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Chilliwack textiles artist shines light on literacy

Sylvie Roussel-Janssens creating public artwork at Chilliwack Library on Thursdays, to create large window piece
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Visual artist Sylvie Roussel-Janssens traces Jackie Allen's hand for a community art project taking place at the Chilliwack Library.

Jackie Allen has always been a voracious reader.

Even as a young child, she says, breakfast offered the chance to read over the cereal boxes, or anything else on the table. As an adult, she devoured fiction novels for years, and then began reading more and more in her role at work.

Now, Allen says, she reads to learn.

And she had the chance to share her love of reading, and learning, in a community art project currently underway at the Chilliwack Library. While dropping off some materials at the downtown location, she noticed textiles and sculpting artist Sylvie Roussel-Janssens set up in the entrance, and stopped to chat.

It's exactly what Roussel-Janssens was there for. To meet the people of Chilliwack, talk to them about their love of reading, and have them help put together a small art installment to be placed in the window.

Allen wrote "I read to learn" on a piece of paper, a piece of the puzzle to be used later on. Then, Roussel-Janssens traced Allen's hand on a square of fabric wrapped around a metal frame.

In total, she's creating 18 squares to fill the space of one of the library's main front windows. They will be a patchwork of the contributors' hands and quotes, on the Fraser Valley Regional Library's colours. True to Roussel-Janssens' style, the fabric pieces will be burned with a saudering iron, so light can shine through and illuminate the entire completed piece.

It's a labour of love, and the multi-step process is one she's been working on for the past 15 years.

There are a lot of small tasks within the project, from creating the squares from recycled or unused materials, to meeting with the public and gathering the quotes and hand silhouettes, to burning the fabric, then building the piece, and finally, illuminating it.

Allen was familiar with Roussel-Janssens' work, and eager to be a part of the piece. For those unfamiliar, and anyone who is interested in the artistic process, she will be returning to the library for three more sessions, to create this community piece of art in a very accessible, public way.

It's not the first time she's created public art, and this won't be the last. This project was Roussel-Janssens' idea, and she eagerly approached the library to see if they were interested. Other times, the artist may answer a public call out for submissions.

But however the project comes about, there is one consistent necessity.

"You have to find a purpose or a context," she said "And finding that is part of the creative process."

To watch Sylvie Roussel-Janssens work on the project, visit the Chilliwack Library from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Jan. 21, 28 or Feb. 4.

 

 

 

 



Jessica Peters

About the Author: Jessica Peters

I began my career in 1999, covering communities across the Fraser Valley ever since.
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