Renata Britez
Featured Artist, October 25-November 7, 2021
Britez invites us to reflect on our human interactions with, and impacts on, the natural world.
Renata Britez
Renata Britez is a Brazilian- Canadian multidisciplinary artist based in Fredericton, NB. In 2019, she graduated from the Textile Design Program at the New Brunswick College of Craft and Design; the following year she completed the Advanced Studio Practice Program at the same institution. Her work was been shown in exhibitions throughout the Maritimes. Britez has also shared her expertise in several textile workshops around the region.
Britez experiments with natural dyes, printing and felting techniques to make two-dimensional and sculptural pieces.
She explores important themes in her textile-based projects. She is critical of the harmful practices of industrial textile production and draws attention to this in her work.
She deliberately uses organic materials and low impact processes to create her product line. Her environmental concerns are also evident in her sculptural works.
MARKED Series
“MARKED” is a collection of items that represent the challenging relationship between man and nature through mark-making. This series [unravels] in on-going basis as the Artist interacts with various regions in Canada through residencies and travelling to create the body of work.
MARKED II (FREDERICTON): This piece was created using a topographic map of the Fredericton NB as inspiration for the stitching as well as residual materials gathered from the forest floor of Odell Park and surrounding urban area.
MARKED (FUNDY): This piece was created using a topographic map of the Fundy region as inspiration for the stitching as well as residual materials gathered from the forest floor and surrounding area.
MARKED 2019
MARKED II 2019
MARKED (FUNDY) 2019
PERSEPHONE
Persephone represents a correlation between the 4 seasons, Nature's life cycle and women’s cyclic transformation. The dress is made of noble natural materials (silk and wool) and naturally dyed with Brazilwood. This felted piece represents our inner goddess and colour gradation represents the season’s and woman’s cycle.
Photos by Bang On Photography
The 4 Horseman of the Apocalypse Order
Inspired by “Covid-19 times”, internet speculations between the 4th horseman and Corona Virus, the artist plays with the idea of the “apocalypse” and “End of times” as we know by portraying the 4 horsemen into soft sculptures. To create the felted pieces, Britez, used as inspiration the biblical book of revelations and “the 4 horseman of the Apocalypse order” story.
At first “White rider” or the “Conquest on the white horse” went out conquering and to conquer. Following by the character “War on the red horse” that was granted to take peace from Earth. Then, “Famine on the black horse” came to bring the end of food abundance to the Earth. And finally, “Death on the pale horse” brought massive death to the Earth by sword, famine, pestilence and wild beasts.
All 4 horsemen were created with natural fibres such as leather, wool and silk using wet and needle felting techniques on wired armature.
"White Rider" or "Conquest on the White Horse"
“War on the Red Horse”
“Famine on the Black Horse"
“Death on the Pale Horse”
Deep into the Woods
Deep into the woods talks about self-reflection, image perception human essence. The 3-dimensional panels represent the multifaceted layers of an individual that are showed to the outside world as the forest vegetation is exposed in the first encounter. The deepest layer, the human essence, is still preserved in the centre and it's only revealed to a few whom are brave enough to go deep into the woods.
St. Martins Cove (2021) gesso and natural pigments on canvas
Maritime Colours has as objective to research, catalog and map pigments from plants and minerals found in the Atlantic Provinces of Canada.
This project was supported by the New Brunswick Arts Board and the Andrew & Laura McCain Art Gallery Artist in Residence Programme, where she worked on a series of paintings using natural pigments that are foraged and processed in Carleton County and other parts of New Brunswick.
Marks and the act of mark making is evident throughout this body of work as is the colour palette, derived as it is from the actual colours of New Brunswick. Renata’s artistic training began here, and it appears that a key collaborator and muse has been the province of New Brunswick. Sourcing and creating natural dyes and paints for all that she creates, Renata starts each project literally at ground level.
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Renata Britez
Featured Artist, October 25-November 7, 2021
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