Martha Cole: Interdependencies

Additional Information

Dunlop Art Gallery, RPL Sherwood Village Branch, 6121 Rochdale Blvd.
Reception and Artist Talk: Saturday, November 17 at 1:00 pm

Martha Cole defines herself as "a landscape-based artist whose roots are deeply buried in Saskatchewan soil." These roots are evident in Interdependencies, a collection of richly textured portraits of the natural world. Tree bark and lichen are the key characters in this body of work, which demonstrates the delicacy of ecological systems and majesty of symbiotic relationships.

Photographic details of trees and lichen-covered rocks are printed onto fine silks and crisp cottons and are then hand-painted by the artist, enlivening the images with vibrant colours that emphasize subtle gradations in shade and tone. Cole completes each piece by carefully outlining and embellishing the details of her subjects in thread, articulating the contour and texture of the leaves, needles, bark and lichens. Her pieces urge viewers to assume a quietly contemplative state of "active witnessing," favouring experiential and emotional engagement over detached analysis, a type of viewership that echoes the artist's relationship with her treasured subject matter.

Martha Cole lives and works in the village of Disley, Saskatchewan. A primarily textile-based artist with a long and active career, Cole has exhibited widely throughout Canada and the United States, as well as in France and Japan. Her fabric works are in public collections including the Saskatchewan Arts Board, the MacKenzie Art Gallery, the City of Regina Arts Commission, and the Government of Saskatchewan. Her bookworks and editions can be found in the housings of the National Library of Canada, the Art Gallery of Ontario Library, the Toronto Reference Library, and the Repertoire international du libre d'artiste in Marseille, France. Cole holds a BFA from the University of Washington (1970) and a BEd from University of Toronto (1972).

Martha Cole, Interdependencies (Installation View), 2013.