Opening celebration: Friday, 10 November 2023 5 – 7 pm.
Reframing Perspective is about creating work from an authentic female experience. My previous furniture work was informed by the male woodworking perspective shown in books exhibitions and other collections. I was taught that woven elements were used to add comfort. For this body of work I purposely looked to women for design inspiration and to reclaim the use of soft sculptural materials.
Over 100 years ago Annie Albers, Benita Otte, Gunta Stolzl and Otte Berger were weaving students at the Bauhaus in Germany. Their use of pattern, color and commitment to experimentation pave the way for Modern Art and Design. Works by these four artists directly inspired each piece in this series.
Weaving techniques and designs have been reimagined here in three-dimensional furniture pieces where the wood structures support the patterns and lines of soft material. These works illustrate the dynamic motion of a woven line and show that material can have both a physical and emotional weight.
Melanie Hamilton is an Atlantic Canadian craftsperson in visual artist. She specializes in finely crafted objects using solid wood and woven materials she studied at the center for furniture craftsmanship in Maine and Sheridan College in Ontario. She also holds a fine arts degree from Mount Allison University majoring in photography. Wooden leg Studio has been featured in such Publications as Home and Cabin, East Coast Living, Popular Woodworking and Canadian Woodworking.