Reflecting On Articulations's "WAR: A Personal Response", in light of the COVID-19 Pandemic
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Above, "Internment Camps", printed and folded paper, Donna Clement
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| "Message of Peace" embroidered in morse code by Wendy Klotz |
Work developed in textiles illuminated threads of connection between ourselves and the wartime experiences of our families. Read on to experience snippets of the thoughtful fine workmanship of Articulation members' work that exhibited in the show. The interpretations are as viewed from my perspective. Feel free to connect with individual artists to learn more of their process and finished work.
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| "Friend or Foe", aircraft silhouettes embroidered onto vintage table linens by Lesley Turner |
Wendy Klotz of Calgary, tenderly felted a blanket to lay upon her grandfather's military grave situated in the Churchyard in Spierre, Belgium. Touchingly beautiful it's vibrant colour distinguishes his resting place from rows of unadorned crosses. Made of wool it keeps his memory warm through time. The flower forms of 18 symbolic poppies, one for every subsequent family member, is a nod to the generations he began and inspires still, yet never knew.
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| Wendy Klotz, "A Blanket for my Grandfather", Felted wool, 2017 |
Ingrid Lincoln's "Cherry Orchard" brings her Mother's memory of what was left behind to life. Her Mother's coping mechanism during the war was to choose to look toward the beauty of a pre war experience, to hold onto an image, a memory, that offered comfort, joy, and gratitude in the place of displacement and hardship.
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| Ingrid Lincoln, "Cherry Orchard, thread, wire, styrofoam. |
Ingrid's delicate flower forms, machine embroidered onto a soluble foundation, float upon their simple stems. Soft and pink these blossoms contrast the gunmetal grey of their wire supports. Planted casually into a utilitarian base the delicate forms make an unexpected rattle. Together the contrasting elements unite to suggest the strength of a community blooming beyond adversity. For me they are a lesson in gratitude and balance.
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Lesley Turner's body of work focused on PTSD, the little discussed, far reaching consequence of wartime trauma as it manifested in her family. Her clever research into material triggers is impressive and her fine workmanship elevates (perceived) mundane aspects of "Women's Work" and their homespun war efforts, to become the literal and symbolic gifts of; warmth, protection, courage, strength and most importantly, love.
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Donna Clement focused on the courage and resourcefulness of her immigrant heritage in her canning project. The work portrays recipes of survival to remind us at the centre of all families, in times of hardship and in times of abundance, is nourishment. Our family's cultural history is shared around tables, with food.
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| "Preserves", By Donna Clement. |
Donna's use of materials in "Preserves", cleverly uses printed and folded paper recipes contained within protective glass jars in a literal play on words. It speaks to me of the fragility of survival and the cultural heritage passed down from one generation to the next. We may have wondered where would we be without our communities and our people in the past, but in 2020 and 2021 we have become acutely aware of our human need for connection. We know how important it is to see and be seen within a community of those we know and love and look forward to sharing food with those communities again.
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| "Quarter Sections" detail, by Donna Clement. Uniform individuality within a community on the Prairie. |
Lean Clifford's war effort focused on her grandparents story. Quilt making, the idea of making something from leftovers and piecing scraps together to create something new and purposeful are at the core of Lean's projects.
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| "Not Quite Perfect", Detail, hand quilted and embroidered by Leann Clifford. White running stitches symbolize those designated as disabled or not measuring up to the Nazi social order. Red crosses denote the number of people killed as a consequence of their perceived inferior physical and or mental condition. |
I see reverence in her work as she meticulously worked to represent the enormity of the experience of loss, to make certain everyone was accounted for, to balance the masculine and feminine in a discussion of two people, her grandparents, and the lives they lived and shared during terribly challenging times.
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| "Keeping the Home Front" by Leann Clifford. This quilt features Leann's Grandmother's linens in a Dresden Plate formation surrounded by photo transfers of her husband's wartime correspondence. |
Two of my projects centred on my Father in Law, a World War II veteran. Steve Onchulenko was a barely of age strapping Prairie boy with an affinity for languages who trained as a medic before arriving on Juno Beach in a tin U boat alongside 100's of Canadian Soldiers on D Day. He was not much older than his youngest grand daughters with whom my husband and I stood on that same expanse of sand on Juno Beach, some 70+ years later.
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| Grand daughters on Juno Beach wearing Grandma and Grandpas legion caps, 2018 |
Arriving at days end after the crowds had dissipated we were left to imagine in the twilight, to reflect and to offer our gratitude. I took photographs of my family, capturing the reverence of the moment in black and white, I later dye sublimated the images onto fabric. Largely unadorned they fly like a banner below a weathered prairie fence post that washed up on the shores of Lake Winnipeg at the edge of our summer home.
| On that Normandy Beach in 2018 I remembered the gentle Grandpa who grew raspberries warm with summer sunshine and shared them peacefully with his grand daughters under the shade of his beloved birch tree. As we research and ask questions more and more stories evolve to inspire us. |
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| "Soft Landing" Grandpa's medals, photographed and dye sublimated onto fabric and quilted into pillow forms. A focus on details taken out of context and moved through changes in scale and media is a technique I often use in my studio practice. These medals were worn proudly each remembrance day. They symbolize the courage of a generation who took up arms against a common threat. Grandpa returned to Canada minus a kidney with a handful of trinkets to farm a patch of prairie and establish the roots of his family in the middle of a continent. He was known to have some speedy wheels and a connection to a renowned still during prohibition. He also had no fear. After his experience on that beach and beyond what possible threat could a county road in rural Manitoba or Saskatchewan offer after surviving a D Day landing? |
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| "Rain", Amanda Onchulenko. Rain is a reference to my Grandmothers experience in Sheffield England, ...emerging from the damp confines of an air raid shelter, my own mother in her arms as she discovered the gap in the row of houses across the street where hours earlier her good friend had gone. |
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| "Coming Home", log cabin quilt by Leann Clifford...to welcome the servicemen home. |
Where would we be without the sacrifices and decisions made by our forefathers? What would our world look like if they had not chosen to act for the greater good? My daughters sleep soundly at night. They do not worry of stray shrapnel or wayward bullets taking down their partnered stretcher bearer at night as their grandfather did. Instead they are blessed with opportunity beyond anything he or his cohorts could have imagined and we are very grateful for their contribution and inspiration.
Be well. Stay safe. Get vaccinated against the modern threat we face in 2021
Contact individual Articulation members for further information on their "War efforts".
Amanda Onchulenko, on behalf of Articulation Textile Group.
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