Centre3

📢NEW Workshop!

Join us on Saturday, June 1st from 12-3pm for a free in-person risograph workshop at Centre3! By the end, participants will have a solid understanding of the practice. By bringing in your own artwork, you will have the opportunity to take 10 risograph prints home or exchange your risograph prints with other workshop participants.

Alex Borghesan will guide you through the process, including preparing a risograph file for print and using the risograph printer. No experience is required and participation is free, but space is limited.

Follow the link to our website to register now!
https://theinc.ca/shop/

[Image Description in Comments]

On behalf of Centre[3], Colina Maxwell and board member Barin (Bee) attended the RBC Volunteer Appreciation Event on April 16th at Queenston Branch. RBC did an excellent job recognizing volunteers and sharing their theme, ‘Every Moment Matters,’ where volunteers shine brightest.

On top of the heartfelt statements, they provided snacks, gifts, and live music by Jhyve R&B singer from Toronto, most noted as the winner of CBC Music’s Searchlight competition for emerging artists in 2021. It indeed was a memorable evening.

Thank you, RBC , for reminding us how vital volunteers are to our organization and community.

Thank you, Bee, for your vision beyond her artwork; she aims to combine her faith, life experiences, and reflections to represent her identity in her works, offering a unique perspective to the artistic landscape.

🌟 Members' Spotlight: 🌟 Maureen Paxton

Maureen is a versatile artist who delves into various mediums including writing, drawing, painting, and printmaking. In January 2023, she began her printmaking journey at Centre3 in Hamilton. She has received a grant from the Hamilton Enrichment Fund for her visual-literary project titled "She SeeSaw." This project involves creating a collection of poems accompanied by etchings. Through the guidance of Centre3 and their technical support and mentoring, she gained the necessary skills to start her work.

Maureen is well-known at Centre3 for her dedication and tireless work ethic, shown by her unwavering commitment to her art. With a keen eye for detail, she meticulously hones her skill, pouring countless hours into her work. You can often find her immersed in the traditional print studio, where she devotes herself to her projects with passion and perseverance, striving for excellence in every stroke and etching. Her relentless pursuit of artistic mastery is evident in the depth and intricacy of her creations, a testament to her unwavering dedication and high standards.

In addition to her artistic pursuits, Maureen has shared her expertise with students at OCADU, Sheridan College (in the Animation and Art Fundamentals Faculties), and Max the Mutt, a privately-run animation school. Her creative writing has graced the stages of theater and television, and her literary works have found homes in various Canadian journals. Notably, Maureen has been honored with multiple grants from the Ontario Arts Council. Although she made Hamilton her home in 2008 after spending thirty-four years in Toronto, the excitement of driving up and down the mountain still fills her with joy.

🎥 Video Shot by Ben Cu***ng and Luther Griggs
🎞️ Edited by Luther Griggs

Centre3 Members' Spotlight: Maureen Paxton 🌟 Members' Spotlight: 🌟 Maureen PaxtonMaureen is a versatile artist who delves into various mediums including writing, drawing, painting, and printmaking. ...

❕This week is your last chance to see our winter programming. Catch these fantastic shows before they’re gone. ❕

🗓️Last day to visit in person is April 6th 🗓️

📍173 James Street North📍

🔗 follow the link in our bio for more information about our current exhibitions 🔗

Brenda Mabel Reid: Steel Plate, Slag Block
Tara Bursey: Cuts and Lock Ups
Rebecca Casalino: Lake Poems
Maureen Paxton: Etchings and Other Artworks


intellectual




Image ID’s:
Brenda Mabel Reid. “The Pitch”
Brenda Mabel Reid. Installation shot, Left to Right: “The Pitch”,“Drafting Room”
Tara Bursey. Installation Shot, Left to Right: ”Saint John Labour Scrapbook”, “Lock Up (An Old Debate)”, “Lock Up (Protect Housing)”, “Lock Up “(Precarious and Exploitative), “Lock Up (Low Ceilings)”
Rebecca Casalino. Installation Shot of “Lake Poems”
Rebecca Casalino. Installation Shot of “Lake Poems”
Maureen Paxton. Installation Shot of “Etchings and Other Art Works”

Maureen Paxton: ETCHINGS AND OTHER ARTWORKS
 
🗓️ MARCH 8 –  APRIL 8, 2024

📍OPENING RECEPTION: MARCH 8, 2024 | 7-10PM at Centre[3]
 
ABOUT THE EXHIBITION

“The six etchings in this exhibition were done, while not intended as illustration, to accompany my poems in a collection titled She SeeSaw, still in progress. I have received one OAC grant, plus support from the Hamilton Enrichment Fund towards producing both aspects of the book.
Whatever my medium, I tend to focus on the figure as both seen and seer. I don’t consider it portraiture: I’m attempting to create and explore imagined characters, as well as aspects of their being. I find some propulsion from theatre and my love of it, theatre as a shallow box with wings, its contents a distillation of entire worlds and within itself, a world of its own.
The same preoccupations are present in the paintings I’ve chosen for this exhibition bar, perhaps, Gay Paree No. 2. No figures per se, no actors except for the buildings themselves. Small stages within the larger.”

