Elawasney.com

Inspired by the cultural underbelly of rural communities, Pastoralia embodies Wasney’s upbringing in the Canadian prairies. Works are initially informed by the roadside religious advertising signs notorious in the countryside. Text is found and taken from signage and other public displays then recontextualized. Utilizing primarily the domestic and traditional medium of cross stitch, the outside is brought inside, and vice versa. Taking a humorous approach, Pastoralia is a conceptual portrait of country culture and the veil of religion within.

Ela Wasney (She/Her) is an interdisciplinary artist living and work in Winnipeg, MB (Treaty 1). From sculpture to textile work, Wasney’s practice utilizes text, primarily found texts from rural roadside advertisements and signage.

Through found objects, photography, and typography, I create work that reflects my upbringing in the rural Canadian prairies. My practice examines The Church, its connection to social class, the masculine underpinnings of the rural West, cultural typecasts, and pastoral aesthetics. Roadside religious advertising has been a continuous influence on me and specifically the concurrent threat and hope they present. This has led me to manipulate said found texts in a humorous way to unveil the cultural underbelly of our rural communities. The viewer is integral to my work, I apply the texts in an ambiguous directive, forcing them to interact with it rather than drive right past. My work sits at the gravel crossroads of inside/outside, mockery/piety, disbelief/faith.