Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Viridian Artists 24th Annual International Juried Exhibition, Chelsea, NYC

Hello All, I just wanted to share a quick post with you about an exhibition that I am really excited to be a part of! 
In the days leading up to the Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition, I managed to take a break from my insane work schedule to hop on a plane to New York and install a piece in the 24th International Juried Exhibition at Viridian Artists Contemporary Gallery in Chelsea, NYC! 
This is a very exciting exhibition for me, being my first time showing in New York City not to mention that it was juried by Elisabeth Sussman, the curator of the Whitney Museum and the Whitney Biennial 2012!!! 
Unfortunately in all of my last minute planning it looks like I won't be returning for the opening reception tomorrow night. 
The exhibition runs through to the 20th, if you are in the area please stop by and have a glass of wine for me! I hope to see more of the city soon! 




























Viridian Artists’ 24th International Juried Exhibition
Juried by Elisabeth Sussman, Curator, Whitney Museum, New York
July 2 – July 20, 2013
Opening reception Thursday, July 18th, 6:00 – 8:00 pm.
Chelsea: Viridian Artists Inc. is pleased to present their 24th International Juried Exhibition. Curated by Elisabeth Sussman, Curator, Whitney Museum, New York, the exhibition opens  July 2nd and continues through July 20th, 2013. In celebration, a special reception will be held on Thursday, July 18th 6:00 – 8:00 pm. At that time, meet the curator and many of the artists.
Viridian’s International Juried Exhibitions are a series of exhibitions that serve to encompass a diverse selection of outstanding art from around the world that might not otherwise be seen in New York City. This marks the 24th year that the gallery has offered artists the opportunity to have a major museum curator see a selection of their work.
As the recipient of the sixteenth CCS Bard Award for Curatorial Excellence, Elisabeth Sussman was recently recognized for her dynamic curatorial vision and her dedication to the field. She is Curator and Sondra Gilman Curator of Photography at the Whitney Museum of American Art. Most recently, along with co-curator Jay Sanders, she curated the 2012 Whitney Biennial.
During her time curating this exhibition at Viridian, she spent many long hours viewing over 1000 images sent from around the world.  In her curatorial statement, Sussman states: “New York City, considers itself, rightly or wrongly, the center of the art world. In the week when the jurying of this exhibition took place, another art fair, Frieze, was in town, the contemporary auctions at Sotheby’s and Christie’s were bringing in tons of money and mega galleries in Chelsea were featuring gigantic shows of globally branded artists. Jurying an exhibition like Viridian’s at that time was an essential activity, a relief from the horrifying realization that, at least in New York, little separates the art world from global financial markets and the entertainment industry.”
In addition to the exhibition juried by Sussman, Viridian’s director, Vernita Nemec, also views the hundreds of images submitted and curates a selection that she feels have merit for a power point presentation viewable for the duration of the exhibition. This “Director’s Choice” selection is another opportunity that Viridian presents as part of its mission is to give exposure to outstanding under-known artists.
Group Exhibition: Juried by Elisabeth Sussman

First Prize: Elizabeth Castonguay    Second Prize:   John Hansen   Third Prize:  Malika Cosme

Honorable Mentions: Alexander Churchill, Henry Coupe, Barry Goldberg
* Lizz Aston * Ed Herman * Samaray Akarvardar * Jane Alexander-Perry * Ransom Ashley * Bob Augstell * Kathleen Benton * S Brian Berkun * Elizabeth Castonguay * Alexander Churchill,* Malika Cosme * Henry Coupe * Barry Goldberg * John Hansen * Edith Hillinger * Aram Han * Timothy Macy * Dana McElroy * Pilar Olaverri * Zoran Poposki * Leonard Rosenfeld * Kimberly Rowe * Seena Sussman * Tore Terrasi * Rebecca Treadwell *Susan  Evans Trees * Catherine Vanaria * Andrew Williams *
Director’s Choice curated by Vernita Nemec
Emma Buck * Matty Davis * Lauren Dishinger * Nancy Robb Dunst * Rachel Edwards * Kristin Enck * Jim Granito * Joshua Greenberg * Aimee Hertog * Marla Hoffman * Daniela Izaguirre * Jerry Johnson * Lynne Johnson * Srividya Kannan Ramachandran * Joanna Kidd * Mark Kolessar * Neil Sedwin * Marcia Lloyd * Maxine Loustalot * DeeDee Maguire * Nicole Pietranton * Robin Becker * Christopher Ruane * Rachel Sard * Leslie Sheryll * Suprina. *



This project has been produced with the support of the city of Toronto through the Toronto Arts Council.

I would also like to acknowledge funding support from the Ontario Arts Council, an agency of the Government of Ontario.



Monday, July 15, 2013

Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition 2013
















Hello all! Well, it has been an extremely long time since I have posted...!!! I'm feeling a little bit embarrassed about the serious lapse in blogging, but I've had an extremely busy past few months trying to finish new work in time for the Toronto Outdoor show as well as a number of other exhibitions.
I have a lot of exciting news about current and upcoming exhibitions to share so I will break each post down by show just to make it a little easier.

This past weekend was my second time taking part in the Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition (the last was in 2010). It was a great weekend with some serious weather highs and lows. I was really happy to be surrounded by some great neighbours and meet lots of new and old faces. My only regret was that I didn't take the time to walk around and take some pictures of the rest of the show. All in all it was a really great exhibition and I am really pleased to announce that I took home the award for Best in Fibre!!! So without further ramblings.. here are some images from the show!
Hope you enjoy!






