🔗Find out more about our current exhibitions through the link in our bio 🔗

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Maureen Paxton writes, draws, paints and as of January, 2023, began printmaking at Centre3 in Hamilton. She’d been awarded a Hamilton Enrichment Fund grant intended to support a visual-literary project called She SeeSaw, a collection of poems accompanied by (reproductions of) etchings. At that point, she knew little about the medium but with tech support and mentoring by Centre3 artist-managers, learned enough to begin work.

She has taught at what’s now called OCADU; at Sheridan College (Animation and Art Fundamentals Faculties); at a privately-run animation school (Max the Mutt). She’s written for theatre and television and has been published in various Canadian literary journals. She’s also the recipient of several Ontario Arts Council writing grants.

Hamilton has been home since 2008, after thirty-four years in Toronto. Driving up and down the mountain is still a thrill.

Image Credit: Maureen Paxton: ETCHINGS AND OTHER ARTWORKS

Read the full collection of poetry from Rebecca Casalino: Lake Poems

🗓February 26 - April 6, 2024 at Centre[3]

ABOUT THE EXHIBITION

“Lake Poems’’ is an exhibition of local artist Rebecca Casalino’s hybrid practice of poetry, printmaking and drawing. Silkscreen prints featuring Casalino’s 2023 poetry wrap around the space connected by a continuous blue line representing the lakeshore. This gestural line is featured on the individual prints and is painted on the walls of the space to create continuous flow through the space. These poems often contain references to Lake Ontario which Casalino sees as a connecting body that brings her closer to her chosen family living along the lakeshore. Casalino performs her poetry aloud in the gallery to engage with audiences and breathe life into written text.

“Lake Poems” (the zine) is a set of fifteen poems written from 2017-2021 while Casalino lived in downtown Toronto and central Hamilton. The zine will be available for free as a digital download during the run of the exhibition.

Find out more about our current exhibitions through the link in our bio 🔗
intellectual
Image Credit: Rebecca Casalino, Fallen Leaves, 2023. Courtesy of the Artist

Three more weeks to see Cuts and Lock Ups by Tara Bursey! Catch more of these amazing details in person until April 6th

ABOUT THE EXHIBITION

In Cuts and Lock Ups, artist Tara Bursey shows work made while teaching herself to print on a Vandercook press– a process that allowed her to investigate her own familial history of work, class identity, and the trajectory of print industries over time. Harnessing the vestiges of wood type and letterpress, Bursey reclaims the radical history of the printing press to highlight the struggles of workers in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic during the so-called “Great Resignation.” Diverse letterpress and photo-based works draw from the material culture of the labour movement, archival materials, and messaging about contemporary work collected from friends and colleagues obscured through layering, cutting, and abstraction.

Cuts and Lock Ups highlights a years-long process-based print practice that highlights the physical evidence of individual labour, honours the hidden histories of the labour movement, and the thoughts and fears of working people today.

🔗 Find out more about our current exhibitions through the link in our bio 🔗 or at www.tara-bursey.com

The artist wishes to acknowledge the support of Centre[3], Mount Allison University, and the Ontario Arts Council.

Image ID 1: Tara Bursey
Saint John Labour Scrapbook, 2022, RISO by Vide Press, Toronto, Letter press by Tara Bursey at the Lassonde School of Fine Art, Mount Allison University

Image ID 2: Tara Bursey
Cuts (The Work I Love), 2022, ink on paper

⭐️Register now for YourhCAN’s FREE 6 week screen printing program! ⭐️

👉 Are you under 30?
👉 Not currently in full-time employment, education, or training?
👉 Ready to dive into the world of screen printing?

