Denise A. Olivares
Denise A. Olivares is a Chilean-born multi-disciplinary artist with a BFA from Concordia University. Now completing her master’s degree in Art Education. In 2020, she led the ArtEGs Art Collective in Re- An Exhibition Amidst Transition. More recently, she co-founded and co-published the first edition of the student-run Æ Graduate Journal of Art Education. Appearing in numerous Montreal-based exhibitions she explores themes of memory, identity, and the archive while working in fibres and installation. With video and photography, she channels concepts of the habitual to redefine their meaning and reposition the lens from which they are viewed.
Art
A family history in stitch and cloth: Revisited (2009, 2022)
Fibres and mixed media
44 in x 36 in
This work is part of a body of work relating to my family’s history. Each fabric panel stitches together reimagined histories. They are renderings of five turning points in my family’s narrative. On the surface of each panel, I have sought to compose an emotion with the variety of colour, texture, and the numerous layerings of textile. Through automatic stitches of a sewing machine and the contrast of more contemplative, intentional hand stitching, I hint at conversations with the past. Images from the family album provide the context for each turning point.