This project has been produced with the support of the city of Toronto through the Toronto Arts Council.

I would also like to acknowledge funding support from the Ontario Arts Council, an agency of the Government of Ontario.



Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Fiberart International 2013

Fiberart International 2013

@ the Society for Contemporary Craft  - 2100 Smallman St. Pittsburgh, PA.
& Pittsburgh Center for the Arts - 6300 Fifth Avenue. Pittsburgh, PA

April 19th - August 18th, 2013

Opening Reception: April 19th,
followed by a one day symposium with visiting artists, April 20th.

Fiberart International 2013 is the 21st in a series of triennial juried exhibitions sponsored by the Fiberarts Guild of Pittsburgh. Chosen by a distinguished panel of artists and curators, FI2013 will feature works by established and emerging artists and will provide a unique opportunity to see current trends and innovations in this constantly evolving medium.
Since 1997, the exhibition has been held at two prestigious arts organizations, the Pittsburgh Centre for the Arts & the Society for Contemporary Craft and includes works by artists from around the world. This years jurors include Paulina Ortiz, Kai Chan and Joyce J. Scott; and a number of awards will be given on behalf of the Fiberarts Guild of Pittsburgh.
Fiberart International seeks to exhibit the best of contemporary art and invites submissions that reflect a wide range of works related to the fiber medium. This juried exhibition of contemporary works is recognized amongst fiber artists around the world as a benchmark exhibition documenting the trends and innovation in the field. The goal of the show is to include innovative work rooted in traditional fiber materials, structure, processes and history, as well as art that explores unexpected relationships between fiber and other creative disciplines.

For the exhibition, I will be showing a part of my Exploding Lace installation at the Pittsburgh Centre for the Arts, as well as my piece Antiquated Notions #3 at the Society for Contemporary Craft.

I was lucky enough to make it down for the opening a couple weeks ago and tried to take as many photos of the work as I could. I had a really lovely time while I was there, and it was so nice to meet the artists and put a face to some familiar works that I have been enjoying for a while now. Also, to my surprise, I received an award on the opening night, for the most Outstanding Use of Traditional Materials!!!
So exciting!! All in all, I absolutely loved Pittsburgh, I thought the show was incredibly well curated and the weekends events were so well organized, it was a real treat to be a part of everything.
Below are some photos I took during the symposium, I hope you enjoy them.

After closing in Pittsburgh, Fiberart International 2013 will be travelling to the San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles in San Jose, California as well as the Franklin G. Burroughs ~ Simeon G. Chapin Art Museum in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.



An ad for our exhibition I found in the Pittsburgh City Paper
Upstairs from the show, I was having fun in a textile installation


Joanne Arnett: Tinned copper wire and cotton, hand woven on a digital jacquard loom.



Sandra Jane Heard - Vintage woven steel tape measures.



Linda Rettich: Kente reversible collar, bead weaving in Ndbele stitch


Patricia Mink: dumpster 5b - inkjet print on cotton damask, loom woven jacquard; layered, free motion quilt embroidered


Anna Goebel: Greetings from the forest - cellulose, moss, handmade paper....


Jim Arendt: Yvette & Ainsley - cut denim


Dorothy McGuinness: Conjoined - Watercolour paper, acrylic paint, waxed linen thread, diagonal twill woven.


April Dauscha: Act of contrition - video, handmade needle-run lace veil.


Samantha Fields: She speaks folly in a thousand holy ways - Recovered Afghan, beads




Josefina Concha: Cuerpo Zurcido VIII - Machine sewing on fabric









































Margaret Scott: wedding day v3 - Nuno felted silk chiffon, merino wool, digital print, hand felted, hand stitched.



Leslie Pearson: That which is empty, may be filled - wire, paper, wax, paint.








































Naoe Okamoto: A deep night - wool, hemp, felting, knotting.








































Janice Lessman-Moss #415. cotton, wool, digital jacquard, power loom woven, handmade felt.



Ainsley Hillard: Flow - photographic images heat-transferred onto viscose weft. Hand woven, hand dyed, monofilament warp.


Marcy Sperry Micromanaged - Seed beads, silk, hand embroidered




Lizz Aston: Exploding Lace View #2


Jolie Bird: #703 - Porcelain sugar bowl, cotton thread.








































Julie Abijanac - talking about her piece Disease Mapping - made from recycled copy paper, thread and glue





detail of Kimber Olson's Community Center, a difficult piece to photograph!



Hiromi Murotani: Scenery - Cotton linen fabric, nylon thread, elastic thread.








































Jiseon Isbara: Repeated - Cotton, woven, screen printed and stitched.







Rachelle Gardner: Unable to divide - Machine embroidery, thread, disolveable fabric of some sort.


Frank Connet - Copper with black patina


Barbara Murak: divide - Knitted constructions



Patricia Mink: Tapia Study - inkjet print, power loom woven jacquard cotton damask, layered and stitched. free motion embroidery.



Carol Milne Free & Easy - knitted wax (stockinette stitch) kiln cast lead crystal (glass) lost wax casting technique



Eszter Bornemisza: Lung of the City - Reprinted newspaper, thread, yarn, dyed, machine sewn



Piece in the background by Gwen Lowery - cotton and rayon thread, painted canvas, machine stitched









































Samantha Fields: Tryptich with 206,720 beads - Recovered afghan, beads, stretcher frames.







Carol Milne Talking about her work: Fire & Brimstone - knitted wax (stockinette stitch) kiln cast lead crystal (glass) lost wax casting technique




My work