I examine pre-colonial art practices in the Philippines to help better understand and connect to my heritage. As a second-generation Filipina Canadian artist, my practice explores intergenerational conflicts while demonstrating themes of familial relationships, identity, and Filipino culture through painting and sculpture. 

Through my research, I became interested in binakol weaving from the Ilocos region, a pre-colonial Filipino weaving practice characterized by dizzying patterns believed to ward off evil spirits. I also explored ikat dyeing, a resist-dyeing technique practiced in areas of the Philippines such as Mindanao, but also across other Southeast Asian countries. Ikat involves binding sections of the warp before dyeing to create intricate patterns. Although I’ve replicated these textiles through painting, I wanted to deepen my understanding of these practices by learning to weave. 

My goal for this residency was to deepen my understanding of the weaving process and the analysis of woven fabrics to replicate patterns. With guidance from Kim McCollum and Jamie Hurlburt, we examined images of Binakol weavings and identified the weaving patterns and techniques that could be used to replicate the design. From there, I planned my final pattern and began prepping my warp. I applied what I learned from analyzing the process of ikat dyeing, and spent time binding and dyeing my warp using beetroot (red dye) and black beans (blue dye). After my warp was complete, I dressed my loom and began weaving. 

At the end of my residency, I completed two woven pieces measuring 9’ × 22” and 5’ × 22”. Both works feature a binakol-inspired pattern created using the overshot weaving technique, with additional repetitive patterns created through different treadling. I used inlay weaving and plainweave to reveal the dye pattern of the warp, and experimented with different threads and colours to add contrast. 

My weavings demonstrate my process of learning and exploration. The process helped expand my knowledge on the labour and the history of pre-colonial practices in the Philippines, further contributing to my art practice and research as a whole. For the future, I hope to integrate weaving more into my artmaking, and I plan to use these final woven pieces as a new surface for my paintings, merging my previous knowledge with something new. 

You can connect with me and see more of my art on Instagram @maryescano.arts

I am curious about the translation spaces between artistic creative practices and healthcare as away to create room to breathe in containment. I am a doctoral candidate in the Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine at the University of Alberta. I draw on my artistic practice in printmaking as a way to create visual translations, expressions, and conversations from past and ongoing experiences in academic institutional spaces, as well as clinical healthcare learning spaces.

I use primarily materials destined for the landfill. I employ techniques such as tetrapak etching and collagraph as accessible modes for creating plates for printing, and create paper for printmaking out of waste materials such as fabric scraps. This work concerns itself with making room to breathe, and is firmly rooted in the haptic, feminist, and disability justice politics of bell hooks, Audre Lorde, Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha, and Mia Mingus as examples of writers who found ways to oxygenate even in the most oppressive institutional spaces. I am inspired by critical making, and socially engaged art as functional, political, and poetic.

My artist residency at Gather Textiles focused on experimenting with dyes created from kitchen waste, such as onion skins and avocado pits, and foraged plant materials. I had the opportunity to create dyes and printmaking inks for silk screening. I am curious to turn some of these dyes into pigments for suspension in burnt plate oil specifically for intaglio printmaking in the future. I am interested in relationality, both to our materials and process. Some of the questions that inform my work are about ways we can collectively create art, and creating together as ways to generate praxis in care.

I am also half of a collective that makes works and has conversations around interbeing and community.

www.axiologyclinic.com

I am a recipient of the Edmonton Artists’ Trust Fund Award. Supported by the Edmonton Arts Council and the Edmonton Community Foundation, this award is dedicated to the artistic development of Edmonton artists.

As an artist working primarily in printmaking, illustration, and recently photography, weaving has always been a peripheral interest, rather than an integral part of my practice. My goal during my residency at Gather was to integrate weaving into an existing body of work, while challenging myself to learn a new technique-- double weave.

I started out by familiarizing myself with the structure of double weave by completing the 4 and 8 shaft samplers from Jennifer Moore's book "Double Weave." Through this process, I discovered what techniques appealed to me and what I wanted to explore further during my residency. I was particularly drawn to the checkerboard pattern and its variations, which allowed for the most colour vibrancy, while also creating these fun little pockets and tubes within the structure..

