Stitched Together Series created for an open exhibition.
Homage to public art galleries everywhere and in particular to the Salmon Arm Arts Centre.
I will be forever grateful for the public art gallery in my small city of Salmon Arm, B.C. The curator and program directors have faithfully presented challenging contemporary works of all media while balancing collaboration with a community full of artists of all skill levels. Every year, they host an open exhibition which any member can submit to. There is a general theme which is flexible enough that an artist can still bring their own uniqueness to the project.
Throughout the years that I was having babies and teaching in schools, this yearly exhibit kept me making art on a regular schedule. If I wasn’t able to make art full time, at least I had a yearly reminder to make something.
This little gallery is one of the reasons I agreed to make the move from a large city to a small town. Check out the gallery website for directions and membership opportunities.
When my children were small, it might take me a couple of months to get a piece ready for the January show; I would paint in stolen moments on weekends when my husband could take over and grant me uninterrupted studio time. This year, the show’s parameter was to create work no larger than 6 inches in any direction. This small format and the fact that my kids are older meant I had time to create several small works over the course of a few weeks.
Visiting the Piqw Exhibit in person. Over 470 works were submitted from 140 different artists. Artists of all ages including my 10 year old daughter pictured here.
Life in a global pandemic has expanded our ability to be flexible - to rearrange our plans and redirect our paths. The small pieces I created are a metaphor of this process. I had no specific intention in mind, but began with play and exploration of materials I had on hand. What emerged was a representation of my inner contemplations in the form of indistinct landscapes - places of wandering. The marks were reminiscent of stitches on fabric, reminding me of how we are held together by our connection to community and the natural world.
Works in progress. Just playing around with different marks and colours. Somehow a landscape emerged among the shapes and marks.
The images portray a sense of being grounded despite the unsettling nature of this past year. I’ve called this series
Stitched Together
to represent this sense of being secure even in unexpected times.
View of the studio floor after the first four pieces were done. These were a mixture of gesso, acrylic, and watercolour paints; watercolour crayons, conte crayons, graphite sticks, mechanical pencil, silver point tool, and chalk pencil.
Often in life we set out goals and plan a course or path for ourselves. But this rarely goes as planned and we end up being waylaid, distracted or just have to make different choices based on new circumstances we find along the way.
Along this journey we become stitched together with other people. A partner or child may have a transformative impact on who we are becoming. We are shaped by a loyal and lasting friendship. We are impacted by relatives both alive and passed on whose features and experiences we bear witness to in our very DNA. Events either joyful or traumatic imprint our future from that point onward.
A finished piece, This is Not the Path We Chose, next to my friend Sarah Hope’s paper work. Piqw Exhibition at the Salmon Arm Arts Centre. More of Sarah’s art can be found @sarahhope_art on instagram.
Sometimes we can feel like we’ve gotten stuck, or like our journey has brought us to a place that we don’t particularly like. But even there, exists a strength and comfort in being held together in community through the shared experiences of our journey. This past year, as much as we’ve had to physically distance from one another we’ve also had a common experience stitching us together.
Holding the Pieces Together. Mixed Media on board 6x6 on display at the Piqw exhibit. This one reminds me of the ice frozen on our local lake while also serving as a metaphor for the pieces of our lives.
To see more of this series and for a list of available pieces for sale, visit the New work page on my website. Follow me on instagram @sara.wiens and subscribe to my newsletter below to hear about workshops coming up this Spring.
Follow the Salmon Arm Arts Centre or the local galleries in your location to join a community of artists and art lovers. To view these works and many more in person, Piqw will be on exhibit until March 27, 2021 in Salmon Arm, B.C.