{"id":24514,"date":"2017-05-26T03:52:09","date_gmt":"2017-05-26T10:52:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/?p=24514"},"modified":"2017-05-24T17:47:58","modified_gmt":"2017-05-25T00:47:58","slug":"life-arising-from-destruction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/2017\/05\/26\/life-arising-from-destruction\/","title":{"rendered":"Life arising from destruction"},"content":{"rendered":"

Barbara Heller in front of \u201cRegeneration,\u201d the work she created in collaboration with botanist Elena Klein. (photo by Olga Livshin)<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Through the art of weaving, internationally acclaimed local artist Barbara Heller explores the world \u2013 and she doesn\u2019t shy away from controversial topics. Themes of politics and destruction, renewal and society attract her exactly because of their complexity.<\/p>\n

Heller\u2019s road to the tapestry arts wasn\u2019t straightforward. Her first bachelor degree was in psychology. \u201cI started a master in psychology and, as part of the program, I had to keep an art journal,\u201d she recalled. \u201cIt made me happy, much more so than psychology, so I decided I wanted to go to an art school. But, at that time, an art program would be mostly about ideas, concepts. If I wanted to learn techniques, I needed a program in art education.\u201d<\/p>\n

After earning a certificate in art education, Heller taught printmaking for awhile, but an allergy to the chemicals used pushed her to seek another form of artistic expression. She took some evening classes in tapestry-making, and loved it. She started showing her work at craft markets and art fairs.<\/p>\n

\u201cTapestry-making is a slow, time-consuming process,\u201d she told the Independent. <\/em>\u201cSometimes, a large tapestry takes a year to complete. But the meditative aspect of weaving fits my personality. I need slow. I need time to think, to contemplate what I am doing. When I make a tapestry, I can stop at any moment, which was convenient when I was younger. I rented my studio on Granville Island the same year I got pregnant, 36 years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n

She continued her art while raising her son.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith a tapestry, I\u2019m creating the canvas along with the image, and I like that,\u201d she said. \u201cDealing with mistakes is much harder than in a painting, so I go slowly to get it right the first time. It is almost a dialogue between me and the tapestry on my loom.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the beginning, Heller taught tapestry, but she doesn\u2019t do so any longer. \u201cI learn by doing,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s the best way to learn. I often find it hard to explain in words all the concepts and ideas that go into my weaving. I still make presentations and lectures at the professional conventions and shows, for the experienced artists, but I don\u2019t want to explain the alphabet to the beginners anymore. I want to have more time for my tapestries.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her latest creation, \u201cRegeneration,\u201d took a year to complete. This large tapestry, made in collaboration with botanist Elena Klein, is part of the group show Connections that opened on May 11 at Craft Council Gallery on Granville Island. The concept of the show was collaboration, an exchange of ideas between three textile artists and their non-artist friends.<\/p>\n

\"photo
\u201cTzimtzum\u201d or \u201cTranscendence,\u201d by Barbara Heller.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cFor a long time, I had this image in my head of bombed-out buildings in Syria,\u201d Heller said. \u201cI wanted to use it for a tapestry, but I didn\u2019t know where to go with it. Then, I met with Elena, and we talked. That\u2019s how I found out that certain species of pine trees drop cones that don\u2019t release their seeds unless a forest fire occurs. The seeds then germinate in the earth newly cleared of large trees by the fire. Suddenly, the image of my tapestry took shape.\u201d<\/p>\n

The tapestry has three distinct sections. The bottom layer is flames, blazing with red, yellow and orange, gorgeous and deadly. The middle part is what comes after, and these grey ruins could almost be anywhere in the world. The aftermath of a fire, whether man-made or natural, is the same: ash, devastation, fear. But hope won\u2019t be denied, and the top part of the tapestry represents rebirth: a green field with the pinecones scattered around. The artist\u2019s message is clear: new growth will come out of the wreckage. Life will reassert itself.<\/p>\n

The same message of life arising from destruction or death manifests in another of Heller\u2019s large tapestries, \u201cTzimtzum\u201d or \u201cTranscendence.\u201d In 2016, she was invited to submit a piece to the 15th International Triennial of Tapestry in Lodz, Poland. \u201cI wanted to work on an image with birds and wings, starting with tragedy, but ending with hope,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The tapestry depicts a stylized ladder. The darker blue rungs at the bottom incorporate a dead bird, a recurring image for the artist. From that low point, the ladder climbs, punctuated by several pairs of wings, with the shades of blue gradually lightening towards a white radiance. \u201cThe ladder has many interpretations,\u201d Heller says in her artist\u2019s statement. \u201cIt can be seen as a metaphor for our life, as a link, a liminal space between birth and death, heaven and earth … matter and spirit…. For me, they [the rungs] are stepping stones on the path of spiritual attainment, of transcendence.\u201d<\/p>\n

After six months in Poland, the tapestry came home, and it is currently on display at Christ Church Cathedral on Burrard Street, as part of the show (in)finite. The exhibition, featuring 30 Canadian textile artists, opened on May 25 and runs until June 4, with an opening reception on May 27. The show Connection on Granville Island continues until June 22.<\/p>\n

Olga Livshin<\/strong> is a Vancouver freelance writer. She can be reached at olgagodim@gmail.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Barbara Heller in front of \u201cRegeneration,\u201d the work she created in collaboration with botanist Elena Klein. (photo by Olga Livshin) Through the art of weaving, internationally acclaimed local artist Barbara Heller explores the world \u2013 and she doesn\u2019t shy away from controversial topics. Themes of politics and destruction, renewal and society attract her exactly because […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":24501,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[989],"tags":[7095,7094],"class_list":["post-24514","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-visual-arts","tag-barbara-heller","tag-tapestry"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24514","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24514"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24514\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24501"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24514"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24514"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24514"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}