Studio 20.1: Structure

This issue of Studio is a landmark amidst many changes, but its foundation and commitment to craft remains at the core. Themed Structure, this issue examines, defines, and informs various crafts and their relationships with people, places, flows, andmaterials. Exploring how craft and design shape various structures — in every sense of the word, from buildings, to institutions, to processes and procedures, and asks what structures need to be challenged.

In her final issue as editor-in-chief, Nehal El-Hadi shares her thoughts and guidelines on why writing about craft is important.

Our cover is the imaginative work of Ghazaleh Avarzamani. Curator and art historian Noor Alé responds to representations and challenges to power in the Tehran-born artist’s work.

Also in this issue, Matthew Ryan Smith writes about Xiaojin Yan’s employment of mycelium and repurposing of vintage beads in her ethereal installations. Anthony Matthews writes about the artist, furniture maker and sculptor Peter Pierobon, this year’s Saidye Bronfman winner, whose elegant works and meticulous craftsmanship have pushed the boundaries of Canadian woodworking. The evocative poetry of Audie Murray is accompanied by her artwork.

Our Portfolio features the delicate beadwork of Kae Sasaki, whose reclaimed vintage beads transform everyday objects. Light and space are transformed in the paper folds of Lucie Leroux. And intentional materials are at the core of Melanie Hamilton’s furniture and sculptural designs. A short interview with Saeedeh Niktab Etaati; curator, Diasporas and Multinational Communities at the Canadian Museum of History discusses her approach to collaborating with communities and artists.

Writer and researcher Georgia Phillips-Amos explores the polyphonic and urgent works of Nico Williams, winner of the 2024 Sobey Award. A conversation about Indigenous place-making between scholar Omeasoo Wahpasiw and artist and writer Tanis Worme examines the relational relationships between people and land. We also had the pleasure to reprint an essay by writer and curator Laura Ritchie, from Sarah Maloney’s Pleasure Ground: A Feminist Take on the Natural World, the first major survey of the artist’s work. And for History in the Making, Michael Prokopow writes about the French Compagnons and attempts at maintaining artisanal knowledge and cultural memory after historical churches burn down.