2011 Maiwa Textile Symposium Lecture

Dorothy Caldwell     $15
Tuesday October 25 - 7:30 pm
Net Loft Granville Island, Vancouver, Canada

Dorothy Caldwell’s talk illustrates how her textile art is an ongoing exploration of a sense of place.

Her long-time interest in how humans mark the landscape – through patterns of settlement, agricultural practices, and built heritage – are translated onto cloth through dyeing, printing, and stitching.


Current practice involves collecting earth pigments, plant matter, and objects from diverse landscapes around the world and incorporating them in her work. This direction enables her to make a deeper connection between her home in Hastings, Ontario, and the places where she travels.

In this presentation, Dorothy will tell the stories of her fieldwork in the Canadian Arctic, the Australian outback, rural Japan, and India. By using materials collected in the field (whether far away or close to home), Dorothy feels the pieced, layered, and stitched surfaces tangibly absorb and reflect her artistic journey.

Dorothy Caldwell

Dorothy Caldwell is a graduate of Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia and maintains an active international exhibition and teaching schedule. She has carried out research in Japan and India on textile traditions and is the recipient of grants and awards, including the prestigious Bronfman Award given to one Canadian craftsperson each year. Her work forms a part of many permanent collections, including the Canadian Museum of Civilization, the Carlton and Reta Lewis collection in Washington, D.C., the Canadian Consulate in Bangkok, Thailand, and the American Museum of Art and Design.