We all have them, I think – someone who really inspires us – not only in our field, but because of how they live their lives.
Louise Lemieux Bérubé is one of my weaving heroes, but she is so much more than that. I won’t go into the depth of who she is, because you can find out for yourself easily online, and she doesn’t shout about it, but suffice it to say that it is not only in the weaving world that she has made a deep impression.
This amazing weaver is now in her 80th year (! – it doesn’t seem possible) and to celebrate her milestone birthday, she has chosen to do something to showcase 79 other textile artists alongside herself in an exhibition. Those artists are all people from around the world who Louise knows, has collaborated with, taught, and impacted her – and of course who have also been impacted by her! The list of participants reads as a veritable ‘Who’s Who’ of the textiles world and I am so honoured to have been one of the weavers that Louise asked.
When someone celebrates their birthday by celebrating others, you know you are in the presence of a remarkable person!
Concept: Her project was to create woven boxes, containing a small sample of each weaver’s work, plus one or two personal items, short texts or photos and to print each weaver’s portrait onto it, .
The boxes have all been woven by Louise with warp paper threads and a mixture of paper and stainless steel for the weft. Parts of
the weaving are sometimes double layer, sometimes a single layer, which allows her to form the 5″ (12cm) box. She has also done all the printing of the portraits herself, including preparing the woodblocks, inking and pressing the portraits. Can you imagine the time all that takes?
Plus she has created a catalogue in French and English (Louise is French Canadian) and a short video of the entire process. The exhibition will be unveiled on December 12 at the Quebec Craft Museum (MuMAQ) and is to run until March 9, 2025.
I shall be posting links to the exhibition as soon as they are available. In the meantime, here’s the Vimeo video!