A plant-based dyed textile art show is coming to Deer Lake Art Gallery on Saturday, May 7.
The exhibition is a collection of works by the East Vancouver-based Colour Me Local Dyers’ Guild.
Jasmine Wu, the Deer Lake Art Gallery coordinator and interim executive director for the Burnaby Arts Council, said the show is a celebration of nature through textiles.
“They’re really focusing on the beauty of nature through fabric and textiles,” Wu said.
“This show really demonstrates the different artists' unique perspectives, and their processes and approaches,” she said. “But, also, there is cohesion, in that they share plants and similar themes.”
The show will include 2D and 3D works, including a 360-degree sculptural piece.
Varsha Gill, the eco-arts programs manager at Still Moon Arts Society which runs the dyers’ guild, said the pieces in the show are representative of sustainable eco-arts practice, with ethically sourced fabrics and locally grown plant material to make natural dyes.
“Natural dyeing is art, but it's also chemistry and, honestly, it's also kind of magic where you might do everything the exact same, but never get fully the same results,” Gill said.
Her work, which she sells through her business Dyed Smiling, is appearing in the upcoming exhibit.
Gill’s fibre art is informed by her interest in and study of multiple Indian textile traditions.
Natural dyes can be made from indigo leaves (for blue), pomegranate skins (for yellow) and iron rust (which Gill says saddens colours and makes greys, browns and blacks)
The show features work from six artists in the dyers’ guild, including Bea Miller, Carmen Rosen, Sara Irving, Varsha Gill, Julia Zinovjeva and January Wolodarsky.
The show runs from May 7 to June 11 at 6584 Deer Lake Ave., with a reception on Thursday, May 12 at 6 p.m.
