Status
Available
Call number
Collection
Publication
Publisher Unknown
Call number
EX.CAN.SSC.06
Library's review
Silk city was dely at Centre A from November 4, 2006 to December 9, 2006.
'Joanna Staniszkis is Professor Emerita of the Landscape Architecture Program at the University of British Columbia. She is the recipent of many awards and is recognized internationally for her work in the tectile medium. She
'Joanna Staniszkis is an artist whose wide-ranging interests, adventurous imagination, and inventive hands have won her accolades in many countries. It is a pleasure to welcome her work to Centre A. With optimism, energy and generosity Staniszkis offers an exceptional clarity of vision as her gift to the world, whether it be through dazzling designs, a caring involvement in the community or the infectious enthusiasm she transmits to her students. Landscape, ecology, art, fashion, architecture and social history all find their place in her inter-disciplinary toolbox. She puts ideas together in a way that allows many points of entry, exploring a subject for years in order to discover the secrets of its production and culture. Her investigation of silk is one such project.
Silk is a powerful thread, product of a unique interaction between plant, animal and human realms. Ancient, yet never out of fashion, silk rules, unquestionably queen of fabrics. The Silk Road has become a metaphor that transcends its fabled history, speaking deeply to out desire for a peaceful, fruitful connection across the too often hostile divide of cultural difference. This exhibition reveals Vancouver as a stop along the way. The city has adopted the image of the Silk Road to identify an urban trail that runs from the new city centre, down the stadium steps and through the Chinatown Gate to the old heart of downtown. Imagine Centre A, if you will, as an oasis, a garden of art. Here, with thanks to the humble silk worm, you will find another inspiring metaphor - the image of transformation, that process of death and rebirth, painful and frightening, out of which a new creativity can take flight, one not easily achieved but dearly to be desired, for us both as indivuduals and as people of the world.
Like any caravan, this exhibition is a collective effort. Joanne Louie Mah brought us together. Alice Ming Wai Jim developed the exhibition concept with the artist. Julie Bevan, with a special interest in the intersection of text and textile, has worked closely with Joanna Staniszkis and provided an illuminating essay. Melissa Paquet has designed a beautiful catalogue. Support for the Centre A's fall exhibition series has been provided by the Vancouver Foundation, one of Vancouver's greatest treasures and an organization whih is really there for us when it counts. Anndraya T. Luui, president of the board of Centre A, has devoted keen attention to the project and her generous patronage has made it shine. To all these individuals we express our gratitude, and especially to Joanna Staniszkis, for her inspiring gift.'
(Abstract from Foreward by Hank Bull)
'Joanna Staniszkis is Professor Emerita of the Landscape Architecture Program at the University of British Columbia. She is the recipent of many awards and is recognized internationally for her work in the tectile medium. She
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is especially well known for lang-scale architectural commissions on display at prominent buildings around the world. Since the late 1960s, Staniszkis has worke with a wide variety of natural fibres and dyes, often including cross-cultural references. She involves herself in all aspects of textile production and expresses her vision though [sic.] the use of unconventional materials and techniques.' 'Joanna Staniszkis is an artist whose wide-ranging interests, adventurous imagination, and inventive hands have won her accolades in many countries. It is a pleasure to welcome her work to Centre A. With optimism, energy and generosity Staniszkis offers an exceptional clarity of vision as her gift to the world, whether it be through dazzling designs, a caring involvement in the community or the infectious enthusiasm she transmits to her students. Landscape, ecology, art, fashion, architecture and social history all find their place in her inter-disciplinary toolbox. She puts ideas together in a way that allows many points of entry, exploring a subject for years in order to discover the secrets of its production and culture. Her investigation of silk is one such project.
Silk is a powerful thread, product of a unique interaction between plant, animal and human realms. Ancient, yet never out of fashion, silk rules, unquestionably queen of fabrics. The Silk Road has become a metaphor that transcends its fabled history, speaking deeply to out desire for a peaceful, fruitful connection across the too often hostile divide of cultural difference. This exhibition reveals Vancouver as a stop along the way. The city has adopted the image of the Silk Road to identify an urban trail that runs from the new city centre, down the stadium steps and through the Chinatown Gate to the old heart of downtown. Imagine Centre A, if you will, as an oasis, a garden of art. Here, with thanks to the humble silk worm, you will find another inspiring metaphor - the image of transformation, that process of death and rebirth, painful and frightening, out of which a new creativity can take flight, one not easily achieved but dearly to be desired, for us both as indivuduals and as people of the world.
Like any caravan, this exhibition is a collective effort. Joanne Louie Mah brought us together. Alice Ming Wai Jim developed the exhibition concept with the artist. Julie Bevan, with a special interest in the intersection of text and textile, has worked closely with Joanna Staniszkis and provided an illuminating essay. Melissa Paquet has designed a beautiful catalogue. Support for the Centre A's fall exhibition series has been provided by the Vancouver Foundation, one of Vancouver's greatest treasures and an organization whih is really there for us when it counts. Anndraya T. Luui, president of the board of Centre A, has devoted keen attention to the project and her generous patronage has made it shine. To all these individuals we express our gratitude, and especially to Joanna Staniszkis, for her inspiring gift.'
(Abstract from Foreward by Hank Bull)
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