The Wild Pure Aesthetic Wonder exhibition in Woody Point, Newfoundland

from left to right, I Dream of Wild Places by Rachel Ryan, Coyote felted sound mask by Jennifer Galliott, Spora, a wall mounted sculpture by Barb Daniell and Beginning with Time by Judy Martin (side view)

I imagined plant spores as terrestrial asteroids, colonizing new environments"  Barb Daniell

Beginning With Time: reclaimed wool blanket, wool cloth, plant dye, wool thread 78 x 90 inches by Judy Martin

"I want to create immense areas of emptiness filled with repetitive small marks, like the cliff faces in Gros Morne"  Judy Martin

Gloria Hickey at the closing reception of the exhibition.  Gloria gave a walk through, sharing personal anecdotes of the process of curating this innovative exhibition.  Background, Barb Daniell's Spora, foreground, Jennifer Galliott's Coyote.

"In an increasingly urbanized and technologically advanced society, wilderness may well be our most rare and precious resource.  Pristine wilderness cannot be manufactured.  Wilderness is as the heart of Gros Morne and the challenge for this exhibition was for the artists to bring the wild into the heart of their art"  (from the curatorial statement)

Foot Rest of the Earth: Serpantine periodotitte and Cushioned from the Past: Lichen Encrusted Granite, both by Linda Hope Ponting.  Wool yarn, knitted, woven, felted and needle felted.  These are the size of boulders, the top one 38 x 20 x 6 inches, the lower one 34 x 28 x 20 inches.

Rosalind Ford, with one of her two suspended elder ducks.  Fracked, screen printed cotton, embroidery and plasti-dip. 

"The proposed fracking activity presents a large undetermined threat to the birds in the area." Rosalind Ford

Into the Boreal by Shoshanna Wingate   ecoprints on fabric, stitched and embroidered.  Birch, alder, larch leaves, raw silk, original poems.

poet and artist Shoshanna Wingate

poem by Shoshanna Wingate inspired by birch leaves

"Engagement with the natural environment is a foundation for my own work and I hope to find a new way to expand tradition." Shoshanna Wingate

Beginning of Time by Judy Martin, seen from reverse side.  Both sides are the right side.

The Wild Pure Aesthetic Wonder exhibition closed on October 18, 2015.  It had hung all summer (from May until October) in the Woody Point Discovery Centre in Gros Morne National Park.  The Discovery Centre was visited by 25,000 people.  Each of the pieces was created especially for this exhibition.  The co-curators were Gloria Hickey and Philippa Jones, the sponsors of the exhibition were the Craft Council of Newfoundland and Labrador and Parks Canada.  View or download the catalog of the exhibition.  There is also a curatorial essay available , click here to read it.