In One Day, Janet Shaw-Russell
A stack of 65 sewing paper tissue paper rounds about 15cm in diameter each spread out on a plinth and held down by an amber coloured stone. The viewer is invited to touch these tissue rounds. The artist has stitched with embroidery floss, sewing thread and sinew on each of these works. They represent the number of new breast cancer cases diagnosed in Canada each day at the time of the art creation.
Title: In One Day
Artist: Janet Shaw-Russell
Date: 2015
Medium/Material: Mixed media, embroidery, found objects
Dimensions: 45 cm x 45 cm x 1 cm
Form/Genre: Embroidery, interactive art
Key Terms/Subject/Tags: Breast cancer; Loss; Art as healing
Artist Statement:
For Janet Shaw-Russell’s artwork, In One Day, she cut sixty-five six-inch scalloped circles from sewing pattern tissue. On each, she stitched, printed, rubbed or burned. Sixty-five was the number of new breast cancer cases diagnosed in Canada in one day, based on a Canadian Cancer Society statistics report from 2014. Today, that number has increased to eighty-nine per day.
Located on a plinth, weighed down by an amber-toned stone, gallery visitors are invited to pick up each of these breast rounds. If they do, they feel the texture of tailor tacks and chain stitch in sinew and thread in their hands. Some patrons find solace and a safe space to share their cancer stories with loved ones or friends.
The loss of friends and family to breast cancer prompted numerous works related to this disease in Shaw-Russell’s solo show, This Fragile Dwelling Place, at the Art Gallery of Southwestern Manitoba in 2015. One friend with four young children had passed away in her early forties.
Others in her life died from or survived breast cancer. Each faced a significant life challenge.
On a 10 x 10 wall, a black and white artwork, Breast Wallpaper 2, examined the frequency of developing breast cancer in a lifetime, while on the other side of the same wall, a coloured artwork, Breast Wallpaper 1, celebrated women’s connections.
Cultural Context / Story Behind the Work:
Created for This Fragile Dwelling Place, Shaw-Russell’s solo show in 2015 at The Art Gallery of Southwestern Manitoba.
Rights for this Image:
This digital image is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0. You are free to share it for non-commercial purposes, as long as you credit the artist.
Learn More: