Staghorn Sumac

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Carew recalls and interprets settler folklore and landscape to speculate: How might woodland spirits camouflage and roam the wild? Her family roots in Newfoundland and New Brunswick have influenced her experiences within the wilds of Canada as well as her art practice. Traditional hand hooked rug making, characterized by utility, material reuse, and pictorial storytelling, is re-configured into a collection of land immersive masks and three dimensional topography sculptures.

Some of the works adopt animal characteristics. All depict wild locations dear to the artist. As a collection, the pieces transport the viewer to eastern Canadian dreamscapes and shorelines. The wearable works offer a process of becoming. The colonial settlement artifact, re-made into that which is alive and changeable, underscores the agency of the object, and conversely, limitations to human agency. When activated by the body, the domestic object moves, it is biomimetic, unsettled and wild.

Material preparations such as sourcing plants for natural dying, processing and hand spinning sheep’s wool, and fish leather tanning are added to her signature use of repurposed household textile, metallic synthetics, beading and whip stitched sculptural elements. Carew works from her home studio, pulling materials from her living space and incorporating them in her work.

Where it's been: Craft Ontario Gallery and Shop