Grand National Fibres Exhibition

I currently have my art Remnants featured in the Grand National Fibres Exhibition. This is a textile art exhibition where 36 other artists are participating. This was a juried exhibition organized by Thelma Newbury and my art Remnants was one of the pieces selected in the Grand National Fibres Exhibition. This exhibition will be touring to four different provinces in Canada from 2024-2025.

The Grand National Fibres Exhibition is a yearly exhibition that has a different theme each year. 

2024 - 'DELIGHTS'

After the last few years it is time to have some fun.
Every one of us has pleasures in our lives.
What delights you?
What makes you happy, joyous and cheerful?
What lifts your heart?

The exhibition was juried by juried by Deb Fong, Marie E. Maltais and Judy Weiss.

Here is the exhibition statement: 

Exhibition Statement

 After these past years of cancelled trips, isolation and basically life on hold, we are ready for some fun. Every one of us has pleasures in our lives. What delights you? What makes you happy, joyous and cheerful? What lifts your heart? We asked the fibre artists of Canada to share their ‘Delights’ with us.

This juried exhibition consists of the works of 37 Canadian professional fibre artists from across Canada, each expressing a particular delight that has great meaning to them, resulting in a diverse range of materials, techniques, ideas, concepts, and cheerful thoughts to get us all back on the path to living, having fun and enjoying the pleasures of life once again.

Photo credit: Thelma Newbury

This Grand National Fibres Exhibition will travel across Canada being displayed at four different art galleries. 

I had to ship my artwork to the Kootenay art gallery in British Columbia by the beginning of June. When I was shipping my art I had to pack it carefully because the handmade denim paper is fragile. I also had to include installation, deinstallation and packing instructions since the art will be touring to four different art galleries. 

Grand National Fibres Exhibition Schedule:

When the exhibition concludes my art Remnants will be shipped back to my address. I am currently in the process of applying for grants to cover the cost of shipping my art across Canada to these various art exhibitions. 

To read more about my piece Remnants - you can click here. 

To learn more about the Grand National Fibres Exhibition/ textile art exhibition you can click here.

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Related Articles:

About Remnants

How to Make Paper with Denim

About the Grand National Fibres Exhibition

Photo credit: Thelma Newbury

Fields -Mirror Installation by Jackie Partridge

Fields is made from colourful sewn thread and flax handmade paper. It measures 18’x 3.5.’ I made this work in 2015 while completing my MFA at Concordia university in Montreal, QC. 

I created this artwork by sewing on a dissolvable fabric and layering different colours of thread. Sometimes, I would have a different colour in the bobbin and a different colour in the tread. I sewed in a back and forth manner to resemble the repetitive motion of planting and harvesting crops in fields. After sewing, I dissolved the fabric and took the pieces to the paper making studio where I squeezed flax pulp through a tube in patches of the sewing. Once I was done applying the pulp I put the artwork through the paper press to squeeze out excess water as part of the paper making process. Then I let the artwork dry flat; it took about 24 hours to dry. There are about 10 separate panels of this artwork in total. 

The pieces of this art installation are quite delicate and fragile. I suspended them with thread that tied onto the individual pieces. 

Usually this installation is hung against the wall but in this installation from 2017, I got to hang this textile artwork in front of the mirror. I loved how the thread was reflected and looked like a long continuous line drawing. When the artwork hangs against the wall it does create some really beautiful shadows.I would love to add to this piece and make it larger in the future. 

You can see the original installation of this piece - here!

Detail of Fields installation

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Trail - Arm Knitted Installation by Jackie Partridge

Trail detail by Jackie Partridge, arm-knitted lace strips

Trail by Jackie Partridge is a work from my art archive that I made while living in Montreal and going to school for my MFA. This fiber artwork is very performative as I used the knitting process to create it. The act of knitting is very repetitive and labour intensive. It is the same motion over and over again. Learn more about this textile artwork below!

Trail

1’x 20', found lace, sewing and arm knitting, 2016. 

