Tina Marais

My work considers the entangled matters of materiality, ecological and social structures, and the memories of places and things. Throughout my creation process I organically embed my reflections into cloth, mapping this journey with needle and thread.

I have always been fascinated by organic elements in the natural environment. They are never static, their ever-changing realities and flux are only visible to us in time as we experience it. This quality of change — imperceptible movement into decay on one hand and exuberant growth on the other — inspires my abstractions. As I venture through the unfolding of my life story, treading new ground, and on occasion revisiting once familiar spaces and territories, I change, I become, I evolve.

Using textiles as the basis for construction in my work, I contrast natural and synthetic fibers to create forms that echo organic and inorganic life forms, cellular mutations, and elements of tactile memories. By using contrasting materials and the inclusion of reclaimed elements I reflect on the impact of the textile industry and consumerism on the environment, especially on fragile water systems. I often imagine that cloth carries the imprint of the memory of water.

Tina Marais is a Canadian textile and visual artist, who lives and works in the greater Montreal region. She was born in 1977 in Cape Town, South-Africa. She creates large scale textile abstractions and sculptural work which attempt to map the unpredictability of human experience and impact of environmental change. Her works engage themes such as cellular and physical metamorphosis, growth change and our journey within the body, but also our journey of transitioning through different environments and spaces.

Sélection d'œuvres


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