🗓️The program will be running from March 27 to May 3. Classes will be held Wed-Fri, 4-6PM

What you’ll get:
✅ FREE lessons from industry experts
✅ Hands on experience in screen printing
✅ Valuable workplace skills and ethics

Don’t miss out on this amazing opportunity to learn, create, and grow! 🌱✨

Register today by messaging or email [email protected]

🌟 Tara Bursey: Cuts and Lock Ups

📍Opening Reception: Friday March 8th from 7-10 pm at Centre3

🗓February 26 - April 6, 2024

ABOUT THE EXHIBITION

In Cuts and Lock Ups, artist Tara Bursey shows work made while teaching herself to print on a Vandercook press– a process that allowed her to investigate her own familial history of work, class identity, and the trajectory of print industries over time. Harnessing the vestiges of wood type and letterpress, Bursey reclaims the radical history of the printing press to highlight the struggles of workers in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic during the so-called “Great Resignation.” Diverse letterpress and photo-based works draw from the material culture of the labour movement, archival materials, and messaging about contemporary work collected from friends and colleagues obscured through layering, cutting, and abstraction.

Cuts and Lock Ups highlights a years-long process-based print practice that highlights the physical evidence of individual labour, honours the hidden histories of the labour movement, and the thoughts and fears of working people today.

🔗 Find out more about our current exhibitions through www.centre3.com or at www.tara-bursey.com

The artist wishes to acknowledge the support of Centre[3], Mount Allison University, and the Ontario Arts Council.

Image Credit: Tara Bursey, Lock Ups (Precarious and Exploitative), 2024, digital photo on transparent film in lightbox, 18” x 24”. Courtesy of the artist.

Rebecca Casalino: Lake Poems 🌊

📍Opening Reception: Friday March 8th from 7-10 pm at Centre3

🗓February 26 - April 6, 2024

ABOUT THE EXHIBITION

“Lake Poems'' is an exhibition of local artist Rebecca Casalino’s hybrid practice of poetry, printmaking and drawing. Silkscreen prints featuring Casalino’s 2023 poetry wrap around the space connected by a continuous blue line representing the lakeshore. This gestural line is featured on the individual prints and is painted on the walls of the space to create continuous flow through the space. These poems often contain references to Lake Ontario which Casalino sees as a connecting body that brings her closer to her chosen family living along the lakeshore. Casalino performs her poetry aloud in the gallery to engage with audiences and breathe life into written text.

“Lake Poems” (the zine) is a set of fifteen poems written from 2017-2021 while Casalino lived in downtown Toronto and central Hamilton. The zine will be available for free as a digital download during the run of the exhibition.

Find out more about our current exhibitions through the link in our bio 🔗
intellectual
Image Credit: Rebecca Casalino, Lake Poems, drawing on paper, 2024. Courtesy of the Artist

MANNY TRINH: WORK-IN(G) PROCESS

🗓️January 8 to February 18, 2024
Opening reception: Friday, January 12, 2024 7:00-10:00 pm

📍Centre[3] Main Gallery

ARTIST STATEMENT:
Moving across genres Manny Trinh’s mixed-media works explore intersections between built space, the natural landscape, and recollection. This installation of paintings and sculpture draw on his vivid memories of his childhood in Vietnam, conveying the beauty and resilience embedded within the architecture and ecologies that exist there as well as his evolving relationship to them. Four bodies of work comprise Work-in(g) Process: a series of paintings on canvas of examples of domestic cluster housing; a grid of small abstract paintings; a group of paintings on decommissioned passports that touch on notions of cultural hybridity; and a relatively new series of wooden sculptures that allow viewers to immerse themselves in the textures and physicality of the structures that are rendered on canvas. The range of materials that Trinh deploys allows him to delve deeper into the essence of form, texture and storytelling within his artistic practice while collapsing the space between different geographic location and terrain. Presenting dynamic works that underscore the ways in which urban and natural spaces are marked by human activity, Trinh encourages viewers of his work to more closely examine how their perceptions and experiences of place are informed by where they are situated in relation.

ARTIST BIO:
Manny Trinh (born 1974 in Saigon City, Vietnam) immigrated to Canada when he was 11 years old. He is a painter and visual artist.

Trinh’s practice explores the nuances of contradiction. His vivid impressions of the human landscape of his homeland — dense yet sprawling, chaotic with an underlying order, decaying but full of life and growth — have become major influences on his work.

From engaging with a bright, complementary, almost fauvist or pop colour palette to experiments in greyscale and monochrome, the artist focuses on the entanglement of fantasy and reality; encapsulating a recognizable human core within surreal technology and splintered mechanical landscapes. The various techniques Trinh employs in wet and dry brushwork found in his acrylic, watercolour and gouache paintings are studies probing the surface and texture of our dichotomous environments, acknowledging generations of cultural evolution. His work can be found at Wall Space Gallery. Manny Trinh lives and works in Toronto, Canada.

