Standing up for the underdog

Rug hooker Laura Kenney weaves art with activism

Textile artist Laura Kenney has installed her twin activist Judy at the Acadia University Art Gallery.

Judy is a frequent figure in Kenney’s hooked rugs. You never know what she’s going to get up to next.

Greg Davies, curator of the Cape Breton University Art Gallery, calls her a subversive. Local gallery goers would have met Judy in 2019 when Kenney and Wolfville painter Steven Rhude collaborated on an exhibit called ‘Whose Maud?’

Kenney hooked Judy, dressed in black, and holding up classic Maud Lewis images. She says the themes of that show still resonate for her.

Generally sporting red rubber boots, Judy gets into the thick of whatever’s topical or political. Kenney describes Judy as a bit of a superhero with vestiges of her and her mother.

This woolly character saves lighthouses, drinks wine at times to cope with housework and has a bossy cat, Kenney says.

Judy could just as easily be found surfing an ironing board instead of standing at one to remove wrinkles from laundry.

“Judy wants to save the planet from climate change and to never have to make dinner again. The big and the small: she takes it on.”

Born in Moose Jaw, Sask. but with roots in Nova Scotia, Kenney had a grandmother who turned out traditional Bluenose pattern rugs. She decided early on to push back against those old designs.

The late artist Joyce Wieland was an inspiration for her, so were the writings of Margaret Laurence and Margaret Atwood.

Kenney began in a group setting like most novice hookers and was soon pushing the limits by turning out a pink and purple cat with green eyes, she recalled.

Former Prime Minister

Jean Chretien was a catalyst for Kenney circa 1998 when Canada’s lighthouses were defunded.

Her practise sends her frequently to Frenchys where she purchases swaths of wool material. Dying and cutting are the next step in the process.

Kenney has been creating and showing hooked rugs as a professional artist for more than 20 years in her Truro studio.

Her work bridges the lines of fine craft, contemporary art and folk traditions.

Kenney received juried status with the Nova Scotia Craft Council in 2010. Her work ‘Morning Routine’ and ‘Waiting for the Cat to Let her Out; was purchased by Nova Scotia Art Bank for their permanent collection.

In 2016, Kenney had her first solo show at Mary E. Black Gallery in Halifax and a selection of her work was included in Terroir, a survey of art in the province at the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia.

Kenney says she likes to keep her hands busy, while hooking also allows her to channel some anxiety around realities like climate change. Judy has found herself with her head in the sand.

Trained as an immunologist, Kenney began working on this show just prior to Covid-19’s emergence. She used pandemic time to make rugs about the mechanisms of coping. That’s when Judy got into wine and cake, Kenney believes.

The mother of two children, aged 18 and 22, Kenney says she often looks at mothering in her art. That might well have been the impetus for her ‘Moms Getting Medals’ rug in the exhibit.

Kenney says the official opening for Judy’s show was held on March 1 at 1 p.m. At 2 p.m., she conducted an artist’s walk around the exhibition.

The 40-rug show will run until April 6 at Acadia.

Judy will be moving to St. Francis Xavier University this coming fall and then possibly Ontario.

Meanwhile, Kenney is one of a group of world-wide textile artists participating in a permanent online public exhibition, catalogue, and gallery show currently in Texas.

The ‘I Choose, Therefore I Am Project’ is a peaceful protest created by textile artist, curator, and activist Rachelle LeBlanc shortly after the

U.S. Supreme Court decided to overturn Roe v. Wade in 2022.

The permanent online exhibition opened on March 11, while the gallery show opens in Houston on the same day.

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For more information, visit: http://laurakenneyrugs.ca