Upcoming Show: Domestically Modified
Domestically Modified
Presented by The Pugwash Artist Collective
Opening Night:
August 20, 2021
7pm - 9pm
August 20 - September 8
The Fraser Cultural Centre Art Gallery
Tatamagouche, Nova Scotia
10am - 5pm daily
About the Pugwash Artist Collective
The Pugwash Artist Collective has been on a journey for the last eleven years, meeting and working together to support each artist’s growth. Through invigorating discussions we share information and resources, as well as promote each others’ work and the initiatives of the whole. This community of artists promotes art on the north shore of Nova Scotia through annual group and individual shows. In spite of working in many different mediums - fibre art, painting, sculpture, assemblages, metal work, clay, film, paper, photography, printmaking, mixed media - we are strengthened by the diversity of the work and the variety of approaches to a theme, as well as being inspired to try different art forms.
Domestically Modified is a group exhibition seen through the lenses of twelve member artists, with their individual interpretations, working in various mediums.
We chose the theme, Domestically Modified, because it allows us to explore the female persona - speak to a woman’s place in the world today and into the future. It also allows us to re-imagine everyday objects and function, and how they have symbolized women’s work in the home. Whether choosing to address changes in the family dynamic and what ‘Home’ means, or choosing to look outward to express how women have raised their voices and made a difference in the workplace or on global platforms, the theme has a rich contextual landscape for a group of diverse artists. It gives us the opportunity to play with gender, body politics, technological impacts, self-image, traditional mores, role expectations and reversals, and housebroken vs unbridled.
Curriculum Vitae - PUGWASH ARTIST COLLECTIVE SHOWS
Aug 20 - Sept 8, 2021 Domestically Modified Fraser Gallery, Tatamagouche
July 5 - 24, 2019 Back to the Land Fraser Cultural Centre, Tatamagouche
July 1 - 3, 2018 The Peace Show The Peace Hall, Pugwash
July 28-Aug 16, 2017 Murder of Crows Fraser Cultural Centre, Tatamagouche
Sept 2-Oct14, 2016 The Rest of the Story... Riverside Gallery, Oxford
Aug 15-Sept 6, 2014 Lore Fraser Cultural Centre, Tatamagouche
Aug 30-Sept 1, 2013 Opposite Attractions The Brick House, Pugwash
Oct 2012 New Work Pop Up Gallery, Chatterbox Cafe, Pugwash
July - August, 2011 Company Soup Fraser Cultural Centre, Tatamagouche
July 16- Aug 12, 2010 Recent Works Fraser Cultural Centre, Tatamagouche
Pugwash Artist Collective Statements
Janice Boiduk - “My piece, ’Pink over Blue’, represents strong women through many generations and their struggle to rise above their male-dominated world with a simple goal in mind: to have the right to live free from violence, slavery and discrimination. To be educated. To own Property. To Vote. To earn a fair and equal wage. “ Janice is an artist and graphic designer. Her art comes in different forms and mediums but her passion is working with fibre.
Bonnie Bond - “ I create for the pure joy I find in the process. The journey starts with hundreds of possibilities yet ends with one often surprising expression. My mannequin, Come Fly with Me, a mixed media assemblage, is the whimsical expression of the struggle between our aspirations & dreams versus our human responsibilities and limitations.” Bonnie received her BA degree from Western Michigan University. She has been involved in the giftware industry for many years as the co-founder of Seagull Pewter & Basic Spirit Inc. Although her creative skills have focused on product design, she is fascinated by the unlimited possibilities that creativity gives birth to. Her joy is to create.
Margaret Boyle - “Domestically Modified, triggers many responses within our group. For myself it is a challenge to dive down deep and bring back something that has the ring of truth for me. Who I have loved, rejected, lived with and for, has made me who I am. Every painting is autobiography, every mark speaks about where I have been.” Margaret spent many years as a textile artist and head of Common Threads Studio. Now involved with abstract acrylic painting, life just keeps getting more interesting!
Diane Burnham - “My Domestically Modified work presents Moderna, a multi-racial woman on the Canadian team, who has balanced her life to adjust to living in a pandemic environment. Her soul is automatically wired to music, while her arms are mechanically preparing food. She is fortified with plenty of toilet paper and is protected and provided for from head to toe. Her vision and hearing is connected to nature and her head is soothed with wine. Moderna is multi-racial/ethnic indicating that we are all one race and in the Covid crisis together. Moderna is life size, 5.6’ tall, 2’ W, three dimensional, made from natural as well as manmade found objects.” Diane earned a BA in Art from University of New Hampshire in 1973. She worked as a carpenter, farrier, teacher and metal sculptor in NH, before moving to Nova Scotia in 2009. Diane’ mission is to joyfully compile “found objects” to create whimsical metal sculpture, combining found objects with forged steel.
Catherine Bussiere - “As I look at my aging parents, who, as the years go by, have taken more and more space in my mind, I keep pondering on what makes us who we are. To be domestically modified is to think of how one’s essence is affected by its surroundings. Through my work I keep exploring nature in all its forms. Selecting, exposing, trimming; striving to find in the process a path to self.” Catherine Bussiere is a filmmaker, photographer, writer, podcaster, at times caterer. Whatever the medium, she strives to capture the essence of the subject at hand.