CURATOR BIO:
Sally Frater is the daughter of immigrants from the Caribbean. Her curatorial interests touch on decolonial praxis, place, Back and Caribbean diasporas, art of the everyday, and eco-criticism. She has curated exhibitions for the Art Gallery of Ontario, The McColl Center for Art and Innovation, Glassell School of Art at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Justina M. Barnicke Gallery at the University of Toronto, Project Row Houses, and the Art Gallery of Guelph. Frater has also completed fellowships and residencies with Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, UT Dallas Centraltrak, Southern Methodist University, Project Row Houses and Art21. Frater is a member of the Association of Art Museum Curators and is an alumna of Independent Curators International.

✨Jill Letten (AiR): Hanging by a Golden Thread🪡

🗓️January 5 – February 16, 2024

📍Opening Reception: Friday, January 12, 7–10 PM (Centre3)

ARTIST STATEMENT:
Hanging by a Golden Thread is an experimentation of textiles utilizing recycled materials and clothing, repurposing them into tangled yet intentional tapestries that explore the interconnections of the textile waste industry, overconsumption, and capitalism. The synthetic material composing much of the fabric used has been assembled using slow fashion techniques such as hand stitching and weaving.

Inspired by mid-century advertisements and fashion archives, the works serve as a conversation between figures and backgrounds. The artworks represent the visuals of textile waste, with textures and shapes distorting depth and space, consuming the painted figures. The chaotic patterns of the quilted and woven fabric are made to emulate the layering of fabric in how it appears in landfills, slumping together in massive heaps. The garments worn by the figures have become absorbed into the tapestry becoming insignificant to the whole of the work, leaving the figure and the collaged surface at the forefront to be confronted.

ARTIST BIO:
Jill Letten is an artist from Hamilton, Ontario, accredited with a BFA from McMaster University’s Studio Arts program. She is a contemporary realist painter creating acrylic paintings that visualize realistic, and sometimes surrealistic, environments. The word ‘anemoia’ has become a term of interest, defined as “a nostalgic sense of longing for a past you yourself have never lived.” Pulling from mid-century aesthetics and imagery for visual inspiration, Jill is interested in examining the visuals of social euphoria and rose-tinted idealism. The process of layering visuals that call on the past to be viewed in a modern context is something that she is creatively intrigued by. Inviting viewers to examine beneath the fragments of what is visible to connect and relate to past lives through a relatable or critical lens.

🎄❄️☃️Centre[3] will be closed for the Holidays!
We will be closed from December 23rd to January 3rd.

Happy Holidays from everyone at Centre[3], we look forward to seeing you in the new year!

THIS FRIDAY, December 8th, join us for the last art crawl of the year and check out our Holiday Pop-up Market. 

We will be open from 7 to 10 with free hot chocolate, cider, and cookies to snack on while you browse prints, shirts, and original artworks created by Centre[3] Members and Students. 

📍WHERE: 173 James Street North 

See you all there!

Interns Available!!! Looking for some extra seasonal help? Hoping to get your business online and boost your digital media marketing? 360[4]Youth has newly trained interns ready to help. We will be offering fully supported internships and providing a 50% wage subsidy. The internship will be for 12 weeks - more than enough time to revamp your digital platforms or get you through to year-end! Interested? Contact me at [email protected]. Please share this post with your network to support youth in our community!

🎞️Today is the last day to see FRANCISCA DURAN: RESEARCH GARDEN: A COMPENDIUM OF LOST MOMENTS
Curated by Co-presented by and

We will be giving away this beautiful soil for FREE. Bags of soil can be picked up from 173 James North on a first come serves basis.

Francisca Duran is a Chilean-Canadian experimental media artist who creates films, video installations, and photo-based mixed-media work about history, memory, power and violence.

📞CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS for Centre[3]’s Members’ Foyer, a new dedicated exhibition space for Centre[3] Members.

🗓️DEADLINE: December 22nd, 2023 11:59pm

We are expanding our members' galleries by offering a new exhibition space at Centre[3]'s James Street Location. Members can apply now to show their work in our Members’ Foyer, which includes street facing exhibition space. Centre[3] invites proposals for innovative and explorative use of the foyer and street-facing window space.

✅To find out more about memberships and how to apply click the link in our bio!

