Michelle Sirois-Silver
fibre/mixed media artist
Bio
Photo: Ruth Scott
The first time I
watched someone pull
loops up through a backing I was captivated. The serenity of that
moment stays with me today and fourteen years later my passion for
hand hooked rugs continues to grow and flourish. I often think back
to the mid 1800's to the men and women for whom making a hooked rug
was a matter of thrift. For many it would be their only opportunity
for creative expression and I believe they would laugh to hear me
call their rugs art or sustainable. They were making rugs to warm
their beds and keep out cold winter drafts. They didn’t hook rugs
to last a hundred years and yet they left us a legacy rich in history
and storytelling.
Michelle Sirois-Silver is a Vancouver
based fibre artist who designs and hand hooks rugs for the floor and
wall. She was born on the Gaspe and grew up on Vancouver Island so
it's not surprising that natural elements are recurring themes in her
work. The rug hooking technique she uses is a traditional folk art
popular in eastern Canada. Her contemporary style of hand hooked rugs
embraces its spirit and traditions but the subject matter, designs,
and sense of colour make her work uniquely west coast. The works
incorporate a range of materials from hand dyed wool fabrics to metal
and silk ribbon
hand hooked into a linen
backing. Her most recent works explore ways that combine surface
design techniques with a hand hooked surface.
Michelle teaches workshops, writes, and exhibits her work internationally. She was awarded a development grant from the Surface Design Association for "Love, Decay, and Repair". Her work was selected for a CCBC solo exhibition "SHIFT" (2011) and “Love, Decay, and Repair” (Maple Ridge Art Gallery - solo) (2012), “No Floors Required” (FibreWorks Gallery) (2011), Cultural Olympiad Art of Craft (CCBC) (2010), Contemporary Craft in British Columbia (CCBC) (2008), For the Love of Craft (ACC) (2010), and the Sum of the Parts Traveling Exhibition (SDA) (2007-2010).
Michelle teaches workshops, writes, and exhibits her work internationally. She was awarded a development grant from the Surface Design Association for "Love, Decay, and Repair". Her work was selected for a CCBC solo exhibition "SHIFT" (2011) and “Love, Decay, and Repair” (Maple Ridge Art Gallery - solo) (2012), “No Floors Required” (FibreWorks Gallery) (2011), Cultural Olympiad Art of Craft (CCBC) (2010), Contemporary Craft in British Columbia (CCBC) (2008), For the Love of Craft (ACC) (2010), and the Sum of the Parts Traveling Exhibition (SDA) (2007-2010).