Christine MockettArtist's Statement: Places become part of us, we become part of places and record traces on each other. In each sculpture, an abstracted human form is combined with the physical appearance of a place. Our bodies and minds adapting to and changing our surroundings: the warmth and protection of a structure, good times, other people and events. Facial features are missing because the figures’ identities and actions are guessed, invented or reconstructed. We encounter people engaged in curious activities. In these fleeting observations we see a fragment of what is happening. Groups of sculptures invent, recreate and sometimes poke fun at our interpretations of these events. Being in a place alone, walking by a building or feeling the soft hand of a lived-in garment can also trigger an encounter. Who might have worn that garment or walked by that door today, last year or century? Each figure is carefully made of clothing wound around building materials, like lives wound around places. All the clothing has been lived in previously and resonates with the spirit within. These materials talk about today, mixed with the presence of the past. The wear patterns on the clothing become enclosed stories. These records are inaccessible to the viewer under an external layer of paint, like a building that has had many owners and changes. Where possible materials are reused renewable or from sources that link to the community. The life size sculptures encourage personal interaction, the sense of walking among the people, shadows and buildings. Standing in a circle with them, you could feel the shade of a wall on a hot afternoon or wonder if you heard the whisper of a conversation.
Artist’s Biography:Christine Mockett is a sculptor and fibre artist, born in Eastbourne England and raised in southern Ontario. She has lived in England, Australia and Canada, and has visited many other places for short periods of time. Even short visits to places have created lasting impressions, and long periods living in places never seem long enough. This feeling of being connected to many places and wanting to be everywhere is woven into her artwork. At the University of Waterloo Christine studied human movement and completed a BSc in kinesiology in 1996. The emphasis on research is an influence on how she approaches her artwork today. In Australia, Christine studied clothing design and operated a successful business in Sydney for four years. Garments now appear in her artwork as a second form of architecture, closer to the body and portable. When she returned to Canada in 2000, she developed her professional interest in art, completing a BFA at Concordia University Montreal in 2006. Christine has received several funding grants from the Ontario Arts Council. Her work has been exhibited in Canada and the USA, and has received awards from the US Surface Design Association, World of Threads Festival, Threadworks and The Artist Project Toronto show. It has appeared in the Preston Catalogue, Fiberarts magazine, Embroidery Canada and Fibre Quarterly. Christine owns and operates an art studio in Ottawa, working mainly in sculpture but with no limits.
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