Charllotte Kwon - Return to Jawaja

Charllotte Kwon delivered the 2015 Threads lecture to a sold out house on Thursday night. The subject this year was the Jawaja Cooperative and their successful resistance to an attempt to force them off their land.

Charllotte told the story with the passion and conviction. When it finally concluded the audience gave her a standing ovation.The evening was a success in many way — it also raised considerable funds for the Maiwa Foundation.

Chad Alice Hagen talks felting, cats, books, and life.

Liberty Erickson

Hello everyone, and welcome to this evenings lecture. Tonight we get a glimpse into the wonderful world of Chad Alice Hagen.

Chad has been a felt maker since 1979, a resist dyer since 1985 and a book maker since 2005. She is the author of 3 books about felting  and her work has appeared on the covers of Surface Design Journal, Fiberarts, and Shuttle Spindle & Dyepot.  She holds a BA and MA from the university of Wisconsin and teaches extensively through out the US and Europe. We are happy to welcome her here to Vancouver for tonigh'ts talk and this weekend's workshops "Resist Felting" and "Books with a twist." 

Stepping into the world of Chad Alice Hagen is like stepping into a chapter of Alice in Wonderland. Only in this case it is Chad Alice in Wonderland.

Her felted works are FULL of vibrant colors, delicious textures, and weird and wonderful shapes. Her books seem to have a life all their own and practically dance right out of their own pages ... dancing no doubt,  towards a mad-hatter's tea party.

Waiting for that next clean cup and next new adventure, I imagine Chad Alice Hagen sitting at the head of this tea party table with her deaf cat Leon (a chashire cat no doubt) there she conducts the magic of her creations and becomes like a maestro to those of us that wish to follow her down that wonderful dark rabbit hole of life.

Yet she assures us that there IS light way down there—but also a hell of a lot of doors and windows to look into on the way.

So tonight we will take an adventure with a woman who is ever evolving and full of imagination to take a peek into those doors and windows of her life and her work, and, perhaps by the end, have opened some doors and windows of our own ...

Please welcome Chad Alice Hagen.

This summer I’ve been reading in the philosophy of craft.

There’s lots of opinions. There is some remarkable stupidity.

Such as the art historian who writes that modern craft is just a hobby, like collecting baseball cards. Well, I’ve been actively studying hand weaving for ten years now. I read everything I can find. I have taken about 30 workshops and courses. I go to weaving conferences. I belong to study groups and a large studio. I weave hundreds of samples. But I’m just a baby beginner weaver. I know nothing and my weaving is full of inexactitudes. Honestly, not to besmirch card collecting, but I think after ten years, I’d have had the whole baseball card thing down by now. 

Moving on, there are more interesting writers in the philosophy of craft. Sociologist Richard Sennett refers to what he calls Craft Time. This is time slowed down as the craftsman achieves a synthesis between hand, eye, brain, and materials that takes decades to achieve. It requires total absorption and engagement.This mindful practice of one’s craft is a kind of contemplation on materials. This is craft as a form of meditation. It is, in a way, its own spiritual practice. Be it fibre, clay, wood, glass, or metals, it is a slow business, this learning a craft to the master level. There may be Master Baseball Card Collectors, but I doubt it.

The expert manipulation of materials is as important as other knowledge. In the realm of High Art you can be a famous artist without having to master the craft of actual material production. You don’t even have to know how to draw. You can have famous ideas. I’m thinking here of Marcel Duchamp’s famous sculpture called “Fountain”, one of the icons of 20th century art. It was a men’s urinal laid on its back. You can’t get away with that in craft. [Strangely, that piece has been lost.]

Master craft is a deep thing. All cultures have had it since the beginning of time. It is something that connects us to human history in as real a way as DNA. Every time we practice craft, we perpetuate our humanity. It is a small victory of the human over the electronic.

Understand this. As you watch Wendy Garrity’s images of Bhutanese weavers, remember it is not just the weaver’s product that is important. The practice is a thing in itself. It is a state of being and as much the expression of cultural belonging and Self as it is the vehicle for production. No toilets masquerading as art here; this is Craft Time.

Wendy's Biography

Wendy Garrity comes to us from Perth, Australia. She has a Bachelor of Music Education and a Masters in Music Performance. She has been playing the flute since she was 16 and continued to play and teach until 2010 when she felt the need for a career break.