🌱SANDRA MANZI: LAYERED REALITIES🌹

🗓️NOVEMBER 3 – NOVEMBER 24, 2023
📍Centre[3] Members’ Gallery

ARTIST STATEMENT
“I make art which originates out of the substance of my experiences, and a desire to explore my surroundings. I find painting a very reflective process and a way to hold on to the images of things I’ve experienced. Sometimes I layer these images within my paintings to suggest how memory fades with time, the blurring of memory as it relates to the blending of fact with fiction, the passage of memory into history, how these memories are manifested in our subconscious, and how our mind works when we try to recollect these experiences. In short, my lived experiences, curiosities, and contemplation about life; are the true subjects of my paintings. Finding the little moments of beauty in everything we do, contemplate, perceive, and experience. I find this inspiration in plants, animals, objects, or people…. looking for beauty in that moment where these things have moved me in some way. Sometimes one triggers another, and they get combined or layered into a painting.

ABOUT THE ARTIST
Sandra Manzi is a contemporary realist painter from Toronto, currently residing in Hamilton. She is a graduate from the Ontario College of Art and Design (OCADU) where she received her diploma in Fine Arts/Experimental Arts, and she also received a B.A. in Fine Arts from the University of Guelph. Sandra has exhibited in galleries in and around Toronto and Hamilton. She is a recipient of grants from the Canada Council for the Arts, the Ontario Arts Council and the Toronto Arts Council, and she is a two-time finalist for the Boynes Emerging Artist Award. Her paintings can be found in private collections throughout Canada, Europe and the United States.

🚨🎬Centre[3], Factory Media Centre, and Agile Film Production are proud to co-present The Box Dweller, a film by Adeline Okoyo, Brianna Seferiades, Claud Spadafora, Kitoko Mai, Peter Cockett as part of the Platforms Project.

🗓️Join us for a reception and screening this Thursday!

📍Factory Media Centre ( 366 Victoria Ave. N)

📍Thursday, November 16th, 7 - 9 PM.

The Box Dweller is an experimental film that takes viewers on a surreal journey through a glitch in the multiverse.

How do you regulate yourself? Is it control? Power? Apathy? Violence? Scarcity? Disengagement? The Box Dweller must manage the needs of their human body while plunging into the multiverse, where they’re forced to find new ways to regulate and contend with the implications of those ways.

Click the link in our bio for more information about the exhibition, film, and the artists involved!

🚨🎬Centre[3], Factory Media Centre, and Agile Film Production are proud to co-present The Box Dweller, a film by Adeline Okoyo, Brianna Seferiades, Claud Spadafora, Kitoko Mai, Peter Cockett as part of the Platforms Project.

🗓️Join us for a reception and screening this Thursday!

📍Factory Media Centre ( 366 Victoria Ave. N)

📍Thursday November 16th, 7 - 9 PM.

The Box Dweller is an experimental film that takes viewers on a surreal journey through a glitch in the multiverse.

How do you regulate yourself? Is it control? Power? Apathy? Violence? Scarcity? Disengagement? The Box Dweller must manage the needs of their human body while plunging into the multiverse, where they’re forced to find new ways to regulate and contend with the implications of those ways.

Click the link in our bio for more information about the exhibition, film, and the artists involved!

Centre [3] is Hiring!

Centre[3] is seeking a visionary and dynamic Executive Director to lead our organization into its next
phase of growth and impact. Are you a good fit? 👀 Link down below or in our story!

https://centre3.com/job-postings/

📚Tara Bursey 2023 Hamilton-based artist in residence has been working in the traditional print studio over the last few months on our Vandercook Universal press making prints and book works. Here are some of her works in progress!📚

Tara’s work is concerned with labour and local identity. Her experimental letterpress work explores labour and communication in the contemporary workplace.

You can find some of her recent work at Hamilton Zineposium this weekend, including works printed during her residency.

Find her at the Partizanka Press .press table — Tara’s zine distro and publishing imprint.

Stay tuned to see more work at her upcoming show opening next year in our Main Gallery! 👀

On Now::::: FRANCISCA DURAN: RESEARCH GARDEN: A COMPENDIUM OF LOST MOMENTS

Exhibition: October 27 - December 1, 2023

Phytogramming Workshop: November 4, 12–5 PM (sold out)

Please join us for the Opening Reception on Friday, November 10, 7–10 PM / Art Crawl

In “Francisca Duran: Research garden: a compendium of lost moments,” the experimental media artist takes her analog film practice away from the screen and creates a multisensory installation centred on plant-based images.

