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Inese Birstins
- born in 1942 in Madona, Latvia
- immigrated to Australia in 1949; immigrated to Canada in
1969
- B.A. in French, Sydney University, Australia; courses at
University of British Columbia and Douglas College (textiles)
click on thumbnails
at left to view larger images
Inese Birstins's interest in working with textiles stems
directly from her Latvian heritage in which working with fabrics, such as the traditional
embroidery she learned as a child, was emphasized (Birstins, 1998). Producing life-sized
figures out of layers of felt, works like Fragments (1982-83) reflect her
fascination with embodiments of metamorphosis. Suspending her felted bodies in the
semi-conscious state prior to sleep, the artist explores the time when an individual's
consciousness is most susceptible to change. The felt skin of these figures is symbolic of
what the artist considers the psychological barrier and protective covering that people
erect to shield themselves yet which ultimately discourages true communication and real
human connections. "There is an inherent contradiction in the soft, fuzzy felt, which
suggests both skin and covering wrap. There is a fragility in this envelope which speaks
about both vulnerability and protection, about the wish to be 'open to the other' and
about the real fear of harm resulting from that very openness" (Daina Berzins, 1989).
Birstins has explained that she thinks of the work as "specifically about the
difficulty of communicating ones 'being', of sharing it with an 'other'. I wonder
about the almost-impossibility of ever really knowing the 'other'--and, so, of ever being
known by them. What, then, can we do for each other, as opposed to to each
other, in the face of even greater unknowns?" (1989). In 1977-78 Birstins was the
President of the Mission Spinners' and Weavers' Guild in Mission, British Columbia. In
1979 she visited Poland for three weeks during which time she went to museums and the
studios of Polish textile artists. Between 1980 and 1987, she held the positions of
Assistant, Associate, and finally Studio Head/Artistic Director of the Fibre Department,
Visual Arts, at The Banff Centre for the Arts in Alberta. In 1989 Birstins was appointed
coordinator of the Triangle Gallery, a public gallery in Calgary. She has taught in the
Sculpture, Ceramics and Fibres Department at Concordia University (Montréal) and at the
University of Sao Paulo in Brazil. She was guest curator of Contemporary Fibre at the
Muttart Conservatory, in Edmonton, Alberta and Wearable Works at the Edmonton Art Gallery
in 1987.
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SOLO EXHIBITIONS
1990 |
Gulf Gallery, Calgary, Alberta |
1989 |
Museum of Contemporary Art,
São Paulo, Brazil Casa de Ideias, Uberlãndia,
Brazil
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1986 |
Maison de la culture,
Côte-des-Neiges, Montréal, Québec |
1985 |
Birstins
Language Plus, Salle Tremblé, Alma, Québec; Centre culturel de Shawinigan,
Shawinigan, Québec |
1980 |
Kamloops Public Art Gallery,
Kamloops, British Columbia
Topham Brown Art Gallery, Vernon, British Columbia
Kelowna Public Art Gallery, Kelowna, British Columbia
Prince George Public Art Gallery, Prince George, British Columbia |
1979 |
Circle Craft Gallery,
Vancouver, British Columbia |
1978 |
Place des arts, Coquitlam,
British Columbia |
1977 |
Fraser Valley College
Women's Festival
Abbotsford, British Columbia
Annual Gem Show
Maple Ridge, British Columbia |
1976 |
Fraser Valley College
Women's Festival
Abbotsford, British Columbia |
1976-75 |
Minotaur Studio/Gallery,
Mission, British Columbia |
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
1993 |
Cleveland Museum of Art,
Cleveland, Ohio |
1990 |
International Felt
Symposium
Aarhus, Denmark |
1988 |
Kelowna Public Art Gallery,
Kelowna, British Columbia
Rockford Art Museum, Rockford, Illinois
Musée du feutre, Mouzon, Ardennes, France |
1987 |
Latvian Cultural Centre,
Montréal, Québec
Eric Harvie Gallery, Banff, Alberta
Goldome Center, Buffalo, New York |
1986 |
Burlington Cultural Centre,
Burlington, Ontario
Photothèque, Ville de Luxembourg, Luxembourg
Concordia Art Gallery, Concordia University, Montréal, Québec |
1985 |
Grand Forks Art Gallery, Grand
Forks, British Columbia |
1984 |
Greenville County Museum of
Art, South Carolina Twining Gallery, New York, New
York
Fifth International Biennial of Miniature Textiles