Wendy Garrity’s interest in textiles and weaving began as a child, when her mother taught her to knit and sew, and her grandmother taught her to weave. She loves the mental work-out of creating something, negotiating the puzzle of colour, shape, and design.

Wendy’s textile travels began with three fabric purchases in Thailand in 2001. Interested to find out more about them, she researched who made them and how. You can find out more on her terrific website called Textile Trails. This refers both to the geographical trails and to the research trails Wendy follows as she explores the textiles that fascinate her. After she finds out how the textiles are made, she goes to see this process herself. Often she is able to interact with local artisans and learn these techniques, as in Bhutan. While Wendy is interested in all textile production, she is particularly drawn to local weaving and dyeing activities. On her website she includes a great Resources page with books and websites for further information.

Wendy also travels all over the world giving workshops and presentations on the techniques and cultures she has encountered. She is teaching two workshops in the Maiwa Symposium. Wendy is someone who understands the contemplative nature of craft and she has seen how its spirit inhabits the world’s textiles and their cultures.

Please welcome Wendy Garrity.

Jenny Balfour Paul, who many will know as the author of the book Indigo and one of the key interviews in Maiwa's documentary Indigo: A World of Blue has published a new title exploring the life of the 18th century indigo planter Thomas Machell. Deeper than Indigo: Tracing Thomas Machell, forgotten explorer has been generating enthusiastic reviews throughout the U.K.




Our own Tim McLaughlin has put together an in-depth review of the book here. Maiwa is pleased to carry it in our online store and is offering it at prices that are competitive with other online sources. 

L-R. Matt Arnett, Rita Mae Pettway and her daughter Louisiana Bendolph.

The October 19th presentation was the third time that Vancouver has been blessed with a visit from the quilters of Gee's Bend.

Rita Mae Pettway and Louisiana Bendolph talked about life in rural Alabama and the conditions under which the quilting traditions developed. Today the quilts of Gee's Bend are perhaps the most famous quilts in the world. The works make textile artists proud because they are such a clear example of functional craft being recognized at the highest levels of the fine art world. These are strong quilts, bold and powerful. In their strength they are the voice of the people who make them.

Rita Mae Pettway's "Housetop" quilt.

Louisiana has taken the graphic imagery of the quilt making process and applied it in non-fabric media. She has worked in silk-screening, etching, and had one of her prints New Generation  translated into ceramic tiles for an installation at the San Francisco International Airport.

Louisiana Bendolph's print, and the ceramic tiles being prepared.

American Housetop (for the Arnetts) Louisiana Bendolph Color aquatint, spitbite aquatint and  softground etching on paper

The women were joined by Matt Arnett. Matt and his father William have dedicated their lives to the Gee's Bend quilters, and to documenting the art traditions, music, stories, and lives of the African American community in the Deep South.

Biographies of the quilters of Gee's Bend can be found online at the Souls Grown Deep Foundation website. The website also has an excellent section on the different quilting patterns.

Rita Mae Pettway speaks about her childhood, her daughter, Lou is behind her.

During the presentation a number of images of both quilts and quiltmakers were presented. Matt Arnett has generously offered to make these available. Once we compile some annotations we will post them here on the Maiwa blog.

Sue Benner - The Working Path

On October 11th Sue Benner presented her lecture - The Working Path. The lecture introduced the audience to Sue's family, studio, and art practice. Sue shared behind the scenes photos of how her work progresses, from initial conception or commission to final art and a successful installation. Sue explored her early quilting influences and her clever combination of biology and quilting. As an artist, sometimes your strength if it is pursued for the length of a full career can exhaust you. This was Sue's reaction to her delight in colour. The solution? An entire series of works exploring greys, blacks, whites, and grids. The evening was introduced by Shelia Wex.

Sheila Wex - introducing

Monday October 19th is the sold-out Gees Bend lecture.

We still have some seats available for Kushutara - A Weaver’s Journey in Bhutan with Wendy Garrity Tickets Available Here.

And also for A Bookmaker’s Story - The Perils and Pearls of Mid-career Angst with Chad Alice Hagen. Tickets Available Here.

The last tickets to Charllotte Kwon's lecture Return to Jawaja are online. Get the last ones here.

Charllotte Kwon with a Rabari Shawl from the Maiwa Collection at Arrowmont

Reporting from Arrowmont in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, USA, the site of the 2015 Surface Design Association conference. The theme this year was Made/Aware - Socially Engaged Practices.

