a Stitch in Time

Curatorial Statement: A Visual Dialogue

A Stitch In Time presents the work of Gloria S. Daly, who skillfully comments with fabric, needle, and thread on the overarching narrative of the Japanese people’s past and present experiences.

Combining the traditional quilt format with innovative twenty-first century mark-making and hand embroidery, Daly explores contemporary themes through her embroidery.As a storyteller her goal is to create thought-provoking visual dialogue with her viewers. view-like the paintings of The Tale of Genji, also known as Genji Monogatari, a classic work of Japanese literature written by lady-in-waiting, Murasaki Shikibu, in the 11th century.  Even as she visualizes the bygone world of ladies - in – waiting, Daly articulates the truths surrounding Diaspora, the internment of men, women, and children during World War II here in BC. Through her work we seem to hear the inspired image whispering those aesthetic principles that concern the nature and appreciation of beauty, especially of visual art.          

The stories chosen are told in textiles, a method used in western art for thousands of years, and that includes such diverse works as the eleventh-century, 70-metre Bayeaux Tapestry and the late fifteenth-century Lady and the Unicorn series of six tapestries in the mille-fleurs style.  These works were important tools in the teaching of cultural insights for the educated as well as the non-educated people of their times.  The works in this exhibition also play a role as teaching tools, because they, too, are powerful visual “pages” for the public to experience in this current global time of racism, national and international conflict, religious prejudice, and political unrest. 

Combining the traditional quilt format with innovative twenty-first century mark-making and hand embroidery, Daly explores contemporary themes through her embroidery.  As a storyteller her goal is to create thought-provoking visual dialogue with her viewers. 

link to exhibition page at the Cowichan Public Art Gallery