eva birhanu, Variation in burnout (detail), organic cotton, cotton, organza silk, poly filling, assorted hair, and polyester, 2021. Courtesy of the artist.
THE CHISEL AND THE OAK BEAM | EVA BIRHANU, LAUREN CHIPEUR, STAR CROP EARED WOLF, GRACE WIRZBA
14.MAY.2022 - 26.JUNE.2022
Opening Reception | May 13 at 7 PM
Discussing craft and design in everyday places, 19th century author, designer, and political activist William Morris describes an idealized past for makers and builders:
Not every day, you may be sure, was a day of slaughter and tumult, though the histories read almost as if it were so; but every day the hammer chinked on the anvil, and the chisel played about the oak beam, and never without some beauty and invention being born of it…[1]
Although the tactile joys of hewing tool and material are core to the artistic process and Morris’ imagining of it, beauty is not always the sole desired result. Considered in another way, the chisel may also threaten the oak. Through action, it has the ability to carve, reshape, or even destroy it.
The Chisel and the Oak Beam considers a duality in the practices of four artists based in Treaty 7 Territory of Southern Alberta, that of the tactile pleasures of creation and the political potentials present when refashioning material. Each artist reckons with how their respective medium of weaving, ceramics, beading, and textiles is shaped by its own material history.
eva birhanu, Lauren Chipeur, Star Crop Eared Wolf, and Grace Wirzba contemplate the colonial, patriarchal, and ecological issues surrounding their respective materials. Their processes of making are not only concerned with changing raw material into something beautiful or useful but question assumptions around issues such as the femininity of domestic textiles or the ecological toll from harvesting raw materials. Not only does each artist refashion material from one state to another, but they carve away at the assumptions associated with each medium, all with some new potential being born of it.
[1] Morris, William, and May Morris. “The Art of the People [1879].” Chapter. In The Collected Works of William Morris: With Introductions by His Daughter May Morris, 22:28–50.
Curated by Adam Whitford, Interim Curator
eva birhanu is an interdisciplinary artist and emerging curator working in Mohkinstis (Calgary, Alberta) Treaty 7 Territory. Born in Canada to immigrant parents from Denmark and Ethiopia, she focuses on identity and biraciality in her work. eva works in mediums of fibre and sculpture, auto-ethnographically exploring exoticism, objectification and more recently ally performativity. In her practice, eva often incorporates iconography of her own racial identity as a way to portray micro aggressions felt by biracial and Black women. eva’s emerging curatorial practice stems from wanting to reflect the community where she lives, in gallery spaces, focusing on the representation of Black, Indigenous and people of colour. eva recently graduated with distinction from Alberta University of the Arts with a BFA in Fibre. She is currently the Curatorial Resident at Stride Gallery, exploring her emerging curatorial practice.
Lauren Chipeur is an artist based in Calgary, AB on Treaty 7 Territory. She makes sculpture and site responsive installations that untangle or distill new ways to know things. Her current research uses ceramic materials and processes as a lens to reflect on the parallel and opposing belief systems about our shared material realities. She graduated with an MFA from Concordia University in 2019 and since then spent time as an artist in residence at Medalta (Medicine Hat). Recently, she has exhibited at Neutral Ground (Regina) and Centre Clark (Montréal).
Star Crop Eared Wolf is a multidisciplinary artist and a member of the Kainai Nation which is a part of the Blackfoot Confederacy. Crop Eared Wolf graduated from The University of Lethbridge with her degree in Native Art-Museum Studies. She uses various mediums to produce her artwork such as: painting, sculpture, photography, video and beading. The artwork that Crop Eared Wolf creates is centered around Land, culture, social and political issues that impact Indigenous peoples. Crop Eared Wolf has been the featured artist in The Shop at SAAG gift shop and her more recent work has been in The Art Gallery of Alberta’s exhibition Aakii isskska’takssin (Women – thought), T7NFT Exhibition, and the Treaty 7 Trivia art show.
Grace Wirzba is an interdisciplinary artist originally from rural Manitoba, currently based in Lethbridge, Alberta. Her material focus falls on soft sculpture, textiles, and printmaking. She received her undergraduate degree with honours in Studio Arts from the University of Lethbridge in 2018. Wirzba has participated in residencies at Medalta’s Shaw International Centre for Contemporary Ceramics and CASA. Her work consistently centres on themes of the home, gender and community histories.
This exhibition was made possible with funding assistance from the Canada Council for the Arts, Alberta Foundation for the Arts, the City of Lethbridge, and Calgary Arts Development.