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| Judy Major-Girardin Dormant; Photo credit: Karen Thiessen, 2013 |
Judy Major-Girardin's exhibition Pond Echoes at the Burlington Art Centre is so gorgeous that words do not do this show justice. It must be seen slowly and more than once.
Major-Girardin, a professor of fine art at McMaster University, hails from southern Ontario, a flat landscape of farmers' fields, marshlands, forest, and a narrow sandy tip jutting into Lake Erie. As a student, she worked seven summers at Point Pelee National Park, and this experience would make an indelible mark on her career as a painter and printmaker.
Pond Echoes is an exhibition of prints and paintings of pond life on paper, canvas, and textiles. Although I have included images of her work on paper and canvas, it was the textiles that blew me away. As a textile artist, I am biased.
At first glance Dormant drew me in with the stitched appliqué (see image below), but as I spent time with it, I was mesmerized by the fluid line work and the layers of colour and images.
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| Judy Major-Girardin Dormant; Photo credit: Karen Thiessen, 2013 |
Dormant: dremel-engraving, relief, stencil, sewing and acrylic
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| Judy Major-Girardin Exchange; Photo credit: Karen Thiessen, 2013 |
At the opening I spent most of my time with Exchange. I couldn't get enough of the line work, layers, and expressive stitching. Remember my textile bias.
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| Judy Major-Girardin Exchange; Photo credit: Karen Thiessen, 2013 |
The stitching is sensitive, raw, and intuitive and supports the layered print-making.
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| Judy Major-Girardin Exchange; Photo credit: Karen Thiessen, 2013 |
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| Judy Major-Girardin Exchange; Photo credit: Karen Thiessen, 2013 |
Exchange: fabric panel with dremel-engraving, silkscreen, appliqué and sewing
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| Judy Major-Girardin Reflection; Photo credit: Karen Thiessen, 2013 |
Reflection is monumental and this is the best image that I could capture, given its size. From a distance, the piece feels like a loose, colourful Toile de Jouy and has the sense of an idyllic landscape, one where Bambi would graze.
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| Judy Major-Girardin Reflection; Photo credit: Karen Thiessen, 2013 |
Once again, the raw stitching and appliqué drew me in.
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| Judy Major-Girardin Reflection; Photo credit: Karen Thiessen, 2013 |
A recorded frog chorus accompanies Reflection.
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| Judy Major-Girardin Reflection; Photo credit: Karen Thiessen, 2013 |
Reflection 2013 layered fabric with silkscreen, dremel-engraving, appliqué, sewing, and recorded frog chorus
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| Judy Major-Girardin Frog Chorus; Photo credit: Karen Thiessen, 2013 |
Frog Chorus, a lithograph with gesso and watercolour, has a collaged sensibility. Its distinct quadrants and layered imagery suggest turmoil in the pond ecosystem. Something is amiss.
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| Judy Major-Girardin Restoration; Photo credit: Karen Thiessen, 2013 |
Restoration is a modular piece which consists of eight canvas panels in two groups of four. The fine engraved lines are worth spending time with and they contrast nicely with the thick periwinkle blue painted lines which link the two sections of four.
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| Judy Major-Girardin Restoration; Photo credit: Karen Thiessen, 2013 |
Restoration: dremel-engraving and oil on canvas
Pond Echoes: November 23, 2013 to January 26, 2014 in the Lee-Chin Family Gallery at the Burlington Art Centre.
1 comment:
Thank you for introducing me to this artist.
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