Hard Twist – This is Personal
The latest textile arts exhibition has recently opened at the Gladstone Hotel, 1214 Queen Street West. Hard Twist – This is Personal unwraps a new incarnation of the Gladstone Hotel’s signature exhibition of textile-based art. Initially mounted as a one-off to coincide with the 2006 Textile Society of America Symposium at Harbourfront Centre, Hard Twist was an immediate hit and the Gladstone decided to make it an annual exhibition. Since then, Hard Twist has become an important event in the world of textile-based art and has attracted submissions from around the world. Hard Twist curators Helena Frei and Chris Mitchell’s philosophy is to offer a broad subject in their calls for submission, giving the artists maximum freedom to interpret it in their own personal voice, and they have occasionally taken a leap of faith on proposed work that is a new direction for the artist.
The unifying factor, and essential qualification for acceptance, is that the work be related to textile and/or fiber. The result has been an amazing flow of ideas that embody weaving, sewing, embroidery, quilting, crocheting, knotting and netting – all traditional techniques of domestic and industrial textile work – in decidedly untraditional ways. These have included woven paint, embroidered toilet paper, a noisy felt piece, human hair books, gun cozies, crocheted jellyfish, a mandala stitched from scavenged throwaways and many other weird and wonderful works.
This years’ call for submissions was This is Personal and the results are intense and revealing and touch on the personal, both literally and figuratively. Literally like David Woodwards’ embroidered underwear (which was removed from a show at Queen’s University for being too personal), and figuratively like Floating but Connected by South Africa’s Fiona Kirkwood that speaks of the difficult dynamics experienced in common by those living in post-Apartheid society.
This year’s Hard Twist includes thirty artists and two collectives. The exhibition is open 12-5pm each day. For more details visit the Gladstone website.