Previously shown at the Ottawa Art Gallery last winter, Fibred Optics presents the unique work of four Eastern Canada-based artists: Frances Dorsey (Halifax), Jérôme Havre (Montréal), Ed Pien (Toronto) and Michèle Provost (Gatineau). Using both natural and synthetic materials, each artist variously combines traditional and contemporary techniques with their own inventive use of materials and themes.

The fascinating pieces in this exhibition share a passion for narrative. Frances Dorsey prints sections of linen, cotton and rayon fabrics with dyes and silver leaf, then stitches and assembles them in layers to form gorgeous wall pieces. The colours and motifs reflect memories from childhood days in pre-American-war Vietnam. Ed Pien’s installation – a dramatic, spidery network of knotted rope combined with a large projection – invites visitors to walk inside the floor-to-ceiling labyrinth. Born in Taiwan and educated in Canada, Pien has exhibited his eerie work at numerous prestigious venues in North America and Europe.

Jérôme Havre’s figures explore France’s colonial history on the African continent and in the Caribbean. His soft nylon sculptures seem part toys and part aliens, reflecting a fine line between humour and terror. Suspended, they have a dark, shamanistic presence with overtones of suturing and hybridity. Ottawa artist Michèle Provost has drawn from magazines, films, the Internet and comic strips in her hand-embroidered pieces. Her recent stitched images in Fibred Optics humourously convert writing from art magazines and curatorial texts into visual art.

www.richmondartgallery.org

Mia Johnson