AN HOMAGE – Mixed Media Works and Fibre
Irma Makariunaite

ARTIST STATEMENT

“An Homage” is an exhibition of mixed media works and fibre dedicated to my mother who raised me here in Canada. She was also an artist whose work has been and still is a profound source of inspiration for me. Works in this exhibition were made to honour her and to celebrate that eternal creative energy and the ongoing unique posthumous connection between two artistic women: a mother and a daughter. 

The mixed media works include works on canvas, on paper, as well as works in fibre. 

Works on canvas represent quilt-like designs that also contain photographic transfers and hand-stitching. The photos are transfers of old photos from my own family albums that offer glimpses into my mother’s youthhood, as well as my own. Many of the small objects or knick-knacks, some protruding in bas-relief from the canvas surfaces, come from my mother’s collection of beads and other discovered and/or found or donated objects. Stich marks, fabric bits along with metallic threads fused together allude to my mother’s works in fibre that have always inspired me. 

Works on paper include pieces with painted or silkscreened backgrounds that were created by my mother but were left unfinished. When I found these backgrounds in her collection I decided to finish them off in my own way. I chose to create collages using some of the unfinished backgrounds and on others I stitched bits of fabric to them and attached various found objects. 

In others, I combined my mother’s hand-painted papers with my own hand-painted acid-free tissue paper and other materials as a posthumous artistic collaboration and a celebration of that creative energy to produce vibrant mixed media collages. 

Likewise, the hooked rugs contain knitting yarn that my mother had left behind from the times when she explored knitting. Nuno felting was also another technique that she enjoyed thus inspiring me to explore it as well. I am also very grateful to the “Fibre Arts Bunch” at the ICAC and the “Threads” group based in Tillsonburg for helping me to demystify some of the fibre arts techniques that my mother had used in her art work.

BIOGRAPHY:

Irma Makariunaite has been working as a mixed media collage artist, predominantly using hand-painted paper, ephemera, photographic transfer, and found objects on painted canvas surfaces using acrylics and acrylic mediums. However, the artist has also been branching out into the world of fibre dedicating separate workspaces for mixed media in painting and fibre arts. Rug hooking has been her main form of expression in fibre art, although she has also been delving into wet felting, Nuno felting, and various dyeing techniques whenever the opportunity for such exploration has presented itself. Irma has also attended a number of workshops at the Dundas Valley School of Art 

where she explored many fibre arts techniques as well. 

Irma is a graduate of OCAD and the University of Toronto where she completed her degree in Fine Art History. She has participated in numerous exhibitions both regionally and internationally. Recently, in April 2022, she took part in a group exhibition at the Westland Gallery in London, Ontario. Back in 2019, she had a solo exhibition at the Tillsonburg Station Arts Centre, where she will also be in an upcoming group exhibition “Convergence”, in July 2022. 

In the past, Makariunaite has organized a group exhibition of Canadian artists in Chicago, USA, and has also participated in exhibitions in both Latvia and Lithuania.

The artist will be having a Mother and Daughter exhibition at the Woodstock Art Gallery in 2024.

Currently, Irma Makariunaite resides outside of Delhi, Ontario, and practices art at her studio, where she has been exhibiting annually during the Norfolk Studio Tour since 2017.