Bill Morton and exhibit "Moral Fibres"

Went to lovely talk at the Nickle Gallery on the University of Calgary campus last week to hear Bill Morton speak on his art (he studied dyeing from the masters in Japan for 15 years) and the chance to see his some of wonderful work.

The current show at the Nickle is called Moral Fibres (see the write up from local FFWD paper) and is described as follows: "Cloth is uniquely associated with life and the expression of intimate and shared values. Drawing on works from the Nickle’s collections, Moral Fibres explores the symbolic and tactile potential of cloth to express goodness, appropriateness, or morality. The exhibition features ethnographic works as well as works by the artists: Dominique Blain, Suzanne Franks, Bill Morten, and Alan Dunning."

Anthea Black writes about Bill's piece in the exhibit in the above noted FFWD article:
"Bill Morton’s Turbulence is a long woven piece constructed with naturally dyed silk, processes the much-revered artist also teaches at the Alberta College of Art and Design. The pure physical labour that goes into dyeing and weaving cloth is displayed in a subtle range of colours that undulates from brown, to blue, purple, red and green. The pattern effect is like camouflage, a dense forest and a heavily worn surface. Morton’s pattern can also be interpreted as brush strokes, deep scrapes and the industrial impressions of a car tread or footprint. This is one of the exhibition’s two references to modernist painting. The other is Alan Dunning’s large hanging “carpet” of leaves. That Turbulence so effortlessly conjures the natural origins of the materials and the technology involved in making it, is a testament to Morton’s mastery of the media."