Artists directory

Joanne

Soroka

Disciplines: Textiles & Fibre

Location: City of Edinburgh

Materials: Paper, Tapestry, Woven

www.joannesoroka.co.uk

https://www.facebook.com/joanne.soroka.7/

https://www.threads.com/@joannesoroka

My ancestors emigrated from four different countries to Canada, and now I have emigrated to Scotland. My work focused on their lives and journeys to the New World. I have more recently widened my scope of interest to include refugees and migrants in general. My tapestries often suggest movement between two areas, as well as the connections and displacement between them, echoing the fact that weaving is based on the linkage of threads. Some recent work has been about birds and their hazardous migrations, in parallel with the theme of the brave journeys of migrants and refugees. I celebrate the perseverance and resilience of all of them, humans and birds alike, using texture and shape to add beauty their stories. The act of weaving itself is about joining and connecting, and repair is about making whole. Recent work has been about mending as a metaphor for healing.

Previous Experience

Born in Montreal, Canada, 1949. Citizenship: British and Canadian. Employment: Artistic Director, Edinburgh Tapestry Company (Dovecot Studios), 1982-87. Founded Ivory Tapestries, 1987. Part-time lecturer, Edinburgh College of Art, 1992-2010. Part-time lecturer, University of Edinburgh, Office of Lifelong Learning, 2010-2021. Education: BA, McGill University, 1970 (entrance scholarship). Diploma in Design, Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, Halifax, Nova Scotia, 1972. Post-graduate diploma (with distinction), Edinburgh College of Art, 1976. Awards (selected): Scottish Arts Council Major Award for Individual Development, 2001 Prize, Tallinn Print Triennial, Tallinn, Estonia, 2004. Canada Council grant, 2016. Craft Scotland Award, 2025. Public and private collections in Great Britain, Canada, the USA, France, Italy and Japan Eleven solo and over 100 group exhibitions in Great Britain, Ireland, Canada, the USA, France, Poland, Finland, Spain, Belgium, Switzerland, Japan, Australia, Italy, Hungary, Russia, Ukraine, Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia. Author of Tapestry Weaving: Design and Technique, Crowood Press, 2011.

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