Bio

 Reilly Knowles is a settler and an interdisciplinary artist engaging with the lands commonly called London, Ontario. A graduate of Western University’s Bachelor of Fine Arts program, he is a recipient of the Mackie Cryderman Award for Excellence in Visual Arts, the Tony and Betsy Little Gold Medal in Visual Arts, and the Canadian Embroiderers’ Guild London Memorial Prize. Knowles has held solo exhibitions at Forest City Gallery (London, ON), Spencer Gallery (London, ON), and Queen Elizabeth Park Community & Cultural Centre (Oakville, ON), and is a proud member of Good Sport Artist Collective. 

Artist Statement

 This quilt is a transformation of materials growing within and littered across the artist’s ecosystem. Subtle shades are coaxed from foraged edibles and scavenged gems of rubbish from the banks of the Deshkan Ziibi, then combined with repurposed and handwoven textiles to meditate upon the contiguous processes of creation and decay which all organisms undergo, and which is inherent to the artistic process. Knowles explores ephemerality and liminality as a way to begin to engage more intimately, sustainably and reciprocally with the land, and to reckon with loss and mortality. The delicacy of textiles, decorative patterns and their associations with the feminine are employed as ways to approach the land “softly,” and as an alternative to the masculinist landscape tradition. 

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