The Musée régional de Vaudreuil-Soulanges is pleased to invite you to the opening of handmade paper artist Joanne Kielo's exhibition! This fascinating exhibition highlights an artistic journey from a life of hyper-productivity to one that adapts to a slower, more contemplative pace. The vernissage takes place on September 17, from 2 to 4 pm.

Refuge: Coming Home is a solo exhibition that traces Joanne Kielo’s redefinition of the artistic process of handmade papermaking as she discovers ways to live and thrive alongside a newly diagnosed chronic illness and the challenges of aging.

The exhibition highlights an artistic path that moves from a life of hyper-productivity into one that adjusts to a slower and contemplative pace.

When her body could no longer do the heavy lifting of pulp or the cultivating of flax, how did Kielo find her playground? Having to let go of some artistic endeavours that engaged full body strength and stamina, she began to address her feelings of loss around physical dexterity and parts of her practice.

The exhibition Refuge: Coming Home highlights Kielo’s artistic quests in three stages: The I Ching (reflection), The Mandalas (loss and memory) and Downsizing (integration).

Who is the artist?

Joanne Kielo is a handmade paper artist and has been exhibiting for over forty years.  She has participated in several solo shows, group shows, and international publications.

Kielo moved from an urban setting to the country to grow and process her own flax.  Collecting century old flax tools she explored the arduous process of making flax into paper.  Using the Hollander Beater, Kielo pushed the beating times of her papers to deliberately increase shrinkage. 

Some of the art work produced from the handmade pulps engage with the environment, moving and shifting with the humidity of the space. The paper is alive. Kielo’s most current work involves mixed media, integrating hand made paper art and memorabilia of the past, into the present.