Showing Bömwoll Dakj – Cotton Coverings.
Margruite Krahn is a multifaceted artist based out of Neubergthal, Manitoba. A member of the Altona-based Buffalo Creek Artist Collective, her work has been a part of numerous exhibitions, including a juried show at the Winnipeg Art Gallery, and in March of 2009, a group exhibition called “We: the Mennonite” at the Robert Wayner/Black Walnut Gallery in Chicago, Illinois.
The subject of this Small Works Gallery show, Bömwoll Dakj, translated from the low german means “tree wool blanket.” This artistic journey began with a desire to document the hand-painted patterns created by the Mennonite women from the late 1800- 1940s. As Krahn documented and recreated these patterns, she began to see the potential of this new palette; she could marry this medium with her love for history, the cottonwoods of Neubergthal, the Canadian shield, the eggs her chickens produce daily, and the oxides begged, bartered, and bought in Zimbabwe and in Roussillon, France. This exhibition features the latest versions of this marriage, in the form of cotton canvas coverings, from oil cloth wall hangings and table cloths to floor mats.
The exhibit could not be complete without the help and work of Krahn’s long time friend, and now collaborator, Karen Martens, who has so often been the helping hands behind her exhibitions.
Visit Margruite Krahn online here.
