawne Rudman (Festival Chair & Curator) and Gareth Bate (Festival Curator).

Festival Dates

Oakville: Nov. 2 - 18, 2012  - 11 exhibitions

Toronto: Nov. 9 - Dec. 2, 2012 - 10 exhibitions

Artist Biographies

Lizz Aston holds an Advanced Diploma from the Sheridan Institute of Technology, Crafts and Design, Textiles Major (2009).  She recently completed an artist-in-residence program at the Harbourfront Centre Textile Studio. Aston has received numerous awards and grants, most recently an RBC Emerging Artists Studio Setup Award, presented by the Ontario Crafts Council this fall. Her work has been featured in national and international exhibitions and she recently completed a commission for Lululemon Athletica, Atlanta, GA.

Noelle Hamlyn holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts (2009), School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) and an Advanced Diploma in Crafts and Design, Textile Major, Sheridan Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning (2007).  Her studio work has earned numerous awards from Sheridan Institute, SAIC, the Ontario Crafts Council, and Best in Show (Fibre) 2009 and 2012 Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition. Most recently Hamlyn received a Mississippi Valley Textile Museum Award which includes an exhibition in 2013.  She also won a Mississauga Arts Council Marty award, and an OAC Artists in Education grant in 2012.

Pam Lobb holds an Honours Bachelor of Arts, Studio Art, from the University of Guelph, Ontario (2007).  Lobb has won several awards, most recently Best of Show, Art on the Street, Guelph, and Best of Artwork on Paper, Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition, and The New Art Festival, Ottawa, in 2011. She co-founded Graven Feather Studio in 2011, a studio, exhibition and workshop space on Queen Street West in Toronto, with artists Erin Candela and Jessica Bartram.

For updates follow us on Twitter  and Facebook

NEW HOURS

Wed - Sat 11am - 6pm

Sun Noon - 4pm

& by appt.

Lizz Aston gratefully acknowledges the generous support of the Ontario Arts Council in making this project possible.

www.arts.on.ca/index.html

TELEPHONE BOOTH GALLERY

3148 Dundas St W, Toronto, ON M6P 2A1

647-270-7903

www.telephoneboothgallery.ca

Contact: Sharlene Rankin, Director

sharlene@telephoneboothgallery.ca

Opening: Lyn Carter @ Peak Gallery

Hello, I wanted to give you a heads up if you are in the city, here is an invite to a fantastic exhibition of new work by Lyn Carter currently up at Peak Gallery, on Morrow Ave. 
I also just got word from the curator of Cambridge Galleries, that her installation Beacon is still up, and should be there for at least another week or so. If you get an opportunity please check out both of these incredible shows! 
  
LYN CARTER

NEW WORK @ Peak Gallery
23 Morrow Ave. Toronto

Thursday, Nov. 08 - Dec. 8th, 2012
Opening: Saturday, Nov. 10th 3-7pm

In this new body of work for Peak Gallery Lyn Carter continues to work with forms that are possible within the limits and potential of cloth as a constructed skin. Working with sewing as a gendered activity, Carter aims to make "women's work" sculpture. The sculptures are formed by the way the cloth sections are cut and sewn. Weight is not experienced through mass, though gravity is felt. The monumental is revised both by the materials used and by the forms suggested, yet the work still probes our understanding of the physical world through sculptural means: weight and lightness, scale, suspension, gravity and elevation.

Image: Lyn Carter's - studio

LYN CARTER
BEACON @ Cambridge Galleries
1 North Square, Cambridge, ON. Dec. 10, 2011 - (still up!)

Created specifically for the atrium of the gallery, Beacon is the newest and largest work to date created by Carter, well known for her intricate textile surfaces and unusual sculptural forms. It will remain on view until October 2012. Here is an excerpt from an interview she did with Canadian Art Magazine.. you can read the full interview here.
 
“Lately, I have been enjoying working more with the scale of architecture,” Carter says, noting that a recent public art project in Cambridge, Beacon, very nearly fills an expansive atrium. “As the venues have gotten larger, I have had the opportunity to get larger. It’s really something that’s literally grown as my career has grown. With every piece, you are just pushing yourself a little bit further.”

Biography
Lyn Carter is an artist based near Grand Valley, Ontario.  She has exhibited across Canada, in the U.S.A., Australia, Britain, Spain and Mexico.  In 2008 she was invited to create a site-specific work for the Third Guangzhou Triennial in Guangzhou, China.  She began her undergraduate studies in Textile Design and completed her Masters of Fine Art in Sculpture at York University.  She is represented by Peak Gallery in Toronto, Canada.

For more on Lyn Carter's activities see:
www.peakgallery.com

 

Beacon, 2011

fabric and aluminum hardware
H 18.5' x W 9' x D 9'

Studies in Interlacement, xylem and phloem

Hello all! This past weekend signified the beginning of the World of Threads Festival, spanning venues across both Oakville and Toronto. For more detailed information about each of the exhibitions in the festival, please check out my previous two posts here and here, or hop on over to the World of Threads Festival website for more information and directions.

This past tuesday, I ventured on down to the Joshua Creek Heritage Arts Centre for the first time ever to install my work for one of the festival exhibitions De Rerum Natura (On the Nature of Things) ...and I must say, what a perfect venue for the theme of the show! 

Upon my arrival, I was invited in, out of the rain for some warm home-made soup by the owner of the Heritage arts Centre, Sybil Rampen. After much chatting and a hearty lunch, she took me up to the loft to view her private collection of antique hand-made lace, objects and trims. Such an inspiring morning! If you get a chance, and you have access to a car, you should definitely go check out the exhibition, which will be on from Nov 2nd-18th.

I haven't had the opportunity to put together a proper artist statement about my work in the show yet, as I have been so busy trying to prepare more work in time for the next one (which I will talk about later on).
However, here is a brief explanation of my work in the exhibition...

In response to the World of Threads Festival exhibition De Rerum Natura (On the Nature of Things), I have paired up with a pathologist, friend and former student of mine Aina, to take a series of magnifications of the vascular bundles of locally-sourced plant stems. Through this work I am interested in examining the similarities that exist in natural and hand-made structures, relating knotting and interlacement to complex systems in nature. Here is an example of one of the magnifications I was working from:

Studies in Interlacement, xylem and phloem - process and installation