Articulations, Earl Selkirk Gallery

June 20th 2015 to August 23rd 2015

Merging is a continuation of paper and fabric sculptures that Pam Lobb has been developing over the past 5 years. Hand printing etchings, lithographs, and monoprints onto fine Japanese papers, she then moulds them together with fabric. The end result is reminiscent of fine porcelain.

The base of each piece is a handmade doily collected from New Hamburg, Goderich, or Clinton, Ontario. The doily constitutes the dominant part of the work, and represents Pam’s eagerness to engage with objects, stories, and people from the past. The printing in the foreground of each piece is inspired by the imagery found on Victorian dinnerware. Such dinnerware continues to be passed down from generation to generation in the communities mentioned above. Receiving dinnerware also is similar to receiving the stories of the past.

As part of the window installation there are living flowers drawn through the holes of the lacework. Each stem has a water container that must be refilled to throughout the duration of the show. The act of tending to the sculpture is similar to revisiting stories. There is the opportunity replace, exclude and care for the parts that are meaningful to you at the time.

Many aspects of these rural communities are changing. Originally from Clinton, Pam continues to observe environmental changes, a decreasing population, and rapid job losses in her hometown. Each of her sculptures is a nostalgic observation of a region under stress and hopeful view of its transformation.