The UNB Art Centre welcomes in the New Year with an exciting exhibit Between the Lines by weaver I-Chun Jenkins on view from Jan. 21 - March 4 in the UNB Art Centre's Online Gallery.
Stepping outside the traditional weaving practice, the artist finds inspiration in repurposed magazines rather than traditional natural or synthetic fibres. This exhibit of finely crafted woven paper works features pages which are meticulously cut, sliced, woven, crocheted, or folded together to create images that have a personal resonance for the artist.
I-Chun Jenkins is an award-winning artist and a graduate of the New Brunswick College of Craft and Design’s Textile studio where she was first introduced to hand dying and weaving techniques. Over time her focus changed as her love of glossy magazines and children’s illustrations became fused with her concern for the environment. Allowing her to channel her creative energy into this unique artform, I-Chun Jenkins, combines traditional techniques with contemporary materials to produce one-of-a-kind works of art.
The exhibit will be accompanied by a catalogue, which features a short introduction by Susan Vida Judah, one of I-Chun’s most influential teachers at NBCCD. Ms. Judah is herself a renowned fibre artist who served as the Head of the Textile and Weaving Studio at NBCCD (1985-1994) and who was elected a member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts in 1989.
I was formally trained in textile artistry at the New Brunswick College of Craft and Design where I was inspired to combine my weaving skills with my creative thoughts to push the boundaries of textile art.
Each piece in this exhibition, Between the Lines, was created deeply from my heart. The piece, Transcending Through Life, is my story as a mother, as an immigrant, and as an artist. The Sadness of Blue Willow, is my connection to my Chinese culture and heritage. Ms. Hetta’s Shadow Play, displays my love of monochromatic shades and is linked with my favourite photographer Ms. Julia Hetta. Are We There Yet? is my way to pay tribute to my dear father who passed away 13 years ago. The piece, State of Mind, is my take on the constant craziness going through my head while searching for new inspirations.
In 2016, after watching many documentaries on our landfill crisis, I made a conscious decision to switch from using store bought yarns to using magazines and books as my main source of material. The pages from these recycled magazines are meticulously cut, sliced, woven, crocheted, or folded together to create a unique work of art. Creating intricate paper pieces from repurposed magazines and books allows me to access my traditional textile training in the form of weaving, but also to explore using new materials and methods.
I-Chun Jenkins is an honors graduate in Textile Design from the New Brunswick College of Craft and Design in 1994. While still a student, she was the recipient of many awards including the Province of New Brunswick Art Education Award (1992/1993), the Co-op Platter Award (1992), the Fredericton Designer Weavers Award (1992), Briggs and Little Award (1993), New Brunswick Crafts Council Merit Award (1993), Susan Judah Travel Award (1993), and the Duffie – Crowell Excellence in Design Award at graduation. Following graduation, she received a Best New Product Award at the Mactaquac Craft Festival (1994) as well as a Portfolio Development Grant (1994) and a Creation Grant (1997) from the Province of New Brunswick and a Creation Grant (2020) from artsnb. She was also the recipient of an Educational Award (1996) and the prestigious Nel Oudemans Award (2018) from the Sheila Hugh Mckay Foundation.
She began her career in the fiber-arts weaving scarves and shawls using yarn that she dyed in the traditional Japanese wrap-dyeing technique known as IKAT. This technique ensured that no two creations were identical.
In 1998 I-Chun turned her creative energy to raising a family and then later running a small café in downtown Fredericton. However, by 2016 the yearning to get back to what she loved to do prompted her decision to sell the café and set up a home studio.
Not one to follow tradition and not wanting to duplicate any piece of work, I-Chun began working with non-traditional weaving material and ways to create one-of-a- kind pieces of art. Her love of magazines, nature and protecting the environment led her to an artist’s logical conclusion and she started to reuse the magazines. The glossy and colourful pages became the material source for her weaving and art work.
I-Chun Jenkins’s work is available in galleries in Quebec and New Brunswick and available for purchase on her webpage (www.fibretheoryart.com).
All images by Liam Endresen Photography.