Savaria Museum, Szombathely, Hungary
Muttart Conservatory, Edmonton, Alberta
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1983 |
Walter Phillips Gallery, Banff,
Alberta
Muttart Gallery, Calgary, Alberta
Akron Art Institute, Akron, Ohio
Colorado Springs Fine Art Center, Colorado Springs, Colorado
Memorial Art Gallery, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York
Martin Gerard Gallery, Edmonton, Alberta |
1982 |
Portland Art Museum, Portland,
Oregon
Philbrook Art Center, Tulsa, Oklahoma
Springfield Museum of Fine Arts, Springfield, Massachusetts
Muttart Gallery, Calgary, Alberta
Beaver House Gallery, Edmonton, Alberta
Cartwright Street Gallery, Vancouver, British Columbia
Artspace, Peterborough, Ontario |
1981 |
San Francisco Museum of Modern
Art, San Francisco, California
Minnesota Museum of Art, St. Paul, Minnesota
Brooks Memorial Art Gallery, Memphis, Tennessee
Cartwright Street Gallery, Vancouver, British Columbia
Centre des arts visuels, Montréal, Québec
Langage Plus, Alma, Québec
Centre socio-culturel, Chicoutimi, Québec
Fraser Vallery Arts Council, Abbotsford, British Columbia |
1980 |
Walter Phillips Gallery, Banff,
Alberta
Graphica Gallery, Edmonton, Alberta
Maltwood Art Museum and Gallery, Victoria, British Columbia |
1980-79 |
Madrona Centre, Nanaimo,
British Columbia |
1979 |
Eric Harvie Gallery, Banff,
Alberta
Vancouver Public Library, Vancouver, British Columbia
Centennial Museum, Vancouver, British Columbia |
1978 |
Gallery A213, Capilano College,
Vancouver, British Columbia
Mission Arts Centre, Mission, British Columbia
Gallery 7, Vancouver, British Columbia
University of British Columbia, Museum of Anthropology, Vancouver, British Columbia |
1977 |
Circle Craft Gallery,
Vancouver, British Columbia
Sears Harbour Centre, Vancouver, British Columbia
Penticton Public Art Gallery, Penticton, British Columbia
Place des arts, Coquitlam, British Columbia
Centennial Museum, Vancouver, British Columbia
University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia
Mission Arts Centre, Mission, British Columbia
Harrison Hotel, Harrison, British Columbia |
1976 |
Habitat Festival
Vancouver, British Columbia
Centennial Arts Centre, Surrey, British Columbia
Studio 2880 Gallery, Prince George, British Columbia |
1975 |
Douglas College, Surrey,
British Columbia |
COLLECTIONS
Alberta Legislature, Edmonton, Alberta
Bumper Development Corporation, Calgary, Alberta
Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio
Department of External Affairs, Government of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario
Energy Resources Conservation Building, Calgary, Alberta
Greater Vancouver Spinners' and Weavers' Guild, Vancouver, British Columbia
Red Deer Arts Centre, Red Deer, Alberta |
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Art at Muttart. Edmonton, Alberta:
The Muttart Conservatory, 1984.
Art Fibres of the West. Victoria, British Columbia: Maltwood Art Museum and Gallery,
1980.Berry, Suzanne. "Thoughts on the
Birstins-Pixley exhibition." Centreletter (September 1983): n.p.
Berzins, Daina. Felt Contradictions. São Paulo, Brazil: Museu de Arte
Contemporãnea da Universidade de São Paulo, 1989.
Constantine, Mildred. Inese Birstins & Anne Flaten Pixley. Banff, Alberta:
Walter Phillips Gallery, The Banff Centre School of Fine Arts, 1983.
---, and Jack Lenor Larsen. The Art Fabric: Mainstream. New York, New York: Van
Nostrand Reinhold, 1981.
Côté-Sirois, Manon. "Un évènement d'importance en art textile à San
Francisco." Cahiers (Autumn 1981): n.p.
Fibre Art: Hands across the Border. Buffalo, New York: Goldome Center, 1987.
Fifth International Biennial of Miniature Textiles. Szombathely, Hungary: Savaria
Museum 1984.
Gustafson, Paula. "Harrison Hot Springs, British Columbia: Weaving smorgasbord."
Canada Crafts (February/March 1987): n.p.
Ribbins, Scott. Feltmaking: Four major installations. Burlington, Ontario:
Burlington Cultural Centre, 1986.
Rockford Art Museum. About Fibre. Rockford,
Illinois: Rockford Art Museum, 1988.
Runge, Janis. Embodied Mind - Collaborative
Structures. Calgary, Alberta: Muttart Gallery, 1983.
Shefrin, Elizabeth. "Notes on a blue theme exhibits fabric art." Kinesis (October
1982): n.p.
Small Works in Fiber: The Mildred Constantine Collection. Cleveland, Ohio:
Cleveland Museum of Art, 1993.
Wanke, Angelika. Inese Birstins -
Installation. Alma, Québec: Langage Plus, 1985.
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