Unmet expectations.

Disappointment.

Loss.

Depression.

Feeling stuck.

Difficult emotions and ongoing struggles with mental health often leave us barren and depleted, like skeletal winter trees. Sometimes it feels like hope faded as the leaves fell to the ground.

How do we hold onto hope when there are no signs of life around us?

This exhibition is an extended meditation on waiting without giving in to despair. If you look for signs of new life in the depths of winter, you won’t find many. But the wonder of trees is that they aren’t actually dead – just waiting for the right conditions and resources to bloom again.

This work offers pain and disappointment room to breathe by inhabiting the long, wintery space before visible spring life emerges. Sometimes we are not ok — but maybe we can move through despair towards a more resilient hope.

The window installation for this project was woven with damaged denim products from the DUER Toronto store. Visit the exhibition during store opening hours, or join one of the companion events that encourage deeper engagement with the discipline of hope in hard times.

A collaboration between textile artist Ruth Wickremesooriya and Canadian performance denim brand DUER.

Ruth Wickremesooriya is a multidisciplinary artist exploring themes of brokenness, hope and transformation. Compelled by a desire to reimagine waste and interrogate ongoing struggles with depression and anxiety, artworks are handwoven using discarded textiles, and inevitable studio waste gathered for new works. The process itself affirms that we all hold inherent value and feelings of brokenness never have the final word.

www.makingruth.com

DUER creates performance denim and lifestyle apparel with a focus on natural materials. They are committed to longevity, versatility and adventure — all in a single pair of pants.

duer.ca