OCT 5th Helen Exhibition Opening and Matcha Night

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4-235 Spadina Ave. Toronto. M5T 2E2

Ceramic and Matcha by

Helen Kong

Helen is the owner of Secret Teatime, a clay maker space located in Scarborough where people play with clay and sip tea. She studied the Ontario College of Art & Design and during her period of living abroad in Japan, she immersed herself into ritualized tea through Chado (the Way of Tea). Since then, she has been focusing on creating work that are influenced by her studies in Japanese and Chinese tea expressed through handmade tea wares, multi-sensory experiences, and teaching. She also has collaborated with many local artists, tea people and food establishments in the city. Recent projects include the “Ichigo-Ichie Tea Project” for Nuit Blanche TO 2022 (as organizer and artist), “Meeting for Teas” residency at the Banff Centre 2023 (as a resident artist), “Midsummer Tea Salon” Pop-up at Gallery 222 (as co-curator, artist, and tea facilitator), “In One Chawan” summer 2024, an ongoing seasonal food and tea experience with Deporated Seafood (co-facilitator).

IN THIS EXHIBITION:
For this collection of work, I wanted to contrast from the flora of the Spring Summer collection. As person that has Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) and is heavily affected during the colder and darker seasons, autumn winter are times where I sit with the darker parts of me in search for light. 

In the “Tally Marks” collection, I explore counting as a means to mark abundance. What are we counting? It can be things we harvested in our little gardens, the number of peaches eaten this year, the number of days I got out of bed before noon, or how many days I’ve decided that it’s ok to take it easy and rest?

This led to the thought of “日日是好日 - Everyday’s a Good Day” a common phrase on a calligraphic scroll displayed in the tea room as the theme/reminder in Chado. It is to remind us that we get something out of every day we live even if the day is challenging.

“Hugs + Kisses” is a series where I scribble “X”s and “O”s expressing my need for more warm affection in these cold months.

In “Grounded” I connect and learn from nature. Autumn in Toronto is were the leaves change colour the green has its last bursts before it goes into the much needed hibernation in order to grow again in spring. 

Sleep is one my essential forms of rest. In “Dreams” I explore that space where I am in dreamland, where there is warm light and vast space for me to just be and imagine freely.

Textiles by

AMANDA RATAJ

Amanda is an artist and weaver living and working in Hamilton, Ontario. She studied at the Ontario College of Art and Design University and has developed her contemporary craft practice through research-based projects, artist residencies, and exhibitions. Amanda is a contract lecturer in Toronto Metropolitan University’s Fashion program and has been an educator at the Art Gallery of Ontario for over a decade. Recent exhibitions include Generation at Craft Ontario as part of the Design TO festival (2023), Crosscurrents: Canada In the Making at the Textile Museum of Canada (2018), and Nothing is Newer Than Tradition (Art Gallery of Burlington, 2017).

IN THIS EXHIBITION:
For this collection of tea textiles, I wanted to create work that opposed the colourful, textured work I created for Spring Colours - Summer Hues.

Considering the first half of the theme, Autumn Abundance, I wove four tea mats using a palette of naturally dyed colours in thin, delicate cotton and linen. I had in mind crispy brown leaves and the fading black-eyed susans — the abundance of one season’s colour fading into the next.

For Winter Rest, I created ten tea cloths using a lace weaving technique, thinking of the furrows and drifts of snow that will form in a few short months. There are many types of snow, but I tried to mimic my favourite type with these cloths: thin, slightly transparent, with marks from wind and plants. Just as snow looks white from a distance but contains many colours up close, I used a palette of natural and bleached “white” yarns for the tea cloths.