It was the recent donation of a massive textile piece by Finnish-Canadian weaver Kaija Sanelma Harris to the MacKenzie Art Gallery in Regina that started the ball rolling.
Curator Michele Hardy in front of F. Douglas Motter’s This Bright Land, part of the new exhibit at the Nickle Galleries called Prairie Interlace: Weaving, Modernisms and the Expanded Frame 1960-2000. Gavin Young/Postmedia“The more we talked about it, the more we realized that some fantastic art had been created across the Prairies during this time period but has not been written about or examined in any great depth,” says Hardy.
The earliest piece in the exhibition is Charlotte Lindgren’s Winter Tree, a three-dimensional piece that showcased the artist’s interest in architecture and was featured at Expo 67 in Montreal. While the piece was created in Halifax, Lindgren spent years developing her practice in Winnipeg in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Hardy said the piece was “heralding what was to come, this explosion of different materials and moving beyond the loom.
“She made this with her children at the HIV epidemic,” says Hardy. “Her intention was really to normalize the experience of condoms, the language of condoms, the importance of using condoms.Most, although not all, of the artists featured are women and many were exploring feminist themes and using textile arts as a way to offer commentary on social issues.