April 4 – 28, 2024

MEET THE ARTISTS: Opening Reception Saturday, April 6th, 2pm – 4pm.

ELEANOR HANNAN, JUDE NEALE, ELIZABETH DANCOES, JANE KENYON | Stories From Skins and Skirts

Two textile artists and two poets come together in an exhibition based on mutual appreciation, one medium sparking the other to bring about a confluence of ideas and inspiration. Stories from Skins and Skirts in the Main Gallery demonstrates the myriad ways in which the artist and writer work together. Never simply a straightforward illustration where the writer writes and the artist uses their skills to respond, this collaboration takes many subtle and unexpected forms that exemplify our interpolations of each other’s creative geographies while negotiating our current time.

Jane Kenyon and Eleanor Hannan both work primarily in the medium of contemporary fibre, more specifically embroidery. Though the concept of embroidery as ‘women’s work’ can feel outdated, it continues to be relevant, especially amid ongoing threats to bodily autonomy and equality. Jane Kenyon and Jude Neale, in a friendship spanning 30 years, influence each other through an intuitive response to the work of the other. Eleanor Hannan and Elizabeth Dancoes have worked together for many years. They both fell in awe of the stories centred around the ancient and now very relevant gesture called Anasyrma: to raise the skirt. Working closely through dialogues, research, and process, their contemporary take on this ancient tale of the eloquent power of the body has produced many story/art combinations – simultaneously provoking, humorous, and poignant. That all four artists are women of a certain age is not a coincidence. Decades of friendship and artistic partnership have allowed them to persevere. Through mythology, narrative, figurative exploration, and abstract expression, they find themselves revisiting themes of autonomy.

To watch a video of this exhibition, see our YouTube channel.

SIBEAL FOYLE | Reflections

Reflections by Sibeal Foyle weaves together storytelling, memory, and reflection through line, colour, and movement, navigating the figurative and abstract. Her paintings convey to the viewer our own memories and experiences of nature. Foyle’s artworks act as a bridge between our tangible reality and the intangible realm of emotions, leaving room for the viewer to interpret their own layers of meaning. Abstract expressions transcend literal representation, tapping into universal human connections to nature and creating a symphony of sensations and reflections. The timeless celebration of both shared human experience and nature’s enduring beauty is captured in Foyle’s work.

Sibeal Foyle is an artist from Salt Spring Island. She holds a Bachelors of Fine Arts from the University of Ulster, Belfast, Ireland, and a Masters of Fine Arts from the University of Calgary. Foyle was a senior instructor and Chair of the Fine Arts Faculty at Kwantlen Polytechnic University and has served on the jury or board of several arts organizations in the Lower Mainland. She has participated in solo exhibitions across the Lower Mainland and in group exhibitions in BC, Alberta, Ireland, and the United States.

To watch a video of this exhibition see our YouTube channel.

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