Featured Artist: Juliana Scherzer

Illuminated in the Queen Street Shop's Retail Feature Window, from October 4 - November 3, explore Juliana Scherzer's new collection of framed and sculptural pieces made from real quilted leaves!

A sense of energy and life flows through the material in this body of work. Consisting of preserved leaves and fabric, some pieces utilize LED lights which flow along the veins sewn into each sculpture. Coming to life at night, lights illuminate pathways and sections of the work, giving a stained glass effect.

The use of electricity to have patchworked leaves glow from within; drawing connections between craft imagery and the environments in which we live, Scherzer creates a direct visual of life, as electricity is an essential building block to being able to live, to move, to breathe.

Juliana Scherzer is a Mississauga-based textile artist currently working with preserved leaves and eco-printing. Her work considers the role of humanity in the natural world through investigating the subtle repetition of structures and patterns. Juliana draws upon recurring organic imagery of natural pathways, roots, veins, and woven structures sourced from deciduous trees, craft, the human body, and city environments.

By studying the intersections and contrasts between the natural and the artificial with recurring imagery from craft and across the natural world, Juliana explores the place of humanity within these concepts. Similarities between these two seemingly opposite ideas are highlighted through the manipulation of organic and human-made materials with contemporary and traditional textile techniques. Her work encourages reflection on the process of creation, and humanity’s interaction with its environment by confronting one’s individualism outside of nature, but also contemplation of one’s sense of place within it.

Production assistance and 3D printing design work by Kate Tessier.

Make sure to visit the Queen Street Shop to see the whole collection of quilted leaves and illuminated sculptures!