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