The Industrial Shoreline - examines the working harbour, where the industry of shipping goods and products from our factories and fields intersects with beaches and pristine clear waters. The port occupies a special and limited space at the edge of our cities; the freighters and docks piled high with shipping containers are an essential part of a modern economy. Any harbour is constantly changing: the tide rises, and falls, materials and shipping containers come and go, the structures acquire patina and layers of complex shapes over the years. We see it as the gritty edge of our city, but close by life continues on with marine life, a complex ecosystem that may or may not flourish along the shoreline.

The industrial warehouses and buildings along the intertidal zones of urban harbours presents a dichotomy in my textile art between the hard and soft; the rigidity of steel and the fluidity of cloth. There is beauty in the metal structures and their patina, the angles, shadows, bursts of color, and swoops of lines create rich visual interest for the viewer. My drawn, painted, and stitched lines and the challenge of interpreting these means that I rely on a variety of mark making, inks and paints on the fabrics to give me the rich patinas of rust, rafters and steel and sea.

I have always lived near the ocean, sometimes close to a working harbour, oil refinery or a military base. I have seen and experienced the challenges faced by both industry and the need to have a sustainable natural environment. I have also witnessed the ongoing efforts of all invested groups working towards finding the best and most lasting solutions. I do not see these issues in an “either/or” scenario but as a challenge of finding balance and commonality. I am not anti-development, the premise I work from is that commercial growth together with vibrant, sustainable ecosystems can be created and I want my Industrial Shoreline series to reflect that essential premise.