New Perspectives are on the Horizon for Articulation Textile Group

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As summer wanes the new season brings the work of Articulation Textile Group into focus with shows mounting simultaneously in Sidney, British Columbia, and Melfort, Saskatchewan. 

 We are excited to announce, "Connected Heritage" is being installed at the newly remodeled Sidney Museum, Sidney BC. The show will run from September 1st  to December 27th, 2021. The museum is open 7 days per week, 10am-4pm daily.


Work on display in the newly renovated space at the Sidney Museum began with Articulation's study session in Gimli, Manitoba, in the summer of 2016. Members researched aspects of the immigrant Icelandic community that established itself on the shores of Lake Winnipeg after 1875 when almost 1/5th of the population left Iceland. The Manitoban community was granted reserve status and self-governed until 1887 when they were incorporated into Manitoba and all Icelandic descendants became Canadian citizens. "Connected Heritage" was exhibited at the New Iceland Heritage Museum, Gimli in the summer of 2019. 

Lesley Turner, "Origins" in progress. This large piece, exhibiting at the Sidney Museum involved 2 stacked vintage wool blankets being worked on using the cut-back appliqué technique. 

Articulation members, unique in their processes and media, expressed their responses to this course of study in textiles. Much of this body of work, with a few omissions and additions, will exhibit within the newly renovated 12000 square feet of display space in the Sidney Museum. Joining them will be artifacts supplied by the Icelandic Canadian Club of BC. Articulation is looking forward to this collaboration and is excited to be welcomed back to Sidney Museum.

Donna Clement is taking a stand with "Text-Tiles" in some of her work for "Connected Heritage"

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We get by with a little help from our friends:  Alyssa Gerwing (Sidney Museum Executive Director), Adrian Bogdan ( Assistant Director, Archivist) and Sharon Stoneman (Installation Team). "Connected Heritage" installation in progress.

Hanging a show in any space requires extensive amounts of time, consideration, planning, and problem-solving. Lesley writes of her experience this week at the museum...

Sharon Stoneman, Ron, and I pulled up to the museum at 9:00 am with all of the work and left at 11:30 am having made all of the hanging decisions and leaving the museum's competent staff to hang the rest of the work. Sharon was at the unwrapping table, Alyssa Gerwing (Executive Director) and Sydney Fuhrman (Education & Outreach Coordinator) checked each work against the inventory, I ironed anything that needed it, Mareike Friedrich (summer student) photographed the work, Emma Minato (summer student) cleaned cabinets we wanted to use. Alyssa,  Adrian Bodgan (Assistant Director & Archivist), and Sydney hung the works after Sharon and I had made the decisions about what was to go where.
 We are always grateful for help getting a show installed. Thank you to all who were involved for your commitment.


Lean Clifford's work for "Connected Heritage" focused on the Viking Persona. "Forged in Fire", features oxidized metal prints on fabric with hand quilting.


Wendy Klotz chose a sculptural approach to her work in "Oral Traditions", working in felt with contrasting sheer organza. Machine embroidered text on the organza is representative of the importance the Icelandic community placed on poetry, literature, and folklore. A detail is shown above.

Ingrid Lincoln used batik in the production of "Journey", showing in Sidney with "Connected Heritage".



"Rise: New Perspectives" by Amanda Onchulenko (shown above) continues themes developed as a result of research into Manitoba's Icelandic community on the shores of Lake Winnipeg in 2016. The "Rise" series is a modified extension of the Larettur Series where the focus was on the immigrant experience and the search for common elements between the landscape of the past and those of the present. Larettur is Icelandic for horizontal the horizon being the common experience from both 'here' and 'there'. As an immigrant, I am home where the horizon levels my gaze.

Though an extension of the Icelandic project, this piece won't be heading to Vancouver Island to join the Gimli body of work in the "Connected Heritage" exhibition in Sidney. Instead, it will hang in the Kerry Vicker Centre: Sherven-Smith Art Gallery, Melfort, Saskatchewan with Articulation's concurrent show, "Out of the Studio: Process", August 30th-September 25th, 2021.


Lesley Turner's "Laundry Mandala: Mind the Haberdashery", is exhibiting with Articulation's "Out off the Studio: Process", in the Kerry Vicker Centre: Sherven-Smith Art Gallery in Melfort, SK 

Leann Clifford has been instrumental in acquiring this exhibition space. As our representative in Saskatchewan, we are grateful for her hard work organizing and installing the show without a team of assistants. 

 Articulation Textile Group is a cooperative group of Western Canadian textile artists who have gathered in locations across Canada annually to study, explore and discover inspiration for new works in textiles. To date, locations have provided a unifying element for subsequent exhibitions that showcased bodies of work developed by members of the group independently. The Kerry Vicker Centre: Sherven-Smith Art Gallery in Melfort, SK will be home to "Out of the Studio: Process", which represents the first of a new exhibit agenda where the focus is on current studio production's finished works.

Further work in "The Horizontal Series: Washed Ashore", is an example of the infinite possibility that lies ahead for Amanda's project, inspired as it is by the weather and atmosphere as seen across Lake Winnipeg.


"Things Fall Apart" by Ingrid Lincoln is showing in The Kerry Vicker Centre: Sherven-Smith Art Gallery, Melfort, SK

Also showing in the Kerry Vicker Centre: Sherven-Smith Art Gallery is works developed as a result of Ingrid Lincoln's experiments with foiling, shown below.


Detail of "Bling" by Ingrid Lincoln.


Wendy Klotz's, "Lace making" (detail), will also be exhibited in the Kerry Vicker Centre: Sherven-Smith Art Gallery

Articulation is pleased to have an opportunity to exhibit in two locations concurrently. We hope if you are in either of theses areas you will stop in to see the work in person.
Further details regarding individual member's processes will be discussed in subsequent blog posts.

Stay well in these evolving times and if textiles and the comfort of cloth are your happy place we hope you will share your experience in the comments.

All best,
Amanda Onchulenko 
on behalf of Articulation Textile Group
Location: Sidney, BC, Canada

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