Duran’s solo exhibition raises questions about the meanings of iteration, archive, preservation and desire in a time of ecological crisis. Instead of providing clear answers, she offers an untidy compilation of phytograms, analog film, digital prints, loops, maps, charts, and optic objects for handling, hearing, smelling and viewing so that we can experience a garden of loss as she has tended it. Haptic, sensuous and philosophical, “Research garden” is an enticement to fumble in the dark by plantlight.

Read more about this exhibit and the artist/curator interview on our website. Link in bio.

***

Francisca Duran is a Chilean-Canadian experimental media artist who creates films, video installations, and photo-based mixed-media work about history, memory, power and violence.

***

Exhibition co-presented by and

Curated by Lesley Loksi Chan and installed by Conrad Marion with assistance of Amy Su and Karl Reinsalu , and supported by Dandelion Film Collective Derek Jenkins .council Claudio & Marcela Duran.

Workshop offered in partnership with .

Images:
1-10 Installation views of “Francisca Duran: Research garden: a compendium of lost moments” at Centre[3]. Photos by and

🌾Here’s some work-in-progress by Fatima Garzan , 2023 Centre[3] x Martha Street Studio Residency Exchange Artist🌾

“The material is three burlap rice bags as found objects, and I altered them to make a banner. I used Relief and will do some screen printing on them. I am very distressed with what is happening in Iran, my birth country, regarding human rights, women, men and children. I think I will add some words about social justice to them.” – Fatima Garzan

About the Artist

Fatima Garzan is an Iranian-born Canadian artist. She immigrated to Canada in 1992. Garzan has a BA in Economics and studied Fine Arts at the University of Waterloo where she received her Honours Bachelor of Arts in 2005. Garzan’s art practice spans across painting, printmaking, and installations. Her experimentation with an array of materials from paper to plastic leads her work to unexpected concepts. Her work evokes her cultural traditions and the power of recycling materials in an increasingly congested world. Garzan has exhibited in Canada, France, and Iran. In 2017, she was the Artist-in-Residence at Salt Spring Island, British Columbia, Canada, in October 2018 L’AiR Arts residency in Paris, France and Atelier Circulaire in Montréal, Québec, Canada in 2019.

About this Residency

Centre[3] has an annual residency exchange program with Martha Street Studio in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Every year, Centre[3] sends one of our artist members to Martha Street Studio for a two-week residency. In return, we welcome an artist member from Martha Street Studio for a two-week residency at Centre[3].

Image: Work-in-progress by Fatima Garzan made at Martha Street Studio

🌼 Closing soon: Aichoucha Haidara: I, The Wearer 🌼 .haidara

Thank you, Aichoucha Haidara, for sharing your powerful meditation on grief, healing, spirits and love!

***

“I, The Wearer” closes this Friday, October 20.

Centre[3] galleries are open W, T, F, 10-5.

Aichoucha Haidara was the 2022 Emerging Artist-in-Residence at Centre[3].

***

Images:

1. Aichoucha Haidara, Meïa, 2023, Embroidery on handwoven cotton cloth.

“This is a hand-embroidered portrait of my sister. It is done on a cloth that I wove. I love weaving as it is a form of therapy for me. I use the time to reminisce on my past and think of the memories that I shared with my sister. In many indigenous practices, it is said that one should not have negative thoughts while weaving as those can be captured into the textile so weaving allows me to filter my thoughts and emotions and not ruminate on the bad ones.”

2. Aichoucha Haidara, Spirit of 3, 2023, Liquid Plastic, glass beads, handwoven cotton cloth, linen.

“This costume is an interpretation of a character in a story that I have been developing for the past year. In the world that I am creating, there are multiple masked spirits that help people in their tasks. The story is based on my life and is heavily inspired by my Malian cultural background. Using myth, tradition and story telling to bring together all forms of my craft, the ‘Spirit of 3’ is the first of many masked spirits that I will be creating.”

3. Installation view.

4-5. Aichoucha Haidara, Rotoscoping Frames for “Spirit of 3”, 2023, Embroidery on linen

6-7. Aichoucha Haidara, Spirit of 3 Cloth, 2023, Handwoven cotton cloth and wood

8-9. Aichoucha Haidara, Wayna’s beastiary, 2023, handmade book using paper and leather

“This handbound book is an object taken out of the world that I have been working on. This is a book in which the main character of my story writes her adventures, notes down the creatures that she meets and different things that she comes across as she moves through the story.”

***

Custom handmade textiles and books, contact .atelier

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Exhibition installed by Jeanne Fries and made possible by