To say that Sola Fiedler is a rabid recycler would be an understatement.
In fact, the 82-year old Vancouver-based fibre artist has made recycling her life鈥檚 work and to that end has brought new vitality to everything from abandoned buildings to the textiles she uses in the oversized tapestries she spends years creating.
鈥淪ola,鈥� as she鈥檚 known, is also a keeper of history. The artist freezes time with her intricate weavings of iconic skylines of cities from across the globe. Of particular interest are Olympic Games host cities.
鈥淭hey can take up to five years to complete and that鈥檚 eight hours a day, seven days a week and that includes Christmas Day and birthdays,鈥� says Sola. 鈥淲hen they announced the Olympics would be held in L.A. in 2028, I decided that鈥檚 where I鈥檒l celebrate my 92nd birthday. That gives me 10 years to finish [the tapestry].鈥�
The public can see Sola鈥檚 magnificent tapestries during an exhibit dubbed, Leap and the Loom Will Appear, on Granville Island during walking tours developed to coincide with the听, Sept. 19 to 23. 听
For the first time, Sola鈥檚 massive听2009 听(11 feet by 7.5 feet) and听2002 听 (10 feet by seven feet) tapestries will be exhibited side by side. Her 2014 听tapestry (11.6 feet by 5.3 feet), on loan from听Canuck Place Children鈥檚 Hospice; the iconic听2018 Canada 150听flag (eight feet by four feet); and a new听2018 Granville Island Tapestry听(eight feet by four feet) will also be on display alongside a retrospective of Sola鈥檚 vintage works, totalling 17 pieces. Sola鈥檚 tapestries will be included on the self-guided textile walking tours curated by Silk Weaving Studio, which highlight 24 artist locations on Granville Island. 听
Sola uses yarn from recycled sweaters from thrift stores and she typically makes searching for such discarded treasures a part of each day. Sola estimates she鈥檚 saves more than 600 sweaters and T-shirts from the landfill a year.
But when it comes to designing these massive pieces, it鈥檚 not so much the materials she uses that make them so astounding, but the way she studies a city in order to recreate it in pinpoint detail 鈥� from the number of floors in a building to the colour of the trees and water.
Making her work even more astonishing is the fact Sola doesn鈥檛 work from photographs. Instead, she moves to the city of choice and walks the streets for months capturing minute details in her mind.
鈥淚 go and look at buildings and then in my head I plan how I鈥檓 going to do it,鈥� Sola told the Courier during a recent interview. 鈥淚 can complete about four square inches in a day.鈥�
In reference to the aerial views she creates, Sola imagines them from above.
鈥淚n 麻豆传媒映画I was an eagle, in Las Vegas I was a helicopter and in L.A., I鈥檒l be a drone,鈥� Sola says, laughing.
Leap and the Loom Will Appear runs Sept. 21 to Oct. 2, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., at on听Granville Island. An opening reception takes place Sept. 20, 6 to 9 p.m. and Sola will be in attendance. The walking tours take place from Sept. 17 to 30. To find the self-guided map, please visit silkweavingstudio.com.
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