A large mixed-media art piece designed to bring together women who might not otherwise meet will be unveiled Saturday at The Reach Gallery Museum (32388 Veterans Way).
Artist Linda Klippenstein worked with designer Valdene McCutcheon to come up with the multi-canvas piece, titled We Gather Together, which measures five feet by 15 feet and is emblematic of the “city in the country.”
The country provides the backdrop – mountains that give way to rolling hills, forest and farmland – all made from bits of torn paper, quilted fabric pieces and cedar bark.
At its centre are two hands coming together over the city, which forms the heart of the piece. As one gets closer, one sees hundreds of people coming together from across the landscape.
Over the course of several months, over 80 women pasted more than 60,000 pieces of torn paper to the canvas, bringing the landscape to life.
They were women of all ages and abilities, of all vocations or none, of different cultures and ethnicities, of wealth and poverty, from urban and rural locations in the Fraser Valley.
They sat side by side, week after week, discovering things about each other, exploring different world views, and expanding their circles of friendship.
The piece opens during International Women’s Day activities and will be displayed at The Reach for two weeks, before moving to its permanent home at Abbotsford Community Services.
Prospera Credit Union supported the costs of the project, which included having 540 two-inch silhouettes of people professionally laser cut out of black acrylic plastic.