
Clay and Cloth
Margot Baker, BFA
About
I don't remember falling in love with making things. It might be inherently in my blood. I've been sewing since I was a little girl, and always fascinated with clay until my first class at 17. Then it was instant infatuation, which will never abate.
At 20, I began to study at the Alberta College of Art and Design in Calgary (now Alberta University of Art and Design AUAD), and followed my passions together, majoring in Ceramics and minoring in fibre arts. Four years later I emerged exhausted and excited, and am now a loving determined maker.
My work is based on function. I come from a strong, yet small family of determined women, who find great joy in making things with their hands. The sense of purpose that comes from a hand built thing is immeasurable.
Currently my making style has transformed into a playful sculptural method of making including a lot of aspects from my new home in rural British Columbia. They are a mixture of wilderness, playful storytelling, and fantastical imagery. The combination is creating a colorful village of immersive and interactive elements.
When I work with fabric, I tend towards highlighting fabrics using white and black as borders enhancing the fabrics instead of the quilt pattern. By working around a given fabric itself to enhance it's beauty, the quilt takes on a life of its own, much like how it claims it's final destination. Most are given, few are sold. There is as much love in the giving as there is in the making.
