the spaces in-between
the land extends under the water and the water
flows throughout the land; land and water are
inextricably co-dependent, but there is a line where
it must be either one or the other.
shoreline #1
quilted painting ~ 31" x 18"
shoreline #2
quilted painting ~ 34" x 20"
shoreline #3: encroachment
quilted painting ~ 42" x 27.5" (triptych)
a decision is suspended on a precipice
between the past and the future
moment in time #1
quilted painting ~ 12" x 22"
spirit figures emerge from the crevices
in
a cliff – they are between then and now
moment in time #2
quilted painting ~ 23" x 12"
five generations, linked, though separated in time
moment in time #3: first born daughters
quilted painting ~ 31" x 15.5"
The Spaces In-Between: A review by Dorota Kozinska
The sound stops short, the sense flows on.
~ Chinese saying
“What happens in the moment between thought and gesture?
What hides in the space between the completion of one image and the birth
of the next? What lies in the invisible corners
of the creative mind?
These preoccupations are at the root of a group exhibition
of five
contemporary Canadian artists, in which styles and media combine to create
a truly unique visual experience. Jackie Cytrynbaum, Stéphanie Bush
and Susan Strachan Johnson met last year at the Florence Biennale, all
chosen
to represent Canada at the prestigious event. Although they did
not know one another, they soon developed a particular affinity despite
the diversity of their individual productions.
The collaboration that began in Italy continued back home, when they
vowed to combine their talents for a once in a lifetime exhibition.
They invited two other artists, Michèle Lavoie and Ann McCall,
to join in the endeavour, adding
further to the variety of the media involved.
As they went their separate ways, back to their studios –
four
in Montreal, and Strachan Johnson in her hometown
of Rockwood, Ontario -
the show was but a kernel of an
idea tossed onto the winds of inspiration.
The challenge
was indeed formidable. The artists involved vary in age
and
experience, and each works in a very specific manner, employing a variety
of media, at first glance unrelated. What kind of tapestry could be woven
from such a rich palette?
Remote, each single star
Comes out, till there they are
All shining brightly. How the dews fall damp!
While close at hand the glow-worm lights her lamp,
Or twinkles from afar.
~ Christina Rossetti
Just like stars strewn across the firmament that form
a constellation,
the five artists toiling separately in their ateliers began to weave a common
vision composed of
myriad individual images and emotions.
As if driven by a Jungian collective unconscious, they started producing
works that were magically linked, conversing across time and space, riding
on the waves of inspiration and faith
in the power of art.”
(About the work of Susan Strachan Johnson)
“This bewildering creative synchronicity spills onto the works
of
Susan Strachan Johnson, who has picked up the idea of shoreline and nature
in her quilted canvases. Seeking the spaces between land and water, she has
produced delicate, textured paintings, incongruous with the method that gave
birth to them. Johnson makes what has become known as
fibre art, and her tool
is the lowly sewing machine. How magnificently symbolic of the woman’s
lot, an echo of
mythical weavers, both human and celestial….
The fabric is painted, and the final work resembles an oil or pastel canvas from afar, and an impossibly tactile surface up close. The female voice echoing through the works of all five artists finds its physical embodiment in the workshop of Strachan Johnson, while her images continue the theme inspired by the exhibition’s title.”
Dorota Kozinska is a writer and art critic based in Montreal.
Her reviews and
articles have been published extensively
in Vie des Arts, Parcours l’informateur des arts,
and The Gazette, as well as broadcast internationally on CBC Radio.
She is the author of numerous catalogues, including: David B. Milne: A Quiet Genius;
Emily Carr: Speaking with Nature; Dina Podolsky: Seeing Memory; Kathleen Moir Morris:
View from an Inner Window; Léa Rivièrè: Spirit Riders;
Maja Vodanovic: Contemporary Romantic; and Jacques Payette: Time Shifter.