Brenda Mabel Reid



Textile quilt of 3 by 3 squares with brown, grey and light blue tiles in each square separated by light brown rows and columns.


Apartment Blocks

Cotton, wood, plant dyes: Curly dock, onion skin, black beans, red oak frame
2021
17x14”



SOLD

Exhibiting in the gallery April 15-28



Black and white photograph of three pillows that resemble bricks indented and layered together.

Soft Bricks 

Ink on cotton, cotton batting and thread, black turtle beans
2021
2.5x4x8
$360.00


BUY

Exhibiting in the gallery April 15-28




Statements

Soft Bricks
First printed flat onto fabric from the sides of a single brick, Soft Bricks were sewn back into a brick form with layers of cotton and filled with black turtle beans. They are soft, quiet, and malleable. Its form is immediately identifiable as a brick, but its material construction changes its purpose and meaning. The original brick, made of hard-fired clay from Southern Ontario, is now presented in its soft form filled with Ontario-grown black turtle beans. Turning a clay brick into a fabric replication playfully asks the viewer to reconsider this common material and imagine new possibilities.

Apartment Blocks
This work is an urban interpretation of the traditional log cabin quilt block in the “barn raising” layout pattern. In its urban form, the barn is replaced by the apartment tower, with the repetition of blocks appearing as individual apartments with balconies. The fabric has been dyed with plant material that is either readily consumed such as onions and black beans or grows in urban areas such as curly dock. The dyed fabric not only ties the apartment building to the land but also links it back to its rural counterpart.




Bio

 Brenda Mabel Reid is an emerging multi-disciplinary artist and designer based in Kitchener, Ontario. They earned both a bachelor's and a master's degree in architecture from the University of Waterloo. They recently completed a four-month artist residency with the Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery.

Brenda’s practice explores ideas around care and the peculiarity of urban space. Their work often draws on historical care artifacts such as quilts and explores the role of softness in expressing care. The work uses art as a medium to have difficult conversations around ethics and the impacts of city-building and dwelling.


Artist Website: brendamabelreid.com


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