Susan Purney Mark: The Industrial Shoreline

Gallery & Museum

City Hall Exhibit

City Hall
6911 No. 3 Rd

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The Industrial Shoreline showcases nine wall-hanging quilt pieces by Susan Purney Mark, depicting scenes of working harbours in BC. Drawing from her experiences of living on Pender Island in the middle of the Salish Sea and traveling along its coastlines, Mark’s work highlights the tension between the high demands of the marine shipping industry and the collective aspiration for a sustainable marine ecosystem, which human activities both impact and depend on.

Integral to the economy as well as the lives of urban dwellers, the port occupies a unique, liminal space where residents swim, paddle and sail in close proximity to the working harbours. This complexity is conveyed in Mark’s work through the contrast between her portrayals of rigid, patinated warehouses, cranes, shipping containers and her use of delicate hand-sewn fabrics with subtle hand-dyed patterns. Mark employs a variety of techniques and approaches to transform cloth into a dynamic canvas. The sky is reimagined as a space filled with squares of abstract patterns in slate gray or pastel floral designs, evoking a sense of the domestic sphere. Water and waves come to life through highly saturated, vibrant colors, with layers of paint and cloth creating a sense of dimensionality and movement. Structured line work and a nuanced palette highlight the form and rusty texture of port infrastructure. Additionally, expressive stitch work depicts marine vegetation, layered over botanical dye patterns that suggest lush foliage.

Biography

Susan Purney Mark is a textile and surface design artist and educator based on Pender Island, BC, the traditional lands of the W_SÁNEC and Tsawout peoples. Excited by the application of layers of dyes and paints to achieve interesting patterns and textures on the surface of fabric, she has been creating both contemporary wall and dimensional work since the early 1990s. Currently, her focus involves mark making, text, and narrative within a controlled colour palette, as well as a movement towards abstraction with layers of cloth and paper, including recycled and found surfaces.

Image: Susan Purney Mark, "Along the Fraser", 2021, hand-painted and hand-dyed cotton and linen, 57” x 44”, Courtesy of the artist

More Information

This event is for All Ages.

This is an accessible site.

This event is free.