Not To Know But To Go On

     Not To Know But To Go On, 2013
    Installation Thunder Bay Art Gallery, September 13-October 27 2013 
    66.75 metres h x 35.5 cm w x 1 cm d
    Materials: artist canvas, found fabrics, cotton embroidery floss, cotton tape
    Technique: couching by hand.                                       Photo:  Klaus Rossler
    Part of the Mended World exhibition

     Not To Know But To Go On, 2013
     Installation Thunder Bay Art Gallery, September 13-October 27 2013
     full view on 50 foot wall, part of Mended World exhibition
     66.75 metres h x 35.5 cm w x 1 cm d
     Materials: artist canvas, found fabrics, cotton embroidery floss, cotton tape
    Technique: couching by hand.                                        Photo:  Klaus Rossler

      Not To Know But To Go On, 2013

Installation Art Gallery of Sudbury, January 19 – March 2, 2014  (detail)

66.75 metres h x 35.5 cm w x 1 cm d

Materials: artist canvas, found fabrics, cotton embroidery floss, cotton tape

Technique: couching by hand.                                               Photo:  Judy Martin

Included in the Mended World exhibition

Not to Know But To Go On is based on the private, daily ritual of writing a diary.  It also
refers to the Finnish rag rugs of Judy Martin's cultural heritage, but is stitched, not woven. 

For exactly three years the artist maintained a daily practice of couching strips of found 
fabric to canvas with one complete skein of cotton embroidery floss.  Because we do not 
know what each day will bring, the day’s thread was selected with eyes closed. Over one
thousand days were thus lived through and marked. 

Not just memories, but dreams and plans for the future are held within the work, and not just from that day when it was created, but also new ones. The combination of simplicity and subtle human touch transports us into an inner world of dream and self-knowledge.

Exhibition record

This piece is an important part of the Mended World exhibition.  This exhibition has been mounted in three public art galleries in Ontario, Canada. 
Thunder Bay Art Gallery:  September 13 - October 27, 2013

Art Gallery of Sudbury.  January 19 - March 2, 2014

As well, Not To Know But To Go On was exhibited as a solo exhibition as part of the 
World of Threads festival, Oakville Ontario :  November 1 - November 30, 2014.  The World of Threads installation was from the ceiling - shown below.

Not To Know But To Go On was most recently exhibited July 12 - August 9 2018 at the Mary E Black Gallery in Halifax Nova Scotia as part of the exhibition Cloth of Time, a Two person exhibition with Penny Berens and Judy Martin.  For that exhibition, it hung in the centre of the gallery space, from the ceiling.  

There is a poem-booklet entitled Not To Know But To Go On available from the artist.

In 2019- 2023 Not To Know But To Go On toured the USA in the SAQA organized exhibition, 3-D Expressions.  The works in this exhibition were selected by Bruce Hoffman.  Venues included:  

Mended World

       Mended World, 2012, 240h x 240w x 1d cm,  (94" x 94")

      Materials: re-cycled linen and cotton damask, new silk, light weight cotton, sewing and quilting thread, linen yarn, bamboo batting, backed with linen damask pieced with cotton dsigned by marimekko, 

      Technique: hand piecing using foundation cloth, machine piecing, hand quilting, hand embroidery/quilting, made with community assistance.  

            Photo:  Klaus Rossler

Exhibition History

This quilt is part of the Manitoulin Circle Project which took place over four years in Little Current Manitoulin Island under the leadership of Judy Martin.  144 community members took part in hand stitching four large meditation panels.
It was installed June 2012 in the Little Current United Church, Manitoulin Island
It went on exhibition as part of the solo exhibition, Mended World.  Organized by the Thunder Bay Art Gallery (catalog)

September 13 - October 27, 2013  Thunder Bay Art Gallery, part of the Mended World Exhibition
January 19 - March 2, 2014  Art Gallery of Sudbury, Mended World Exhibition

Easter Sunday April 20, 2014,  The four panels are installed in the Little Current United Church for permanent display.

October, 2014:  Espanola United Church.  The five panels are installed for the weekend of the Espanola Fibre Festival in the church's sanctuary.  Judy Martin gave the keynote address for the fibre festival that compared slow hand stitching to an act of social change.
November, 2014:  World of Threads Festival, Oakville, Ontario.  The four large panels are shown in solo exhibition at the festival.
May, 2015:  Homer Watson House and Gallery, Kitchener, Ontario.  The five panels were installed in solo exhibition.
October 2015;  The 4 large panels traveled to Gros Morne, Newfoundland for the fibreconference sponsored by the Craft Council of Newfoundland and Labrador.  Judy Martin taught a workshop based on the technique and design of the panels.

November 2017  Mended World panel travels to International Quilt Festival in Houston Texas USA for invited special exhibition, Masterworks: Abstract and Geometrics.  This exhibition features one quilt from each of the 29 featured artists in Martha Sielman's new book (2016)  Art Quilts International: Abstract and Geometric.  published by Schiffer.  This exhibition is expected to tour until 2020, traveling through the states and also going to Japan and Europe.

Monumental Simplicity

 nine feet square, plant dyed wool/silk blend

 hand stitched with naturally dyed silk threads

upper half dyed with willow, lower half dyed with cone flowers and iron

exhibition record

June 2012:  London, England, Middlesex University BA hons embroidered textile degree exhibition
November 2012: Oakville, Canada, World of Threads festival, with Continuum
February 2013, Germany, Continuum, independent exhibition

April 2019, Beauty, Emotion, Spirit, Soul - solo exhibition at One Sky Gallery in Sudbury Ontario