Fabricate is almost closing!

Julie Voyce, handling the performance component of her piece with Sarah Ottewell at Meredith Keith Gallery 

Interactive piece by Margot Keith, Hillary Predko and James Lourenco at Meredith Keith Gallery

We'd like to remind those of you who haven't had a chance to check out Fabricate, showing both at Meredith Keith Gallery and Freedom Clothing Collective. Tomorrow* is the official last day, and tonight** is the closing reception at Freedom. Come by!

*Meredith's gallery is located at 1695 Dundas St. W and her hours for today and tomorrow is 12 to 5 pm  

** Party starts at 8 pm

Polychromatic Screen Printing Workshop by Lizz Aston

We are hosting a new and exciting silkscreening workshop. One that allows for flexibility, a multitude of colours and a Sunday morning full of creative adventures!

Polychromatic screen printing combines both silkscreening and painting techniques to produce watercolour-like images on paper and cloth. By painting directly onto open mesh or exposed silk screens, polychromatic allows you to print multiple colours using a one-step process.

In this workshop students will learn to shoot images to screen and use the polychromatic process to create a series of one-off hand printed, silkscreen cards.

Sunday, October 16th at 10 a.m. - 3 p.m.

$100 early bird registration (expires Sep 30)

E-mail us to register

About the Instructor

Lizz Aston is a graduate of the Textiles program at the School of Crafts and Design, Sheridan College and is currently in her second year as an artist-in-residence in the Craft Department at Harbourfront Centre.
Through her work, she focuses on making concept-based fibre art and sculpture that has been developed with regards to both traditional and contemporary textile processes. Her pieces were featured in Freedom’s Not Just Paper Planes exhibition and the current Fabricate exhibition.
www.lizzaston.ca

How Fabricate Came to Be

A few months back, I caught the last discussion of Ontario Craft Council's CraftTalks series: Shifting Directions. Sitting on the panel were Melanie Egan (Head of Craft Department at Harbourfront Centre), Dorie Millerson (Chair of the OCADU Material Art & Design program), and Koen Vanderstukken (Head of Glass Studio at Sheridan). Jen Anisef of Toronto Craft Alert was moderating, who was really the reason I came.

Among many other topics pertinent to the contemporary craft practice, the panel discussed the blurring lines between art, craft and design.* This part resonated with me - people are always asking what Freedom is: a store? A gallery? An event space? A collective? A cooperative? What's the difference? Not to mention that most of our consignors wear other hats too. They dabble in so many interesting things which we believe contribute greatly to the variety of original items they create. I felt like this needed to be explored some more.

Sitting next to me at the lecture was printmaker Jen Kneulman of Freshly Printed. Right afterwards, I had a meeting with designer Caterina Mazzotta of Kali Clothing. Both became collaborators in this exhibition.

I had a series of "eureka" moments that night and the project organically came to be. I have to say, the excitement has not stopped since! It's been such a pleasure, an adventure full of surprises. I am very excited to celebrate this journey with Meredith Keith, the artists, and the rest of the Freedom crew at the opening reception tonight at Meredith Keith Gallery. Please join us! We would love to share this moment and hear what you think.

Marsya

Caterina Mazzotta installing the piece she collaborated on with Amanda Schoppel

FABRICATE
Sept 8th - Oct 1st
Opening Reception:
   Friday, September 16th at 6 - 10 pm
   Meredith Keith Gallery
   1695 Dundas Street West


* The discussion is available on iTunes (itunesu.ocad.ca), select Guest Users Login and select the category Visiting Experts. Also check out Jen's report on the emerging modes of craft practice for the Ontario Arts Council.

Fabricate opens TODAY!

Fabricate is now officially open to the public at our space and Meredith Keith Gallery!

But remember, opening party is happening Friday the 16th (aka not tomorrow) at Meredith's, with the closing party two Fridays after at Freedom (the 30th). Check three posts down for more details.

Graven Feather Studio & Gallery

Check out what Jessica Bartram is now up to! Just when you think you can't be any more impressed, she teamed up with Erin Candela and Pam Lobb to set up a studio and gallery space: Graven Feather.

The Graven Feather studio is an open and accessible destination dedicated to fostering creative output and artistic exchange. Geared towards both artists and the art-loving public, this bright and cheery environment is at its root a functioning studio for it's members, as well as a workshop and gallery space.

Tonight, they are having an opening reception for their first exhibition! Their featured artist for this month is Sam Sueshi Miya. 

Many of you know Sam as the charming and debonair older gentleman who seems to appear everywhere throughout Toronto's arts and culture scene, familiar with everyone and with a funny comment on it all. Despite his apparent age, Sam's youthful and mischievous perspective are clear and present with every word. And the same energy and zest are evident in his art as well. Come and see these magnificently colourful pieces, and share a good word with this much beloved artist.  

SAM SUESHI MIYA
SEPTEMBER 1 - 30
Opening Celebration: Wednesday, September 7 at 7 - 9 pm
Graven Feather Gallery
906 Queen St. West (corner of Crawford)
BYOB


More info: http://www.gravenfeather.ca/#1918301/Featured-Artist-Sam-Sueshi-Miya

It's Wednesday! It's time for Crafted Spaces Radio!

In a little over an hour (aka 1 pm), yet another great topic in the art of craft is going to be discussed LIVE on Crafted Spaces Radio.
This week's topic is Textile Design, specifically tie-dye and batik. As an Indonesian, I'm especially excited about the later!
Last week, Yvette-Michelle interviewed two of the wonderful artists featured in our Not Just Paper Planes exhibition, Lizz Aston and Nadia Tan to wrap up a series of episodes on paper as a creative medium.  
Listen below for this episode and click here to join in on today's dialogue. Don't forget to check out the Crafted Spaces blog!

Fabricate, our September exhibition

Fabricate is an exhibition that contextualizes art and design as mediums that are not necessarily distinguishable from one another. In a sense, both art forms are within the same framework or structure, within the same fabric. 

The exhibition is a contribution to the contemporary dialogue between “art” and “design”. Many of today’s makers in general are finding it hard to define themselves in the traditional moulds: designer, artist, or craftsperson. Here, we showcase the possibilities of collaboration between the different genres and how this openness manifests in contemporary creative practice.

We paired up local fashion designers/fibre-artists/visual artists/craftspersons to create collaborative works.


The collaborators are: Lizz Aston (Not Just Paper Planes) & Jen Kneulman (Freshly Printed), Margot Keith, James Lourenco & Hillary Predko (WORN Fashion Journal), Caterina Mazzotta (Kali Clothing) & Amanda Schoppel (Awake & Dreaming), Sarah Ottewell (SLO) & Julie Voyce, and Rachael Speirs (Summer Solstice) & Joanna Schleimer.

And the collaboration doesn't stop there. We joined forces with Meredith Keith Gallery, where most of the pieces will be exhibited. 

FABRICATE

Fri, Sept 8th - Sat, Oct 1st

Opening reception: Friday, Sept 16th at 6 pm

  Meredith Keith Gallery, 1695 Dundas Street West

  Hours: Wed - Sat, 12 - 5 pm 

Closing reception: Friday, Sept 30th at 8 pm

  Freedom Clothing Collective, 939 Bloor Street West
  Hours: Every day, 12 - 7:30 pm