In my first piece after the sampler, I experimented with making large pockets that I stuffed with discarded wool from the nearby skirting table. I could see this technique being used to create a garment, like a quilted vest! At this point in my residency, I was completely overwhelmed by the many possibilities that double weave presented, and I had to stop myself from making a pair of pants on the loom, no matter how impractical, just because I could!

In all of my work, I am drawn to textiles and the way that colour and pattern interact to convey emotion and meaning. For my final piece, I took inspiration from the complex and layered compositions of my printwork and reproduced them in a large wall hanging using checkerboard double weave. The result was a trippy, op art like weaving that incorporated new techniques and tactility into my art practice. I’m still figuring out where to take it from here (this isn’t a “finished” work in the photo), but I’m positive that the knowledge and experience I gained during my time at Gather will be a springboard for a new body of work.

@nip_nock

Prior to the residency, my art practice was primarily sculpting with clay and wood and doing mixed media oil paintings with a recent interest in making my own textiles. I began printmaking, screenprinting and block printing on hand-dyed fabric with the goal of eventually learning to weave. 

My practice is focused on my cultural identity as a Jamaican woman of Afro and Indo-Caribbean ancestry. I show the beauty of merging these cultures as well as the complexities of not fitting the mould of “looking Indian” highlighting hair and skin tone, two major factors that affected my sense of belonging to this group as my hair was too thick and skin too dark. Textile has been used in my work to signify each culture sometimes replacing my skin tone.

My goal in entering this residency was to learn a new skill that I could later implement as a part of my practice. I wanted to learn how to make textiles that I could use in my paintings versus only purchasing them. By making them myself I am able to further my research and know more about their origins and how they are made.

I learnt how to weave linen and cotton on a four-shaft loom. I made three samples experimenting with combining the patterns of Okene cloth from Nigeria and Ilkal from India as self portraits of my mixed identity, as well as, two final samples and main pieces that were primarily one culture.

For my final two pieces as with the others, I was inspired by the patterns and techniques of multiple pieces of textiles that I combined into one. I replicated the stripes prominent in Okene textiles as well as the vibrant use of colour. The Okene cloth local name "Ita-Inochi" woven by the Ebira people of Central Nigeria. For my Indian textile I researched Ilkal from the Indian state and chose a check pattern for the body and a decorative border using the colours red, green and gold which are prominent colours throughout Indian culture.

These final pieces will be shown in my upcoming show Desiderium at The Southern Alberta Art Gallery from December 2 to February 12, 2023. I will be using the samples to create new work in the meantime.

https://www.raneecebuddan.com

Re-Drafting Bodies

This exhibit features a series of patterns drawn from historic garments alongside their muslin recreations. Carefully measuring the original garments, drawing the patterns, and making the recreations served as a slow meditation on the forgotten labour and knowledge required to make clothing. By presenting patterns beside the garments they make, this exhibit invites viewers to consider the relationship between two-dimensional patterns and the three-dimensional bodies they cover. 

Applications are being accepted for spring/summer 2023 and fall/winter 2023. Submit your application via email with the subject line “Artist in Residence Application” at anytime.

Application Process

To apply, write us an email introducing yourself and a 2-3 sentence description of what you would like to do for your residency. If we determine your project is something Gather has the capacity to support we will ask for a 1000-3000 word project description that includes the work you will undertake, a timeline, what you will require from Gather in terms of space, materials, and education. Please also include how you will contribute to the community. Include up to 10 images and if applicable, website and/or social media. 

We acknowledge that written submissions are not the best way of expression for all, so if you would prefer a conversation, video submission, phone call, visit or other type of communication, please be in touch via email and we’ll set that up!

Contributions to the community might include (but are certainly not limited to) an artists talk, showing of your work, workshop, volunteer time with a community volunteer agency, etc. 

If you require assistance in securing funding or a grant to be away from your home place, don’t be shy to ask for help in setting that up.

If you will be applying for your own funding to reside, we will happily provide Letters of Support and any other resources and references you might need to do so.