6 February – 30 April 2024
1441 Monterey Ave., Victoria, BC V8S4W1
MWFS 10am-6pm / TTh 10am-7pm / Sun 1-5pm
Artist Statement:
My son sends many texts to me with a heart emoji. It makes me smile knowing that in that moment, he is thinking about me. And in that moment, I was thinking about love.
Love and human connection matter greatly to me and are deeply embedded in my work.
I work with a range of fibre art techniques. The hand hooked art I make by its very nature engages me in a slow and mindful process. To make this work I must love what I am doing. I recall my first rug hooking instructor Barb Kennedy telling me to work with a design that I love. This love reaches across the concept, materials, and techniques. It pulls all these elements into place to explore stories about love and human connection.
My hand hooked work is heavily layered. The subject matter implied. I work in diptych, triptych, and large groupings where each work is connected and informs the next. There is a back-and-forth dialogue that takes place.
For instance, in Imagined Dialogues the two hand hooked works reflect on how the past (repeat patterns) and present (hosta leaves) are always engaged in conversations. One cannot exist without the other and there is much to learn. Love Letters is another back-and-forth dialogue about love where the ‘o’ embraces harmony and ‘x’ reminds me to stay in the present moment.
I am often asked how do I know when a work is finished? The truth is that the work is never truly finished. When the work leaves my studio, it moves onto its next chapter. It takes on new meaning depending on who is looking at it. It’s a storied narrative that is ever evolving.
About the Artist:
Born on the north shore of the St. Lawrence River in Quebec, Michelle Sirois Silver spent her formative years on Canada’s west coast on Vancouver Island. Her art practice and the slow works she creates are heavily influenced by a childhood philosophy of make do can do. She graduated with a BA in Communications from Concordia University and worked in educational broadcast and independent production in Toronto ON and Vancouver BC.
Michelle began making hand hooked rugs for her home in 1996. That same year her first instructor Barb Kennedy, Calgary, AB instilled in her the importance of working with designs you love. She is also heavily influenced by Gloria Crouse’s (1925-2011) innovative use of materials and techniques in her textile work and Nancy Edell’s (1942-2005) personal storied narratives in her hand hooked rugs. By the late ‘90’s she was teaching the craft form, organizing events and would go on to give talks about the hand hooked surface and creativity which led into an art practice creating hand hooked, stitched, and 3D works for exhibition.
Ms. Sirois Silver exhibits in the United States and Canada. Her hand hooked works (Earth/Water) were presented in her first solo exhibition at the Fibre Essence Gallery in Vancouver in 2006. Most recently, she was invited to participate at the DuLin Biennale in Deschambault, Quebec.
Ms. Sirois Silver works from her studio in Oak Bay. Her studio is open to visitors the FIRST Saturday of each month.
@msiroissilver www.firstsaturday.ca www.michellesirois-silver.com
