Cinch / Series: Held Together
$695.00
Artist: Tanya Smith
Medium: Hand-dyed reclaimed cotton muslin, hand stitching
Artist Statement:
Cinch explores the permanent structural distortion caused by a localized event. By running parallel bands of black hand-stitching horizontally across a vertical strip of hand-dyed cotton muslin, the smooth plane of the textile is forced to compress and buckle under the strain. This material behaviour directly mirrors the intersecting relationships between mind, body, and land when subjected to pressure or distance. A place is never passive; it leaves an imprint on the person who inhabits it, just as the body leaves an indelible mark on the landscape. I want viewers to look at the tight gathers of this piece and contemplate the nature of scar, proving that long after the initial pressure is gone, the body and the mind remember the contact, permanently reshaped but structurally unbroken.
Artist Biography:
I find beauty in what most people discard. Reclaimed fabric, paper, and found materials are things that carry the distinct evidence of a previous life. Having spent over a decade working professionally as a photographer, my eye has always been drawn to the structural history of a space. It was the crumbling wall behind a subject, the peeling paint, or the worn edges that told the real story. That fundamental curiosity has not changed. I have simply transitioned from documenting that wear to manipulating it physically. Today, my practice is intentionally slow and tactile. Working with reclaimed textiles, I hand dye, hand stitch, and allow the material to guide the process. The rust, the fray, and the soft collapse of something used and set aside are not defects to work around. They are the work itself. I live and work in Niagara, Ontario, near the shores of Lake Erie, where the grit, debris, and weathered textures of the local beaches constantly inform the physical boundaries of my studio practice.
