The Steinbach Arts Council is pleased to present an opening ceremony celebration for the Steinbach Christian High School ‘Tapestries: Follow the Thread’ art gallery on January 7, 2015, at the Steinbach Cultural Arts Centre.
Inspired by Winnipeg artist, Takashi Iwasaki, these SCHS art students from grades 9, 11, and 12 have embarked on an arduous and creative journey to put these embroidered art pieces together. This October, each group of students was visited by Takashi Iwasaki in which he presented his methods of creating visual journals. Taking seemingly uneventful experiences, he demonstrated how he would dissect details from the mundane and create abstract, yet cohesive and visually stunning, compositions using the time consuming medium of embroidery.
While not using the hundreds of hours, nor the complex stitches employed by Takashi, the grades 9’s and 11’s worked many hours toiling away within this completely foreign world of needle and thread while journaling a specific ordinary or extra-ordinary day of their lives. Hunting, sports, Sherlock Holmes, an awkward day from grade 5, and many other topics can be seen displayed in a strange fusion of thread and personal events.
The grade 12 art class completed a wholly different task in which they experimented with combining embroidery and drawing or photography. Each piece speaks for itself and presents different experiences for the viewer. Some art works utilize the embroidery as a virtually imperceptible enhancement; a dash of colour which, only by closer examination, is hand stitched. Others utilize the thread in a completely different, almost obscene, way. The use of the embroidery is in stark contrast with the drawing or photograph; a lasso that pulls the viewer in to investigate the odd addition.
Regardless of the grade or theme of the pieces on display, the meticulous work that went into them is evident. Embroidery is a difficult medium that only rewards artists after many hours of labour. These students, I believe, have developed a new respect for an old craft. ~ Ryan Polinsky, Art Teacher, SCHS.
The Steinbach Arts Council invites you to join them on January 7, 2015, at the Hall Gallery in the Steinbach Cultural Arts Centre, to celebrate the accomplishment of this group of students. Everyone is invited to attend the opening ceremony. Refreshments will be served. No Admission, but a Toonie Donation is requested and greatly appreciated.