Louise Cloutier - “Imagine the female torso as the symbolic encapsulation of the oppression of womankind. Minus appendages, her gender objectified, she is hobbled by inequality, bias, domestic violence, sexual abuse, patriarchy, misogyny, ….Defying the odds, she remains graceful to the core. A beacon navigating the rough terrain of the 21st century.” Louise Cloutier is active in the arts and culture sector, growing the cultural footprint of her community through art education and advocacy for local artists. She is one of three committee members responsible for launching the Pugwash Open Air Gallery. Born in Montreal, Quebec, she has called Nova Scotia her home for over three decades.
www.louisecloutierartist.com
Cathy Dalton - Three Women - ‘Everything comes alive when contradictions accumulate.’ (Gaston Bachelard) “The clothes of these women figures are held on with tabs - not unlike the paper dolls, with which many of us have played. I invite the viewer to engage with these figures - perhaps the viewer might wish to switch dresses or accessories? There is another kind of unclothing when the tabs are loosened and the garments give way. I wonder about these women’s hidden stories. I hope I can listen, really listen to them, should they want to share. And then I wonder about my own next steps. In Collages with Butterick and McCall, I salute the generations of women who poured over the Butterick, Simplicity and McCall pattern books, who envisioned fine or practical things for themselves and their loved ones - who sewed, then sewed again. Then embellished. And sewed some more. Bravo! Alas, I feel more at home with my paints and brushes than a Singer machine. I share the excitement, however, of opening a package of that distinctive buff tissue. All those lines, arrows, dashes and curves. When I see the sweep of a shoulder seam or the converging dots of a dart peaking from behind a swath of paint, I cannot help but feel a thrill. The printed numbers and text become areas of a darker value which can work in an overall composition. The tissue itself becomes a richer gold when folded onto itself. It is as if I have a partner in my creating process.” Cathy originally hails from SW Ontario where she worked in education, played at farming and painted for city theatres. Cathy’s latest chapter includes her home and studio on the beautiful North Shore. She continues to explore the complexities of colour with her stash of acrylics.
www.cathydalton.ca
Jennifer Houghtaling - “What does it mean to be domestically modified? as we are seeing more and more women are coming into roles of authority and power, but are they also still thought of as the ones that clean the house, cook the dinner and care for the children? How do we equalize the role of the multi tasking lass who takes on so much and more to try and keep up with modern life? Gathering the pieces of time in between diapers and dinners and pressing forward in the fight for equality one wonders how much these fair maidens can handle.” Jennifer juggles the duties of woman and artist, working girl and mother, with a very endearing and caring husband who makes this type of life possible. She is a lucky feminist in a generation of change.
www.earthvinestudio.ca
Donna Hutchinson - “Domestically Modified is a perfect metaphor for creating with recycled fabrics. I am modifying the original presentation in what seems like a very domestic action when I hook. Most often, women create the original piece of clothing which I then cut into strips for art, not function. To up-cycle fabrics, one strip, one loop at a time, is a meditative act which brings life to my images. Designing and hooking rugs is my passion. Music inspired the narrative of each hooked piece for Domestically Modified, illustrating a woman’s passage through time, symbolized by a seagull. As we age, like old clothing, we, too, are often modified domestically or domestically modified.” Donna, Fibre Artist, creates joyous and whimsical hooked rugs and wall hangings from mostly recycled materials be it wools, yarns, silks, lace, fleece or Stanfield’s wool underwear. She is a member of RHGNS, Remsheg Hookers’ Guild and the Pugwash Artist Collective. She has sold dozens of art mats which hang in homes across Canada, created works on commission and donated rugs to charitable organizations for fundraising.
www.redroofart.ca
Archan Knotz - “Taking the plunge into the depths of the sea to stir up my emotions, replacing the chaos of fear with mindfulness for all beings and the environment, is what keeps me buoyant. In combining my painterly style with plastic bags as printing media, on large scale pieces of paper and carving palatable mono prints out of Lino or wood, my art pieces have become an expression through which I am searching to understand my emotions surfacing while exploring the stories I am attaching to aging and mortality. With the gained discovery, my aim is to be more intentional with the world around me, embracing imperfections while discovering beauty and strength in unexpected places.” Archan has been part of numerous solo, group and juried art shows. As a member of VANS Paints program, she has facilitated art workshops in school settings as well as organized adult art workshops for different organizations. She is also a member of the Pugwash Artist Collective and the Tidnish Bridge Art Gallery.
Follow her on, http://streetsridge.blogspot.com, Instagram or FB
Norene Smiley - “Domestically Modified has been an opportunity to play with sculpture and mixed media to tell stories through assemblages, juxtapositions and anomalies. Taking traditional symbols of domesticity and woman in the home, like the ‘APRON’ series and altering them, in reaction to the instability and unexpected nature of the world today. Life is not as it was. We are all adapting to something different. Norene is a writer, artist, and filmmaker, concerned with the exploration of form and subject matter with a strong narrative content. Her visual art is primarily in acrylics and watercolour but she also enjoys mixed media when the opportunity arises.
www.norenesmiley.com
Sarah Witney - “Domestically Modified was originally conceived with an element of fun and thoughts of fairytales at one of our regular (before Covid-19) Collective gatherings. Through unprecedented times our work has taken form. I reflect on my respect for nature, our precious planet we call home, and our impact on changes to the environment. Sarah is honoured to be an original member of the Pugwash Artist Collective since 2010. Being involved with this diverse group of talented women yields unexpected wondering and pondering.