The work was displayed at Ancienne École des Beaux Arts for the end of year MFA exhibition “Maureen” in 2016.

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This art installation is made by cutting long strips of found lace curtains. The strips of lace were sorted by colour from a yellow cream colour all the way to a pure white at the bottom of the piece. The colour created a nice gradient. The strips were then sewn together to create a very long strip that was then wrapped like a ball of yarn. This process was repeated twice. Like knitting, I used my arms as the “knitting needles” and continued to knit for over an hour to create this 20 foot long installation that was suspended from the top of the staircase. I knit continuously since I used my arms as the knitting needles.

When this piece is lit it produces some beautiful shadows from the design of the white lace. 

I have also displayed this textile artwork outside in the snow. You can see the photograph at the bottom. I liked draping it in the snow and seeing how it dragged across the snow. 

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Outdoor installation of Trail by Jackie Partridge in the snow

Conceal - Art Installation by Jackie Partridge

Conceal is a project that was inspired my a previous work Trapped this work is from 2017 by artist Jackie Partridge.  In the installation below I use the same hand dyed and hand embroidered dishcloth quilt from Trapped. The dishcloth quilt is made to resemble an aerial view of farmlands. Farming runs in my family as both sets of grandparents and great-grandparents owned farms. I grew up in Wellesley, Ontario, a small town surrounded by farmlands. I watched the land over time develop into subdivision after subdivision. This artwork became symbolic for concealing or covering, protecting and hiding the land. The dishcloths are dyed with inks and acrylic fluids with bright colours of greens, browns, yellows, oranges and pinks to represent the colours and beauty of farm fields. I really wanted to highlight the beauty and vibrancy of the landscape.

I am interested in quilts and fibre art because when I grew up I had 8 grandmothers including great-grandmothers and great-great-grandmothers. So the craft of embroidery and sewing are very important to my family heritage. 

With my art practice I often reuse elements and photograph different artwork outside to change and transform the context of the work itself. I see my art evolving and transforming through time similar to how the landscape is in a constant state of change.

This quilt inspired artwork is draped over rocks at my grandmother’s house in Kinmount, ON. Their property is a special place where I enjoy spending my summer. I find being in nature to be a very inspiring place for my work and me as an artist. Photographed by me in summer 2017.

I see the quilt as a symbol of protection, warmth and comfort. Like most quilts are. 

You can see my current art practice here!

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Field of Green - Art Installation by Jackie Partridge

Field of Green by Jackie Partridge

Photo Credit: Eliane Excoffier

Field of Green, ink and acrylic fluids on polyester with ink on Mylar, 2016 - by Jackie Partridge

The piece is approximately 19 feet long. The piece has sewn in magnets and it suspends slightly away from the wall resting on nails. I’m happy with how this installation turned out as it was quite complicated to plan and ensure that the fabric and magnets were evenly placed. It was difficult to install Field of Green. I completed this large and colourful artwork during my Master of Fine Arts at Concordia University while I was in the Fibres and Material Practices Program. 

I love using Golden Acrylic Fluids because there is less of a water concentration and it is more of a pure pigment so the colours are a lot more bright and vibrant. I started painting with inks on sheer, transparent fabric during my undergraduate degree at Lakehead University. I started painting on mylar which is a transparent plastic type paper during my Master of Fine Arts degree at Concordia University. I like the way the colours dry and layer on top of each other creating rings of colour and interesting lines.

When the ink is applied to the polyester it creates these abstract and organic forms. Layer after layer is applied. I love playing with transparency and layers and being able to see the painted mylar underneath the layer of sheer fabric. 

This artwork is inspired by my family heritage of farming and the countryside surrounding my hometown in Wellesley, ON. Both of my grandparents were farmers and my mom’s parents owned a family century owned farm. The bright colours chosen highlight the beauty of the landscape and the vastness of the farmland that surrounds my hometown and where I grew up.

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Detail of Field of Green by Jackie Partridge

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Related Artwork and Articles

Fielding Through - a book inspired by this artwork

Winding Road- inspired by this work

Why I became an artist