Round Corners
Quinn Rockliff
Round Corners explores the moments of daily softness and care encountered by the artist since moving to Barton Village one year ago.
Behind the curtain of Barton and its residents lay many tender moments, ones I didn’t expect to see. Admittedly, Barton came with a warning, one I had at front of mind when I first settled into my apartment. Slowly, through looking out my studio window down onto my neighbours below, what has replaced the warning is reminders of care and moments of togetherness. In this piece, four floating sheer fabric panels will be illustrated with objects observed. Ordinary things contextualized amongst the people and place of this neighbourhood take on new meaning. Perhaps a plastic garden chair becomes a symbol for neighbours sharing nightly conversations on
their front stoop, a bike: the children down the road who’s screams of joy echo to my window, the dandelion between the cracks of the concrete: a peaceful resistance to the change, and clothespins: the deep care the elderly take in their things and their ways as they clean, dry, and
fold their garments in their garden. Using fabric as a backdrop for these pieces lends to softness of interpretation. One I hope the viewer will stop and view as the lawn chair dances on the sheer backdrop and brushes up against a dandelion. Perhaps proposing a way of interpretation not often encountered, one I too did not anticipate looking through the curtain of my studio window.
Quinn Rockliff is an interdisciplinary feminist artist based in Hamilton. Rockliff’s work is largely nude portraiture that contemplates sexuality and reclamation through self-representation by drawing her body over and over again. Client commissions often focus on this revealing, declarative part of Rockliff’s style; able then to see their bodies differently within the negative spaces and lines.
Rockliff’s client work pares down visual art to its minimalist core. She’s surfaced a fresh honesty in her work with this approach. Past clients have included: Knix, H&M, Rethink Breast Cancer, LOVEFRESH, and Mary Young.
675 Barton St. E
The ‘Anything is Possible on Barton’ exhibition is a neighbourhood wide art project that was selected for the Government of Canada’s My Main Street Community Activator program. This project is organized by the Barton Village BIA and funded in part by the Government of Canada through the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario and the City of Hamilton. Thank you to the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario and the Canadian Urban Institute for supporting local communities and revitalizing our main streets.
Please check out the other 14 installations HERE.
