Arboreal: Daniel Gruetter and Juliana Scherzer (August 21 - October 2, 2021)

Left: Daniel Gruetter, 'Hard Maple Vessel', 2020. Hard maple, oil-varnish.
Right: Juliana Scherzer, 'Synthesis' (detail), 2020. Preserved leaves, ecoprinted wool, ecoprinted cotton, thread.

August 21 - October 2, 2021
Reception: TBC
Craft Ontario Gallery, 1106 Queen Street West, Toronto

‘Arboreal’ is an exhibition of recent work by woodworker Daniel Gruetter and textile artist Juliana Scherzer exploring how we relate to material, place, and nature. Created using tree materials — fallen leaves for Juliana and local wood for Daniel — these works interrogate our role within, and responsibility to, the natural environment.

"Over the past few years, as an independent artisan, I have honed my craft, making and exhibiting meticulously crafted furniture, functional art and sculptural objects from wood and other natural materials. My work is made to endure, age beautifully, and is expressive of its particular terroir. I believe craft is more than process or product; it is a way to understand and relate to the natural environment. My work considers specific materials, primarily local hardwoods, and their relationship to place.

Place defines identity, culture and value. Emphasizing the products and materials of a specific place brings attention to the unique characteristics there and affirms the value of that same place. In producing work that engages with these connections, I aim to demonstrate how inseparable we are from our natural landscape, and help us recognize local craft as a way to drive economic, environmental and cultural sustainability."

– Daniel Gruetter

www.danielgruetter.com

Juliana Scherzer is a textile artist based in Sydney, Nova Scotia. Working primarily in free-motion machine embroidery and quilted leaves. Her work explores the duality of the known and unknown roles of textiles in our everyday lives, as explored through the themes of biology, mending, community, and environmentalism.

After graduating from Sheridan College in 2018 with a Bachelor of Craft and Design, Juliana has spent the last three years as an artist-in-residence at the Cape Breton Centre for Craft and Design. Here, she continues to build her practice while branching out into production work and teaching a range of textile and art courses in the community. In August 2021 Juliana will relocate to Toronto to join Harbourfront Centre’s Artist-in-Residence Program.

www.julianascherzer.com

Michelle Mendlowitz (2022 – Dates TBA)

2022 – Dates TBA
Reception: TBC
Craft Ontario Gallery, 1106 Queen Street West, Toronto

"My work as a ceramic artist consists of both functional and sculptural objects. I am drawn to clay for its expressive nature as well as its ability to create utility. As an artist, I am intrigued by layers. As a maker, process plays an important role. Each working stage in a piece brings a new layer and each action leaves its mark on the finished results. The forms I create are derived from landscapes and borrowed elements from nature, architecture and the human form.

Ceramic surface plays an integral role in my work, acting as the final layer or skin of the object. Drawings are created with the intention to play with melting properties of glazes, in order to reveal and conceal the original sketches. Various textures are utilized to highlight the raw clay combined with controlled layering of glazes leaving room for the spontaneous nature of what happens in the kiln."

– Michelle Mendlowitz

www.michellemendlowitz.com

Fiona Duthie & Amee Raval (2022 – Dates TBA)

2022 – Dates TBA
Reception: TBC
Craft Ontario Gallery, 1106 Queen Street West, Toronto

Fiona Duthie is an artist/maker recognized for her dynamic surface design. She explores personal narrative using mainly textiles, focusing on relationships between people and place, and our psychological states and responses. She starts a new piece with the story and creates tactile metaphors in form, material and process to best communicate that narrative. Duthie's recent work explores resilience, in relation to the individual, society and the environment. Materiality is key to her work- charred wood, discarded offcuts from building sites, then burnt and polished, natural inks, made from charcoal collected from fire burnt forests, felted paper, a unique merging of materials and technique developed by Duthie, and ceramics. Common materials transformed through crisis or challenge but emerging stronger for the experience. The materials speak to nurturing of our inner strengths through times of crisis. Finding a path to access our interior coals and blowing gently over them, fueling our plasticity. Duthie creates large installations, made through the repetition of many smaller forms. 

Duthie has a full time studio practice on Salt Spring Island in British Columbia. Being in this beautiful natural space surrounded by forest, rocky beaches, the ocean and a strong artist community has allowed her creative practice to thrive. Duthie's work has been published in many international textile arts publications. She has exhibited widely in both public and private galleries in Canada, the US, New Zealand, Australia and the UK.

www.fionaduthie.com

"My current body of work is a take on the changing cultural landscape of my country especially with women in focus. I am captivated and mesmerized with glass as a medium. The wide spectrum of glass techniques gives me the freedom to experiment with casting, a complex form of glassmaking and an essential requirement for my body of work."

Amee Raval is a marketing professional armed with a Masters in Business Administration and has more than a decade of experience as a business professional. She decided to pursue her passion for Glass and has recently graduated from Sheridan College as a kiln and hot glass caster.

www.niravanadesigns.com