Article for, The Bulletin, Guild of Canadian Weavers, Fall 2024, Vol.67 No. 3
In 2023 I moved from the city and purchased a property on Salt Spring Island with the loose plan of creating some kind of retreat/residency/therapy space. I had always wanted a place to collaborate with others, extend my artistic projects into everyday life, and harmoniously integrate my work as a therapist with my art practice. This dream had been brewing for decades and was largely driven by my childhood experiences growing up in alternative communities that focused on communal living, artistic practices, and self-reliance. Adding to that desire was many profound experiences attending artist residencies across North America. The relationships formed, connections made, and the intensity of creativity and learning at these gatherings further motivated me to keep this dream alive.
Throughout my childhood my family spent time with multiple interconnected communities of homesteaders, artists, and musicians in the interior of BC. These folks wanted to create something different - make their own rituals, build their own houses, and define their own ways of living in society. They were creative, ingenious, and independent yet needed others to realize their pursuits and visions. Consequently, they often lived communally, made community structures on their land and brought folks together to celebrate their fall harvests, summer solstices, and winter theater performances. These people shaped who I was and made a profound impression on my values, beliefs, and attitudes about society. Although my family participated in these events, had property nearby and would call many of these people friends, my parents often isolated themselves and existed on the fringes of these communities. This shaped my understanding of belonging in ways that I grappled with throughout my life. As a very curious, outgoing, creative person I longed to be a part of these groups in a more substantial way and live more fully in the way that I had witnessed.
At 19 I left the small town and my community of friends and moved to the big city. I remained there for the next 30 years. The city provided a place to expand my understanding of art, seek education, and experience different kinds of people. This expansion of thinking led me to reflection and questioning of the disfunction of my upbring and consequently I found myself in therapy. Benefiting from this experience and encouraged by those around me, I realized I had a calling I couldn’t deny. I pursued further education and became a therapist myself. To me being a therapist is another extension of my artistic practice - it’s creative, intimate, focused on process and ever evolving. There are times that we are stuck as an artist as much as we are stuck in our habits and concerns in daily life. It’s all the same to me. To be in the intimate space with clients is akin to being in relationship with myself and the materials that I interact with in creating art and craft.
Although the city had many resources and opportunities, I longed for nature. My desire to recreate some semblance of the communities I grew up in persisted. In 2023, through a series of fortuitous events and some real searching, I was able to relocate to a unique property on Salt Spring Island. This property allowed me the space and resources to host, build community, and bring artists together. After much encouragement from friends and loved ones, I formally launched Eden Studios in the spring of 2024, ten months after arriving.
I think of Eden studios as a project that was born from my deep belief in service and labour and a place for artistic collaboration and exploration. My goal for Eden Studios is that it will function as an extension of my art practice and an extended collaboration with my local and international community of friends, acquaintances and teachers. Consequently, I have been reflecting on the structure of Eden Studios and have been in discussion with many friends about how to avoid monetization of the experience. Harkening back to the communities that surrounded me, my aspiration is to work with concepts of trade, knowledge exchange, and service to allow for the project to exist and remain experiential and fulfilling.
Our first residency in April 2024 brought together four textile artists including myself, Alec Sutherland from Montreal, Corrina Hammond from Vancouver, and Tracy Fillion from Nelson. Over five days in April, Alec led the group, sharing his technical expertise of weft faced weaving, natural dying, and ikat techniques. Things went fairly smoothly, despite an injury, a bought of sickness and some unusually cool weather. It was an experience that provided me with lots of feedback about what worked in the space and where people wanted to create and make, how the interpersonal dynamics manifested and how I could improve communication and manage expectations and needs more creatively and democratically. Since this first residency, a basketry workshop was held in the space, led by a renowned artist, Joan Carrigan. Twelve participants attended and it was fantastic to see the space be filled with conversation, creative intention and the concentration required to learn something new. In July a vocal artist attended as a short-term resident to explore some technical ideas, find some rest and recovery, and generate some project ideas for future work. It has been a full summer with many studio visits, guests from afar and multiple home and studio improvement projects that will likely never end.
As summer comes to a close, I am currently in planning mode for 2025 and thinking about craftspeople and artists to invite for workshops, how to structure future residencies in a way that benefits the artist, the land, the space or the project and improvements I can make to expand the intention and experience of Eden Studios. If you are interested in leading a workshop or would like to attend as a resident, please reach out through Instagram @edentextilestudios or through the website www.mimaeden.com
Resident Artist Aidan Weinrib - October 2024
Resident Artist Vivian Houle - July 2024
Artist Joan Carrigan Cats Head Basketry Workshop - June 2024
Resident Artist Alec Sutherland - April 2024Attending Artists : Tracy Fillion, Corrina Hammond, Mima Preston
