As part of a national tour, “Underlay,” a huge outdoor waterproof quilt, is coming to downtown Kitchener! As an artist-community collaboration, Kitchener-based multidisciplinary artist Brenda Mabel Reid invites participants to a community nap with their modular quilt, “Underlay.”
There will be two guest performances:
1:00 - Bedtime Stories with Aashay Dalvi
2:00 - Lullabies with Jo El-Deek, “A Horse Named Friday”
This presentation previously toured through Saint John, New Brunswick and St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador. Kitchener is the final stop – Don’t miss out on the opportunity to contribute to Brenda’s expanding artwork and take a well earned nap!
This event is FREE to attend. Please register at this link
About Underlay:
“Underlay” is a large-scale modular quilt exploring gender queerness, quilts, and architecture. It questions labels of “women’s work” and who architectural space is for through quilt-architectural forms. The quilt is a friendly and familiar form, inviting uncomplicated interaction to engage the community in contemporary art and larger social questions.
The quilt is made of 4 ft hexagonal quilt blocks made of waterproof construction-grade materials. Its form references the classic tumbling block pattern, a nod to both quilting and architecture. Each block is unique, featuring spray-painted pattern designs related to building materials, architectural drawings or construction pavement markings. Additional quilt blocks have been made with the public in connection to the nap tour. These blocks feature hand-cut stencils representing the locations the quilt has travelled to, including Saint John, NB and St. John’s, NL.
“Underlay” was born out of a recent Canada Council for Arts Research & Creation grant, which combined aspects of quilting, architecture, and queerness in ways that can occupy and animate public spaces. “Underlay” is a featured project in two contemporary art festivals this summer, Third Shift in New Brunswick (August 14-16) and Hold Fast in Newfoundland (August 20-24).
Artist’s Bio:
Brenda Mabel Reid is an emerging non-binary visual artist with a social practice and a background in architecture. They are based in the Haldimand Tract and reside in Kitchener. Their work investigates power dynamics in Canadian society, often through means they find humorous. They explore places of friction, including issues around land ownership and property, queer space, the ‘justice’ system and incarceration. Their practice includes textile, print, sculpture, installation, audio, and animation.
This event is co-presented by Buzzie Indie Sessions and CAFKA.