| | | | Illuminating Peace | Shuen (rice) paper, silk, metal, wood, ink, charcoal, wheat and rice as the floor component
Lantern 2009, 10' x 10'(diameter), A Peace Project 2001, 8' x 32',
The Long Scroll 2005, 14' x 4'. Dimension of each installation varies. | | | Description of Art Work | | Over the past two decades, I have been focusing my work on the promotion of peace and human understanding. This installation Illuminating Peace represents an accumulation of my current practice. The centre of Illuminating Peace is Lantern (2009), an octagonal structure resembling a gigantic lantern, which is lit from within and hangs above a field of wheat. The eight panels of A Peace Project (2001) hang horizontally above a band of Jasmine rice. The Long Scroll (2005) hangs vertically and often occupies the height of the gallery from floor to ceiling. I began my work with the tactile process of transforming sheets of traditional rice paper into long weaving strips. They were then woven to form an integrated whole. Hand written calligraphy and computer-generated topography were used to weave together eastern and western languages, to intertwine world cultures and religions, in a universal vision for human relations. When viewers are close enough to read this work, they are presented with eight values vital in human relationships: compassion, kindness, respect, understanding, patience, tolerance, gentleness and forgiveness. More than 35 world languages are interwoven into this work. My objective is to transform the gallery space into a sanctuary for contemplation. Public participation is also a feature in this exhibition. Viewers are invited to write/draw their visions of peace onto strips of papers and then weave them onto a separate panel. A piece of public art will be created during the exhibition period. This installation would serve as a point of departure for viewers to tap into their inner resources, and further expand the message of peace to a message of hope. | | GalleriesWest Art Magazine, fall/winter 2012 Review by Tom Hardy | | Amy Loewan's work is a highly crafted presentation of a social and spiritual belief that peace in ourselves and with others, can be attained through acts of consciousness intiated by art. The three large scale works - meticuously constructed hanging scrolls - are woven by hand from strips of folded rice paper. They bear text through various graphic representations, including calligraphy, print and world alphabets. Loewan's art functions in the social arena, but without engaging political arguments or questioning aesthetic structures. Peace is conclusive here. As viewers we are asked to suspend disbelief and allow the work to affect us. [more...] | 
2012 The Reach Gallery Museum Abbotsford, British Columbia | 
2009 Yukon Arts centre Public Art Gallery, Whitehouse, Yukon | 
2011 Kootenay Gallery of Art, History & Science, Castlegar, British Columbia | 
detail | 
installation in progress | 
artist installing a field of wheat under Lantern | 
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| | artist conducting a walk and talk about her work | | | | | |
