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March 5, 2004
Hand-felted art at JCC
Pieces compete rather than converse with each other.
SIMA ELIZABETH SHEFRIN SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH BULLETIN
Felting is an ancient art form of Europe, Asia and Africa, dating
back to the sixth century BCE. Many cultures manufactured felt for
their boots and vests and blankets; Mongolian nomads built their
homes from it in the form of large tents, known as yurts. Claudie
Azoulai, Susan Mullard, Alice Philips and Elana Segal, the four
Vancouver artists on exhibit at the Sidney and Gertrude Zack Gallery,
have all chosen to work in felt in their exploration of the modern
world.
Felt is created by matting wool through the use of moisture, heat,
friction and pressure. Wetting the wool opens up its fibres and,
as they are worked, they become completely matted together. When
the wool has cooled and dried, it becomes the tough, durable material
known as felt. Each of the artists in this exhibit has started with
this process in the creation of her art.
Azoulai's works consist of portraits and abstract skyscapes. Sometimes
she mounts her pieces on painted acrylic boards. "Big summer
skies and sunsets have inspired some of the themes for my designs,"
she says in her artist's statement. I love the elegant felted line
drawings that make up the faces in her pieces. In "Havdalah,"
we see the celebration of ritual and, in "Looking Back,"
a sad Jewish face sheds a tiny curling felt tear.
Mullard has a wonderful sense of humor. Her small, felted humanoid
figures strike one as a cross between spiritual beings and creatures
from outer space. "At the Well," the artist told the Bulletin,
"is a reference to ancient times, when women met and talked,
and gossip and information was exchanged." "Standing Circle"
depicts Lot's wife, "whose punishment for looking back or regretting
or doubting, was to be deprived of her voice by being turned into
a pillar of salt."
Philips creates elegant and interesting wearable felt art, kimonos,
scarves, jackets and hats. Her use of symbols from other cultures
raises for me the dilemmas artists often struggle with, around issues
of cultural appropriation. But the artist herself has no such qualms.
Philips, who describes herself as "part of an international
family," told the Bulletin, "My personal connection
to symbols from other cultures is an appreciation of the power of
those marks and shapes to speak to us all.... Our world is a small
place and, so far, I have felt only delight and awe in using and
reflecting all and any marks that interest me."
Of the four artists, Segal's pieces are the most lively. Her dark
and strong colors, and her use of organza, create striking and effective
contrasts. I found "Passion," with its fruit tipping wildly
out of its bowl, the strongest piece in the show. In her artist's
statement, Segal describes how "primitive figures embody the
spirit of life and leap in celebration of themselves and their natural
surroundings." Her work certainly does have a celebratory quality.
Although I liked the work of each artist, I found the exhibit as
a whole, a bit of a disappointment. Group shows are not easy to
design and I wouldn't have chosen to put these particular artists
together. Their styles are similar enough that the works compete
rather than enhance each other. There are few visual conversations
between the pieces. Mullard's work in its plexiglas showcases gets
particularly diminished. But any one of the artists would have done
better on their own, displayed perhaps against a fabric background
of solid black.
Urban Fibre, Hand-Felted Art is on display at the Sidney and Gertrude
Zack Gallery at the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver
until March 17.
Sima Elizabeth Shefrin is a Vancouver writer, artist and
banner maker.
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