An exhibition in Chilliwack shows how two artists – one working with clay, the other with fabric – have made several pieces of art stemming from one idea.
Artists Ted Driediger of Chilliwack and Lois Klassen of Abbotsford present their show 'Iterations: Explorations in Cloth and Clay' in the O'Connor Group Art Gallery at the Chilliwack Cultural Centre from Jan. 2 to Feb. 1.
“We both work in series. We both like to explore the possibilities of how you can extrapolate an idea over and over and get a different result,” Klassen said.
For Klassen that might be using the idea of a kaleidoscope in her quilts, while Driediger's subject is clay buildings.
Driediger's sculptural works focus on the idea of community and shelter in a village format with an emphasis on shape, volume, and interconnectedness. Klassen’s work explores themes of social justice, grief and loss, and nostalgia for domestic arts of the past.
"Reiteration of a concept demonstrates that there is not just one end point to the working out of an idea; viewers of these series of works are invited to participate in the artistic process of exploration and development," they wrote in a joint artists’ statement.

Driediger's village started out as garden lanterns.
"My hand building has always been for the home which has naturally led to sculptural work for the garden. Here old ideas have become new, resulting in some of my garden lanterns resembling small buildings."
When he went on a trip to Europe, he said he was blown away by its history and architecture and "the way buildings were so overwhelmed with security and protection and clustering on the hilltops and on the cliffsides. The buildings were beautiful.”
With the garden lanterns on his mind, the idea of building a clay village just kind of “showed up,” he said. Driediger realized he wanted to mimic what he saw in Europe.
“Once I got going, I couldn’t stop," he said.
"Clustered together these buildings represent a village speaking to my love of and need for home, security, history, architecture and community. Together with this concept I wish these sculptures to show the natural character of the clay and display honesty through marks of the process."
His village is set up right in the middle of the gallery. The dozens of buildings – most are about knee-high – look like they’re set in a valley with Klassen’s quits hanging above like mountains, trees and a skyline from all angles.

Klassen has been experimenting with recycled fabrics, upholstery fragments, textile waste, and vintage or antique materials in some of her pieces. One cloth piece she believes was made about 100 years ago, between the First and Second World Wars.
Some materials have words embroidered on them, others have delicate and colourful flowers.
"By including the needlework of bygone women into my pieces, I am carrying forward a traditional craft into the present, adding the dimension of time and nostalgia to a piece. Grief and loss in the midst of life’s beauty has been the theme in the series of collaged works which employ these found needlework fragments."
A handful of her quilts were made after husband Heinz died in 2017. She used ink to write her own words of grief on the quilts, some of which have a contrasting message like one that reads: "I was safe with you by my side."
"The implication being I’m not safe now,” Klassen said.
Klassen and Driediger have known each other for years when they both lived in Yarrow, where they've had a few art shows together.
The two can see how their work both complements and contrasts the other.
Driediger noted “the softness and the hardness” of the two mediums are a definite contrast.
They see similarities in the colour of their work, and how both the quilts and the clay buildings are connected to where we live and the idea of community. Klassen's friend mentioned that both artists' works are characterized by repeated geometric forms.
“They are about shelter and comfort and natural materials,” Klassen added. “They might contrast, and they certainly have some complimentary elements of colour and things, but they sit comfortably together in this space.”
'Iterations: Explorations in Cloth and Clay' featuring sculptures by Ted Driediger and textiles by Lois Klassen is at the Chilliwack Cultural Centre from Jan. 2 to Feb. 1. The opening reception is Saturday, Jan. 4 from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Gallery hours are noon to 5 p.m. Wednesday to Saturday. Admission is free.