Katherine Kerr is a nationally and internationally awarded artist, designer and poet with backgrounds in the visual arts and architecture.
Her current show 'Release' at the Foyer Gallery is a contemporary exploration of the classic portrait through a series of snapshots and fragments including graphite drawings on vellum, and intaglio and digital prints. Themes of nature, narratives of place, transparency and layering recur in these works, as do concepts of the artist's intimate relationship to her place within her evolving inner and outer worlds.
Katherine lives in Paradise Valley with her partner and six-year-old son.
Keiko Kiyota acquired her kimono making skill in Japan in a four-year apprenticeship to a master kimono maker.
Utilizing this skill, she began making Osaikumono in addition to kimono and exhibited her work at galleries and exhibitions in Japan. In 1999 Keiko moved to Vancouver and has been concentrating on Osaikumono as well as Oshie, exhibiting her work in the Vancouver area, and teaching classes.
Osaikumono is a traditional craft from the Edo period (1603 to 1867) where flowers, dolls, animals, etc. are made from kimono material. Each was originally designed as a koto pick bag or incense bag. Oshie, another traditional craft from the same period, is a relief like picture again made from kimono fabric. Each piece is carefully hand sewn, stitch-by-stitch, making good use of the textures, colours, patterns of Japanese fabrics, including kimono and Obi.
Vivian Zuba's fibre art bowls are a contemporary variant of the traditional broidery perse, collage appliqu茅 technique, free-motion quilting/surface embellishment and pyro-textiles (the latter describes the modification of fabric texture by the use of heat and/or fire).
Vivian explains, "A quilter's fabric collection or 'stash' is a treasure trove of colour, texture, shape and design. It is equivalent to tubes of paint, and by needing to find each colour instead of mixing it, a quilter constantly adds to their beautiful stash. The unfortunate thing is that those beautiful fabrics are destined to cut into little pieces, only to be sewn back together again. Luckily there is a needle arts technique for every situation."
