Tete-à-tete Showcases Fibre Arts

From Arts in Guelph - September/October, 2006

by Anna Contini

Here's an exhibit guaranteed to stimulate your senses and challenge your intellect! It showcases the works of Connections, a group 30 talented fibre artists based across Canada and the U.K. Each year they hold a special show where all members take part by creating their own unique pieces. This year local artist Susan Johnson conceived of the idea for Tête-à-tête which pairs the fibre works of art with other more mainstream media such as painting, sculpture or photography. The exhibit will take place at the Wellington County Museum & Archives September 9 to November 5, 2006. All are welcome to the opening on Sunday, September 10, 2 to 4 p.m. At this time Curator Susan Dunlop will present a Curator's Choice award to the artwork or pair of artworks of her choice.

One of the objectives of the show is "to place the exciting new medium of fibre art firmly where it belongs, in the mainstream art world, while attracting a wider range of viewers," says Johnson. Interestingly, she herself was originally a watercolour artist up until about four yeas ago when she became seduced by the world of fibre arts. In 2004, she was inspired by the Connections group show at the Woodstock Art Gallery where each member designed a piece based on a Florence Carlyle painting. In 2005, members of Connections exhibited their own original pieces at the Homer Watson House & Gallery, alongside the works of Homer Watson.

This year's show is more open-ended, says Johnson, explaining that members of the collective have much more freedom. The idea of Tête-à-tête is to present a visual "conversation" between each pair of artworks to demonstrate how one medium can "listen" then respond to another. For example, the conversation can be a playful message: "anything you can do I can do better." Or, it could illustrate a symbiotic relationship and demonstrate how two artworks might come together to form one larger message: "you can hold water, but I can change my shape - between us we can hold the world."

Johnson's piece is a bed quilt called Bach's Goldberg Variations which converses with a photograph called Mississauga City Hall Arcade by the late Robert B. Evans. In her artistic statement she sums up the connection: "These pieces are both about passages. Robert and I supported each other's work for years, and in 2003 he composed a piece of music for the opening of a children's chapel I painted. The text was about entering a special place to encounter God. When he was stricken with brain cancer I wove the same text into a 'Bach' quilt for him. The text took on a whole new meaning when he died in March 2005."

The works of the Connections fibre artists is highly diverse, ranging from silk fusion to thread painting, soft sculpture to machine embroidery, hand-quilting to photo transfer, fibre wrapping and beading. Many members of Connections are pioneers in their art form, and regularly teach courses and accept commissions. Several are also published authors. Connections holds three to four group shows annually but only one "Level One" show where all members take part. Tête-à-tête is the Level One show for 2006. The very first show took place at Wellington County Museum ten years ago.

Tête-à-tête promises a visual feast and intellectual journey for artists and laypersons alike. Don't miss this unique exhibit which showcases the power of fibre art and its dialogue with the rest of the world!

For more information about Tête-à-tête please contact Wellington County Museum at 519-846-0916.