Tuesday, November 19-Monday,
November 25, 2019
The vernissage is on Friday, November 22, 7pm-9pm
Julia
Waks and Josée
Hurteau are proud to present their first exhibition together, Feutre et Ciseaux – Scissors and Felt at Galerie
1040 from Tuesday, November 19 to Monday, November 25.
The artists will be present at the vernissage on Friday, November 22.
Though their work is different from each other, along with their own artwork
they have come together to collaborate and create two pieces in Hurteau’s
medium—felt, based on Waks’ scissor theme. Money raised from the sale of the
collaborative pieces will go to the Starlight Children’s
Foundation.
For artist Julia Waks, this series of
studies were produced in response to the loss of her father
and mother; conceived while sifting through her
parent’s personal belongings, reflecting on what the scissors meant to them and
the importance these belongings hold to her. Waks’
parents’ scissors are her tangible mementos of
their lives, used as an essential tool of their trade and livelihood
in the shmata or garment industry in Montreal in the late 50s to
70s.
While in the practical sense
scissors are used to cut and separate, Waks uses her parents’ scissors to connect: with
her past, with her parents and with the gestures they
made thousands of times. “The same weight in their hands as they
cut endless material now rests in mine, connecting me to the past
and them to the present. While using these scissors, I began a
contemplation of my parents’ identities outside their role of
mother and father; their working identities as creators, using their hands to
fabricate clothing,” said Waks, continuing, “My mother, when not working
in the factory, mended, altered and created garments at home for me and her clients—knitting,
crocheting and creatively crafting, all of
which impacted my own identity as an artist who creates images.”
With each drawing, painting, print and
collage of the scissors, Waks observed and appreciated the classic
functional quality of their design, but also how with delicate and nuanced
manipulation, drastic changes in mood and meaning could be created. The
scissors took on a life of their own, and became the physical site
where the memory of her connection to her parents could be explored.
Felt
is a non-woven fabric that is created by rubbing wool with warm water and soap.
Artist Josée Hurteau discovered
artisan felt making under the apprenticeship of Suzanne Skeates. Over the
course of various projects—scarves, hats, jewelry, clothes etc.—Hurteau
discovered that the felt could be a canvas to create the images that filled her
head. That is when she started creating felt paintings. Felting is not new; in
prehistoric times people made their clothes, boots, hats, even carpets and
tents (yurts) out of felt. They used hair from the animals around them (goats,
sheep, camels), hunted animals (bears, beavers) and even used their own hair to
make felt markers. Although people knew the art of weaving, felt was more
insulating and durable.
“Women have been my inspiration
for the past year. It is from their eyes, their energy, their varied cultures
and their challenges that my imagination takes flight.” Hurteau is a painter
without paint; painting with wool that she felts and stitches. The long
physical process of felting gives her time to step back as she creates her
pieces. Her work expresses her vision and is influenced by the creations of
Sandra Zilberzweig, Canan Berber and Elke Trittel. Featuring an explosion of
colours and shapes, Hurteau loves to believe that her art brings peace and joy
to the beholder.
Josée Hurteau & Julia
Waks
Two-Woman Show: Feutre et Ciseaux – Scissors and Felt
Tuesday, November 19-Monday, November 25, 2019
The vernissage is on Friday, November 22,
7pm-9pm
Galerie 1040,1040 Rue Marie-Anne East, H2J 2B4
Opening
hours: Tues. 4pm-7pm; Wed. & Thurs. 1pm-7pm; Fri. 11am-9pm;
Sat.
& Sun. 11am-7pm; Mon. 11am–2pm
Artists will be present each week day after 4:30 pm and all day Saturday and Sunday
