Dawn MacNutt: Timeless Forms
Dawn MacNutt: Timeless Forms
Organized in partnership with MSVU Art Gallery
Throughout her career, Dawn MacNutt has examined the fragility of human life through a lens of care and support, creating poignant pieces that mingle joy and courage with loss and mourning. Spanning four decades of work, this exhibition traces the evolution of her unique practice through a selection of key sculptural works. Moving from delicate miniatures crafted in silver and copper wire to impressive human forms woven from locally sourced willow, this gathering of works charts the development of a complex and nuanced oeuvre that explores the depths of the human condition.
MacNutt first began formally making art while attending Mount Allison University, where she pursued a degree in Psychology with a minor in Fine Arts, studying under Alex Colville. Colville had a distinct appreciation for the applied arts and once remarked, “I even have a theory that a great many visual artists, painters, sculptors, are the children of craftsmen. My mother, for instance, was a milliner; and my father manufactured bridges and structures.”1 After graduating, MacNutt continued to make art while pursuing her career and raising a family. She took courses and workshops on spinning, weaving and basketry. By the 1970s, her work had moved from on-loom weaving to life-size woven trees in hand-spun wool. Over the next decade, her work moved towards the haunting figural forms she is known for today.
Since the pandemic began, there has been a renewed appreciation for craft practices and an increased emphasis on self-care, mindfulness, and compassion. In this context, MacNutt’s work has gained new relevance. As art critic, Gil McElroy once noted, for decades MacNutt has been “transcending norms, pushing boundaries, taking weaving into the realms of the sculptural and the architectural.”2 But she has also always connected her practice back to the realms of human feeling. This focus on care, love and loss reflects her professional and personal experiences, but it also intersects with contemporary desires for meaning and belonging.
About the Artist
Dawn MacNutt obtained a Bachelor of Arts (Art and Psychology) in 1957 from Mount Allison University, New Brunswick. In 1970, she obtained a master’s degree in social work from Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia. She was inducted into the Royal Canadian Academy of the Arts in 2008. In 2005, she was honoured with a Doctorate of Humane Letters by Mount Saint Vincent University and, in 2014, with a Doctorate of Laws by Mount Allison University.
Dawn MacNutt’s work is inspired by her lifelong love of the human condition, what she describes as “the beauty of human frailty.” Interpreting universal human form, or architectonic column-like forms, she generally works with natural materials. There is continued interest in her life-size willow works cast into bronze for outdoor installations and sculpture gardens. In addition to her exhibitions and commission work, she is a longstanding member of the International Sculpture Center; CARFAC (Canadian Artist Representation); Craft Nova Scotia; Visual Arts Nova Scotia; and Creative Pictou County. She served as a national director on the Canadian Craft Council from 1983–1987 and her work is held in numerous collections including MSVU Art Gallery, Halifax; the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, Halifax; the Owens Art Gallery, Sackville; the Museum of Arts and Design, New York; Rideau Hall, Ottawa; and the Canadian Museum of History, Ottawa.
Accessibility
This exhibition is located on the main-floor. The stairs to the Owens from the entrance nearest the University Chapel have a handrail. There is also ramp access at this entrance, however, the ramp is steep. The stairs to the Owens entrance off York Street also have a handrail, but there is no ramp. The main floor of the Owens is wheelchair accessible. Our second-floor gallery is not wheelchair accessible. Two flights of stairs lead to the second floor. Find more information at owensartgallery.com/visit/accessibility/
Top Image: Dawn MacNutt, Kindred Spirits, 1984, seagrass woven on copper wire warp loom, sculpted, welded armature, dimensions variable, installation at Crystal Crescent Beach, NS. Photo: Peter Barss.
