Exhibitions
COMPLEXITIES IN CLOTH
CONTEMPORARY TEXTILE INSTALLATION BY DANI ORTMAN
TORONTO DESIGN FESTIVAL & ARTSCAPE YOUNGPLACE
January 15 - 26, 2018 // Toronto, Canada
Complexities in Cloth looks at the detailed process involved in crafting woven textiles, while opening a dialogue with the fabrics of our time.
Through the lens of hand weaving you are invited to take a closer look into the process of making cloth. Where each thread is calculated to bend over and under one another, creating the structural bonds that form our fabrics. Observing that within these bends of interwoven lines, lays the potential for delicate pattern work.
Let your eyes indulge in the elegant subtleties of hand woven cloth, while your mind considers the complexities of how it was made.
The designer and maker Dani Ortman brings a slow and thoughtful approach to crafting textiles. Designing contemporary patterns, thoughtfully sourcing yarns, hand dyeing colours, and weaving each piece on a traditional floor loom. She produces textiles that encourage the value of cloth be re-considered, as the precious commodity that it is.
Awarded: Toronto Design Festival Juror’s Choice Award
Exhibited: Four Installation Panels. Handwoven textiles. Hand dyed.
NOTHING IS NEWER THAN TRADITION
CANADIAN CRAFT BIENNIAL: EMERGING MAKERS
BURLINGTON ART GALLERY
August 11 - October 29, 2017 // Burlington, Canada
The work of emerging Ontario makers that reflect a dedicated engagement with specialized skills and materials will be presented in this Canadian Craft Biennial exhibition by Craft Ontario. The exhibition will explore how craft materials, tools, and processes are creatively reiterated through the hands of a new generation of makers.
Exhibited: ‘Smoke On The Water’ - Handwoven. Hand dyed silk, natural dyes, organic cotton
CARNEGIE CRAFT 2017
JURIED BIENNIAL EXHIBITION
CARNEGIE CRAFT GALLERY
April 7 - 30, 2017 // Dundas, Canada
Carnegie Craft 2017 presents a premiere showcase of excellence in craft of both emerging and established professional crafts people. There will be a wide range of material categories which include ceramic, wood, textile, metal, glass and mixed media. The jurors this year are Judith Tinkl and Roger Kerslake.
Awarded: Best in Craftsmanship
Exhibited: ‘Blue Heron’ - Handwoven. Wild silk, Natural Indigo hand dyed organic cotton, organic colour grown cotton
JOURNEY OF A WOVEN THREAD
SOLO EXHIBITION BY DANI ORTMAN
ARTISTS ON ELGIN GALLERY
March 4 - 30, 2017 // Sudbury, Canada
Dani Ortman first sat down to a loom in December 2007. She saw art in the intricate lines of a woven thread and was captivated by the process of manipulating them. Learning from books and the masters who preceded, she seeks to push the boundaries of traditional limits. Dani crafts a contemporary textile that enchants the eye and pleases the touch. Using natural fibres she combines colour with calculated interlacement of threads to create depth and illusion into two-dimensional cloth. Dani’s work has exhibited across North America in group shows. And will exhibit at Artists on Elgin as her inaugural solo exhibition.
WEARABLE EXPRESSIONS
7th ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL JURIED EXHIBITION
PALOS VERDES ART CENTER
February 10 - April 16, 2017 // Palos Verdes, CA USA
Established to promote the sharing of new visions and the exploration of innovative techniques and materials in art to wear.
Exhibited: ‘Not For The Faint of Heart ’ & ‘Electric Rainbow’ - Handwoven, seven colour gradient is used to explore colour value. 100% GOTS Organic cotton through woven threads.
COMPLEXITY 2016
BIENNIAL, INTERNATIONAL JURIED EXHIBITION
THE COMPLEX WEAVERS
It is unique in providing an opportunity for the public to see a juried collection of contemporary woven textiles displayed in an art gallery. By hanging the exhibition in gallery spaces normally occupied by other artworks, fine weaving is placed in the same context as painting, sculpture and other forms of visual artistic expression. Raising public awareness of weaving as an art form is one of the educational goals of the exhibition. Cathryn Amidei, the Chairperson for Complexity 2016, worked with venues and volunteers for two years to bring the exhibition to life. The jurors for the 2016 exhibition were Deborah Corsini, Wendy Morris and Beatrijs Sterk. Thirty-seven pieces were selected for final inclusion in the exhibition. A wide range of fiber techniques are represented in the selected works: weaving on two- to forty-shaft looms, Jacquard weaving, tablet weaving, ply-split braiding and kumihimo among them. In addition, the design and technical skills apparent in the works clearly show the expertise of the artists.
Complexity 2016 will be on exhibit in two venues, providing viewing opportunities for the public and for attendees of both Complex Weavers Seminars and the Handweaver’s Guild of America’s Convergence. The first showing will be in the Kavanagh Galley of the Fine Line Creative Arts Center in St Charles, Illinois, from June 9th through June 30th. The second showing will be from July 30th through August 8th at The Riverwest Artists Association in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
CRAFT FORMS
INTERNATIONAL JURIED EXHIBITION 2016
WAYNE ART CENTER
December 2, 2016 - January 28, 2017 // Wayne, PA USA
Wayne Art Center 22nd celebration of Craft Forms is dedicated to enhancing the public’s awareness of fine contemporary craft while providing a venue for established and emerging artists to share their creative endeavours. Craft Forms is internationally recognized as one of the premier contemporary craft exhibitions.
Awarded: Award of Merit
Exhibited: ‘Pins & Needles’ - Handwoven. 100% GOTS Organic cotton
MATERIALIZE
EMERGING MAKER EXHIBITION
CRAFT ONTARIO
July 9 - August 28, 2015 // Toronto, Canada
"Materialize offers a sensational selection of work by up-and-coming emerging makers". Craft Ontario is committed to fostering the next generation of professional craft practice, and this year’s exhibition is the second annual juried collection of work that celebrates a diversity of creative, innovative and skilled incarnations of material culture.
Exhibited: ‘Dances With Shadows’ - Handwoven. 100% GOTS Organic cotton
CURATED BY MELANIE EGAN
HARBOURFRONT CENTRE
January 24 - June 14th, 2015 // Toronto, Canada
"A work can endure because it fits our idea of what constitutes classic design, or simply thanks to process and materials. These works resonate with the past, by reimagining timeless methods, or re-purposing materials to infuse them with contemporary meaning. It’s about work that lasts."
Exhibited: ‘Symmetry’ - Handwoven, hand dyed. 100% Silk.
Artist Statement: Textile artist Dani Ortman finds herself drawn to patterns that channel ideas of infinite possibility, and provoke wonder and bewilderment. Her Symmetry series explores the ever-expanding potential of a chaotic pattern. A pattern that, when viewed as a whole, assimilates fluidity and order. Ortman uses the medium of hand weaving to illustrate inner visions. Intricate designs are structured in cloth through the careful arrangement of threads in interlocking grids of rising/falling sequences. Ortman hand dyes special colours using plant-based dyes. Materials are ethically sourced and all pieces are handwoven by the artist on a floor loom in her studio located on Manitoulin Island. An evolving consciousness is the light that inspires her process and concept. With acute attention placed on each individual thread, Ortman seeks to create a product unparalleled by anything made by machine. A product that is sustainably sound and crafted to last a lifetime.
