[BCMA] April 16 - New exhibitions open this Friday at the Campbell River Art Gallery

Wed Apr 14 10:16:50 PDT 2010

PRESS RELEASE                                                      
Campbell River Art Gallery

April 14, 2010

Contact:  Manon Staiger (250-287-2261)

Photo caption: Meet artists Vivienne Pearson and Siobhan Doherty (shown sculpting in her studio) at the opening of their exhibitions on Friday, April 16 (7-9pm) at the Campbell River Art Gallery.

No Place Like Home

Contemporary textile assemblages by Vivienne Pearson (Main Gallery)

More Hot Cheerleaders

Installation of sculpted wax miniature cheerleaders by Siobhan Doherty (Discovery Gallery)

Join us for an opening reception for both artists on Friday, April 16 from 7-9pm

Campbell River Art Gallery, 1235 Shoppers Row (across from the Tidemark Theatre)

Textile artist Vivienne Pearson is the first to tell you that she doesn't sew.  So how does someone who uses all forms of textiles as we know them, create art?  Pearson assembles handmade traditional and discarded materials into forms resembling blankets or quilts around common themes.  Each piece tells a visual story, often her own. "David and the Missing Women" was made in response to her frontline work with at risk youth. Family stories are the starting point for "Bouquet of You and Me" and "The Big Ones are Gone".  Others relate a more universal story that addresses homelessness and national identity.  Pearson also invites the viewer to explore our traditional relationship to fine art and consider how we have marginalized and underestimated the significance of domestic textiles and the craft associated with them.

Each of these pieces takes several months to complete as she combines portions of quilted, crocheted, needlepoint and knitted materials in an appealing composition. Each work begins with a central, representational piece around which a patterned surface area is developed that supports her theme.  The final image as a blanket or quilt harkens back to the sense of security created by a childhood blanket, a comforting, warming envelope that covers a sleeper, or a basic necessity that protects and warms a homeless person.  

Originally from Germany, Pearson now makes her home on Mayne Island.  After receiving her Bachelor of Fine Arts (David Thompson University) she continued her fibre arts explorations in Canada (Textile Museum of Canada, The Banff Centre) and Mexico (Instituto Bellas Artes).  She has been awarded numerous artist residencies and exhibitions across Canada as well as in Switzerland and the U.S.  Her exhibition at the Campbell River Art Gallery's Main exhibition space will open on Friday, April 16th (7-9pm) and be on exhibit until May 21.  She will be joined by Vancouver artist Siobhan Doherty whose installation of wax sculptures entitled "More Hot Cheerleaders" will be on display in the Discovery Gallery.  Please join us in welcoming both artists on Friday evening. Many thanks to Poppy Steele and Hans Op de Beek of Royal Lepage Advance Realty for sponsoring "No Place Like Home". The gallery, located at 1235 Shoppers Row (same building as the Visitor Info Centre), is open Tuesday to Saturday from 12-5pm.  Admission is by donation.   

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