{"id":949,"date":"2013-01-18T20:48:32","date_gmt":"2013-01-18T20:48:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/naturalmanufactured.com\/?p=949"},"modified":"2013-01-18T21:56:03","modified_gmt":"2013-01-18T21:56:03","slug":"wiebe-shirley","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/steins.ca\/naturalmanu\/?p=949","title":{"rendered":"Wiebe, Shirley"},"content":{"rendered":"

SHIRLEY WIEBE |\u00a0U<\/em><\/a>NDERPINNINGS<\/em><\/h2>\n

Outdoor Site-specific Installation<\/strong>
\nAugust 12 \u2013 September 18, 2005
\nArtist\u2019s Talk & Opening Reception: Friday, August 12, 3 PM<\/p>\n

[portfolio_slideshow]<\/p>\n

ARTIST STATEMENT<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Underpinnings<\/em>\u00a0is the title of a site-specific installation inspired by Dawson City’s beginnings and by its current reputation as a site of living history.<\/p>\n

Among the throngs of men who came north to seek their fortunes in the late 1890’s were a small number of spirited women. Some of\u00a0them turned to prostitution as a means of survival, and the town of Dawson soon marginalized them to an area across the river known as Klondike City or Lousetown.<\/p>\n

Recent historical writing examines the role of prostitution in the Gold\u00a0Rush era in a wider social context, and what it meant to the\u00a0community and its economy. These women had the reputation of
\nbeing gold diggers for ‘mining the miners’, yet shrewd business\u00a0practices were only part of their character. There are also stories of\u00a0their compassion in caring for miners who were sick, and in
\nperforming the role of nurses at a time when medical attention was\u00a0scarce or unavailable. In the spirit of adventure in which many of\u00a0these women left the confines of social restriction in the south and\u00a0east,\u00a0Underpinnings<\/span>\u00a0acts as theatre for social memory, as a gesture\u00a0to embody a sense of their imagined past and their fragile yet\u00a0indomitable existence in a northern frontier town.<\/span><\/p>\n

The form of the corset is utilized to acknowledge the significant role\u00a0of Dawson’s pioneer women in the early settlement of the town.\u00a0The installation consists of a series of large-scale two-dimensional\u00a0forms based on corset patterns of the late nineteenth century, a\u00a0time when corsetry production, fashion and design was at its zenith.\u00a0Two different types of screening materials were employed to create\u00a0the forms, one of which was discovered locally.<\/p>\n

The installation is suspended between widely spaced clusters of\u00a0tree trunks in a secluded ravine that forms a natural divide between\u00a0two historic properties. There, the mesh-patterned torsos hover\u00a0between church and state – the Anglican Church on one side and\u00a0The Commissioner of the Yukon’s residence on the other. Dignified\u00a0turn-of-the-century architecture and formal landscaping stand in\u00a0sharp contrast to the lush uncultivated vegetation that lies between.\u00a0The mud-bottomed ravine is part of the Yukon River water table and\u00a0its own level fluctuates in direct response to the rivers.<\/p>\n

Ministers of religion and politicians have both been influential in\u00a0determining the politics of sexuality. With\u00a0Underpinnings<\/span>\u00a0posed in\u00a0this setting, the ravine and the architecture collectively allude to the\u00a0fundamental nature of desire and to a social order’s efforts to\u00a0dominate and restrict it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

BIOGRAPHY<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Shirley Wiebe is a Vancouver based sculptor and installation artist. She was born and grew up on a farm close to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. As a young child, she observed her father Peter’s relationship with the land he farmed. In this environment, she was his constant companion, free to roam, discover and revisit particular places in the surrounding prairie that felt distinct and compelling. This residue of place is carried within and continues to inform her work.<\/p>\n

Shirley creates temporary installations as interventions in the landscape. There is an emphasis on creating work that is accessible to the passer-by who can discover it at any time, often in unexpected places. The work is based on an exploration of the familiar world of everyday life, the routines that support it, the materials that sustain it, and the rhythms that mark its progress. The objects and materials she brings into play are derived from an immediate cultural landscape and are typically associated with manual labour in the fields of building construction, agriculture and industry. While their original intent is subverted, the materials relate the work to our physical gestures and interactions with the natural and built environment.<\/p>\n

Her recent work concentrates both on the land and on the interaction of a community with its environment. Shirley has created site works and private commissions in a number of landscapes and communities in the Pacific Northwest and has recently completed her second public art project for the City of Vancouver. She has been awarded art residencies with the Klondike Institute of Art and Culture in Dawson City in the Yukon, and with the Department of Agriculture at the University of British Columbia Farm in Vancouver.<\/p>\n

Shirley Wiebe Links<\/span><\/p>\n

Westcott Bay Sculpture Park<\/span><\/a>
\n<\/span>Landscape as Muse<\/span><\/a>
\n<\/span>Arts in the Meadow<\/span><\/a>
\n<\/span>Bellevue Sculpture Exhibition<\/span><\/a>
\n<\/span>Julie Leung on Arts in the Meadow<\/span><\/a>
\n<\/span>Public Art Registry – City of Vancouver<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SHIRLEY WIEBE |\u00a0UNDERPINNINGS Outdoor Site-specific Installation August 12 \u2013 September 18, 2005 Artist\u2019s Talk & Opening Reception: Friday, August 12, 3 PM [portfolio_slideshow] ARTIST STATEMENT Underpinnings\u00a0is the title of a site-specific installation inspired by Dawson City’s beginnings and by its current reputation as a site of living history. Among the throngs of men who came […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-949","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-artist","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/steins.ca\/naturalmanu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/949","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/steins.ca\/naturalmanu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/steins.ca\/naturalmanu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/steins.ca\/naturalmanu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/steins.ca\/naturalmanu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=949"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/steins.ca\/naturalmanu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/949\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":969,"href":"https:\/\/steins.ca\/naturalmanu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/949\/revisions\/969"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/steins.ca\/naturalmanu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=949"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/steins.ca\/naturalmanu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=949"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/steins.ca\/naturalmanu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=949"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}