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You won't see your grandmother's rugs at this exhibition. What you will see is established rug hooking artists Rachelle LeBlanc and Michelle Sirois-Silver take the very best that traditional hand hooked rugs has to offer and give it a blast of fresh air with contemporary approaches to design, colour, and application. No Floors Required is a contemporary hand hooked rug exhibition that challenges our perception about craft and art. Their work is personal and reflects themes around family, and life & death.

LeBlanc has created a body of work where the subject matter explores who we are and what we are missing in our complex lives through a thought provoking, playful and off-beat honest view. Every piece is an invitation to its viewer to linger over the unanswered questions it provokes, with hopes that tension stays with them after they have stepped away.

Sirois-Silver's work is an evolving three year process of exploration based on hosta leaf images. In this body of work, titled "Love, Decay and Repair", the images are presented in different phases of the life cycle where conversations about living and dying are explored. Along with the hand hooked surface typical of her work, she integrates non traditional techniques such as block printing and hand embroidery that transend the hand hooked surface and deepen the narrative's meaning. Ms. Sirois-Silver has dedicated the series to the memory of Pamela (Hallis) Silver-Robins whose journey through life inspired Love, Decay, Repair.

Both artists use hand dyed wool to create their rugs which is hand hooked into a linen backing. The hand hooked technique has traditional roots on the eastcoast of Canada and the United States.

Rachelle LeBlanc was born in Boston and grew up in New Brunswick. She studied fashion at Sheridan College in Ontario. Her rugs celebrate the joy of creation, the humour and delight of being alive, and how important it is to find time in our daily lives to observe the simple truths that evoke feelings, provoke memories, and even transport the viewer to a time of innocence. Rachelle teaches workshops and exhibits internationally. Her work has been selected for the Musée des Maître et Artisans in Montreal and Shelburne Museum in Vermont, For the Love of Craft (ACC), Prairie Exellence – Traveling Exhibition (ACC).She won the prestigious Jurors’ Choice Award for Pushing the Limits - New Concepts in Rug Hooking at the Newtown Rug Hooking Show, Connecticut and Rug Hooking Magazine's 2011 Celebrations Original Design Award.

Michelle Sirois-Silver 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. 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. 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 will exhibit at the Craft Council of BC SHIFT 2011 (solo). Her work was selected for the Cultural Olympiad Art of Craft (CCBC), Contemporary Craft in British Columbia (CCBC), For the Love of Craft (ACC), and the Sum of the Parts Traveling Exhibition (SDA). Love, Decay, Repair is an evolving body of work that will exhibit (solo) at the Maple Ridge Art Gallery in Fall 2012.

Opening reception is Saturday, June 18, 2-4 pm.

Contact: Curator Yvonne Stowell, FibreWorks Gallery, 604-883-2380,fibreworksgallery@gmail.com