This work is titled Prairie Barnacles and does in fact look like the creatures that inspired it. It was made to celebrate the Craft Guild of Manitoba’s 50th Anniversary in 1979. The Guild was a long standing craft organization in Manitoba, established in 1928 as the Manitoba Branch of the Canadian Handicrafts Guild.
Prairie Barnacles is a free-form sculpture woven in wool, directed by Anne Ayre and installed by Gordon Ayre. Ruth Johnston, Shirley Anderson, Janet Baldwin, George Baldwin, Andrea Burchard, B. Renton Goodwyn, Ivy Rollo, Henrietta Mullin, Chris Grossman, Roberta York, Wyn Buchanan, Ruby Monds, Catherine MacLean and Jean MacMurray were also involved in its creation.
The units for the piece were woven on the floor looms at the Guild. The technique is called warp rep, in this case using closely set wool as the warp. Warp rep uses heavy and thin threads alternately as the weft to create a ribbed effect. A strong thread is added to the warp on one side. After each unit is cut off the loom and the ends finished to form the tubes, the strong warp is drawn up – like a draw-string bag – and secured in place, forming the barnacle shape.
After all the individual units were assembled, they were laid out on the floor to form the groupings. A template was made from this, and used to cut the wooden base. The project was modeled after the work of Ken Weaver, a aptly named weaver who did installations and taught a workshop at the Guild in the late ’70’s.
We initially chose Prairie Barnacles for possible inclusion in this exhibition because it so strongly spoke of the period in which it was made. It seemed somehow reminiscent of the early textile based work of artists like Sheila Hicks, Magdalena Abakanowicz and Lenore Tawney. We’re keen to see how the work resonates with our members and what new creative ideas it might birth.
For full information on the call for submissions for Backspace Forward, MCC/MCML’s juried show, go here. Applications due May 16, 2014.
