Death By Design: Making Fibre Art Your Friend

Last Updated (Tuesday, 20 May 2008 15:15) Written by Raymond Nakamura

I love it when art and science come together. So when I saw the bones dangling in the window of a little gallery in Dunbar, I knew something was afoot and headed inside.

Artists with the FibreEssence Gallery have a show called "Death by Design," which explores forensic science through fibre art.

Self-confessed "CSI junkie" Amanda Jones coordinated the exhibit, inspired by popular TV shows that feature forensics. Many of the artists have science backgrounds and to create their art, drew from a range of forensic methods, including footprint casts, fingerprints, DNA, bone and glass chips, insect and dental impressions.

For her piece "Out Damn Spot!" Virginia Baldwin wove an enlarged image of her own official right index fingerprint, with some a stubborn residual bloodstain, like the problem of Lady Macbeth. Because the weaving was not straight across, it would not lay flat, so she made it into a 3D piece. Fibre art seems to fall somewhere between a painting and a sculpture, which reminded me of measuring the fractal dimension of sand dollar food grooves, but that's another story. It also made me wonder about how weaving might be related to the cross links that give protein molecules their three dimensional structure.

Monica Brammer worked as a medical lab technician for thirty years, staring through a microscope. The very small world still fascinates her and inspires much of her art. For this show, she interpreted the cross section of bone through fibres and embroidery. She told me fibre art has an organic feel to it that lends itself well to natural themes. Because it's such a touchy-feeling kind of experience, the gallery usually offers cotton gloves to handle the artworks. In keeping with the theme of this show, they are using surgical gloves instead.

Dr. Edmond Locard, a 19th century French scientist, recognized the first principle of forensic science, "every contact leaves a trace," still relevant today in linking suspects to crime scenes or victims. He acknowledged the influence of the fictional character Sherlock Holmes on his methods. I wonder how many future forensic scientists will have been inspired by CSI or perhaps even this exhibit. Death by Design expires June 7, 2008.

FibreEssence Gallery, 3210 Dunbar St, Vancouver (at 16th Ave). 604-738-1282. www.fibreEssence.ca. Wed-Sat: 11-5:30pm

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