Charllotte Kwon has just presented "Not Under Glass: Using Collection Pieces to Inspire Revivals." The presentation was about working with artisans of diverse communities in collaborative projects to produce contemporary textiles. Charllotte is showing a traditional Rabari shawl from the Maiwa Collection. The piece inspired a contemporary version which activates trade relationships between four distinct communities: weavers, dyers, and two separate embroidery traditions.

A full description of this relationship appears in Tim McLaughlin's feature article in the current SDA journal. The Journal is mailed to SDA members with a digital edition also available to members. We have ordered copies for the Maiwa Store and will post a separate feature when they arrive.

Charllotte delivers a keynote on Sunday October 11th, after the excitement of today's presentation we are all looking forward to it.

On October 5, 2015, Barbara Todd delivered her lecture, "Stone Drawings and Quilted Lines" or "One Day Tells Its Tale To Another." The title was apt for an artist who has enjoyed a long and varied career working in multiple media.

As an example of just one work, Barbara created a collection of stones gathered from Lake Huron, placed them on her light table and photographed them. She then paired the arrangements with text. The results can be seen on a dedicated web site:

If you are lucky enough to be in London, England, right now, and  had the foresight to book tickets early, you might be one of the fortunate ones touring the V&A's landmark exhibition on opening day.

We are proud to say that Maiwa has helped out the exhibition in a small way. A few of our photographs documenting craft techniques are being used. We haven't seen the exhibition yet (being halfway through our Textile Symposium) but we plan to visit later in the year and we promise to post a full review. The exhibition runs until January 10, 2016.

In the meantime here is a summary from the V&A website:

The Fabric of India will be the first major exhibition to explore the dynamic and multifaceted world of handmade textiles from India, spanning from the 3rd century to the present day. Showcasing the best of the V&A’s world-renowned collection together with masterpieces from international partners and leading designers, the exhibition will feature over 200 objects, many on display for the first time. 

We have had the opportunity to see the book that accompanies the show and we highly recommend it. Presently it is available for purchase on the V&A website.

The exhibition is sending waves throughout the textile community. Selvedge Magazine has taken the opportunity to create a feature issue. Good friends John Gillow and Rosemary Crill (both past presenters at our symposium) are contained between the covers of Issue #66. There is also a feature on handloom and several other excursions into the Indian textile landscape.

Issue #66 is available in both of our Granville Island Stores and online.

If you do manage to see the exhibition drop us a line in the comments and let us know what you think.

On October 1 Aya Matsunaga delivered her lecture to an intimate and receptive audience. Aya talked about her development as an artist and the formative influence of working for fashion designers such as Benetton while she was living in Treviso, Italy. While studying in the United Kingdom at Nottingham Trent Aya realized the potential of knitting machines as a preliminary step toward the creation of her own handmade textile techniques.

Aya's lecture was delivered on the evening of the day her workshop wrapped up. Students were still buzzing from the ideas and innovations that reverberated throughout the five days of Knitting, Fulling, Felting.

Aya Matsunaga's textiles can still be seen on display at the Silk Weaving Studio exhibit which runs until October 24th, 2015.

The evening was introduced by Diana Sanderson of the Silk Weaving Studio. The Silk Weaving Studio is part of an ongoing collaboration with Maiwa and they have been instrumental in helping to bring exceptional Japanese artisans to Vancouver. Diana lit a sparkler to emphasize just what a bright spark Aya Matsunaga was.


Next week Barbara Todd presents Stone Drawings and Quilted Lines on Monday October 5th.
Tickets still available.

On the last day of September, Susan Shie presented her lecture: The Art of Story Painting. Susan explained how her work evolved from a fascination with pattern, to time consuming stitch work, and finally settled on the diary paintings that brought her to such acclaim. She described the process of painting as being like watching a hummingbird hover over the fabric. In contrast, the text which she hand-writes over the surface of the cloth is time-consuming and meditative.

Susan advocated drawing by hand and encouraged each member of the audience to draw a little every day. When we look at how children draw, she said, they have no fear of drawing the right way or the wrong way - they just draw. Its a great way to be.

Susan will also teach a workshop while she is in Vancouver. Aya Matsunaga lectures on October 1. Next week it is Barbara Todd on Monday October 5th.