I have long been fascinated by the visceral and emotive response that colour evokes.
“We experience blue in an expansive and immersive way in the sky, lakes, oceans and seas.
A pervasive colour in the visual field of the world around us, it was a precious rarity as pigment and was highly sought after as a colour for representation in art and textiles….” read more
A blue themed event has been gestating in my brain for a some time and I’m thrilled to bring together the work of Akai Ceramic Studio, Handwork Studio, Sigrid Blohm and my cyanotypes for a one night exhibition on September 27th!
Introducing the artists…
Yusuke & Naomi, Tokyo natives now living in Toronto, are a family duo behind their contemporary ceramics inspired both by traditional Japanese and Chinese ceramics and by mid-century American Industrial Design. Akai’s combined background in design, hand thrown clay and architecture lend a unique quality to their work. When I first met them a few years ago, I was immediately drawn in by their fresh colour palette and simple, succinct forms.
Handwork Studio develops beautiful collections bridging traditional materials and techniques with contemporary design. All of their projects consider sustainable employment with skilled artisans in India, Pakistan & Peru. Their natural indigo line was created by hand block printing and resist techniques, then hand dyed. The dots you see in the garment pictured were achieved by thumb print resist!
Sigrid Blohm
Sigrid Blohm is a Toronto based visual artist who works primarily with Japanese paper. Many of her visual cues and techniques come from the world of books and textiles as she employs stitching, dyeing, piecing and ‘written’ mark-making. There is a steadiness in the structure of her works on paper that is so calming.
Many of you know my textiles but may not be familiar with my works on paper. For this exhibition I’ll be showing my “phases” series of cyanotypes. Cyanotypes were first developed in 1842 using a combination of iron based chemistry that fixes an image when exposed to UV light.
I adapted this process using my cut paper works as the oject “printed” by the sun’s rays. Each piece emerges uniquely from the exposure to the intensity of the light and position of the sun.
