- Source: Kaija Sanelma Harris
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Kaija Sanelma Harris (née Lehtimäki) was a Finnish-born Canadian weaver whose contributions were significant to the craft and art community of Canada. Renowned for her exceptional use of colour, structure, creation of innovative techniques, and impact on Canadian weaving, Kaija left an enduring legacy in Canadian art.
Kaija has been the recipient of many awards and grants, including five Dimensions Premier's Prizes and seven Dimensions Merit awards. Kaija was in the top five finalists for the Saidye Bronfman Award in 2001. She received a Canada Council Craft Grant in 1996, a Saskatchewan Arts Board Creative "A" Grant in 1987, and the Saskatchewan Arts Board Travel Grant in 1984.
Her works have been featured in solo and group exhibitions across Saskatchewan, Canada, the United States and in Europe. Kaija's works are in numerous collections such as Rideau Hall Residence Collection, the Canadian Museum of Civilization, the Canada Art Bank, the Department of External Affairs Canada, SaskTel, the City of Regina, the University of Saskatchewan, Remai Modern, and SK Arts.
Early life and education
Kaija Sanelma Harris was born in Turku, Finland, in 1939. At the age of four, Kaija and her sister were sent to Sweden to escape the threat of Soviet occupation. Both her Finnish biological mother and her Swedish foster mother were accomplished textile workers. Kaija's Swedish foster mother knit and embroidered clothes for her, and Kaija's Finnish mother was a seamstress who worked out of their home, making gowns to a customer's specifications. Artist Megan Broner who collaborated with Kaija on an exhibition combining each artist's weaving and jewelry, described how Kaija's aptitude for textiles began at an early age. Broner recounted a story where Kaija's mother asked her to go out and purchase more thread, giving the small child a single blue string for reference, of which Kaija was able to perfectly match from memory.
Following high school, Kaija studied weaving at Abo Hemslojdslararinne Institut (Turku Textile Teachers Institute) from 1960 to 1964. Kaija describes this experience in an artist statement she wrote in 1988. The school was very traditional. Students learned to spin, dye, and weave, and received a thorough understanding of weave structures. Students also learned sewing, drafting patterns, embroidery, and studied many lesser-known textile techniques. Good craftsmanship and design was emphasized. Kaija writes that "Although my first weave was somewhat discouraging, I think I learned more from it than from any later one. I learned the function and meaning of the various parts of the loom, the relationship between a draft and a weave, and above all how to repair broken warp threads and as you all know, the knowledge one gains the hard way is not easily forgotten."
Career
After completing her education, Kaija moved to Reykjavík and worked as an assistant to Sigrun Jonsdottir, an Icelandic textile designer specializing in batik and ecclesiastical art. While in Iceland, she met American Fulbright student Richard Harris and married. Kaija's first introduction to North America was in the state of Iowa, in Cedar Rapids. There Kaija attended an exhibition of weaving organized by the Museum of Modern Art: this exhibition was an experience Kaija referred to often as a remarkable influence on her art practice. She marveled at the freedom and the 'lack of inhibition' demonstrated by these new contemporary weavers, which included artists from North America, Poland, and Germany. That same year, The Harris' journeyed to Umea, Sweden for a time so that Richard could teach at Umea University. Kaija purchased her first loom, and began to teach weaving. In Umea, Kaija was further influenced by three exhibitions of textile art: a contemporary Polish weaving exhibition; an African weaving exhibition; and an exhibition of the work of Hannah Ryggen. After a few years of moving between the United States and Sweden following Richard Harris' teaching work, the Harris' settled in Saskatchewan in 1973.
Working off her traditional education, and inspired by the experimental textile work seen in the United States and Sweden, Kaija began to weave more ambitious tapestries, and secured her first solo exhibition at the Shoestring Gallery in Saskatoon in 1975. Kaija received her first of five Dimensions Premier's Prizes in 1978.
Kaija attended the Fibre Interchange workshops at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity in Alberta in 1980, under the tutelage of renowned textile artist Mariette Rousseau-Vermette. Kaija stated that this impactful workshop helped Kaija further relax the regimented methods of her traditional education while also making her designs more disciplined and ambitious. The consecutive years of 1981 and 1982 saw Kaija as a summer faculty member teaching Architectural Weaving at the Banff Centre.
In 1983 Harris was commissioned by Cadillac Fairview alongside several other prominent Canadian artists to create art for the Toronto-Dominion Centre in Toronto. This commission produced Sun Ascending (1984), the largest of the commissioned pieces displayed at the TD Centre. Sun Ascending is constructed of 24 panels that took Harris and an assistant nine months of full time work to complete. Myrna Gent describes in a Craft Factor article that Kaija worked twelve hours a day, seven days a week for that period of time, while her assistant worked eight-hour days, five days a week. Sun Ascending can be seen in the background of the famous movie American Psycho (2000) at the time stamp of 1h, 21m, while it was installed at the TD Centre. This work was later donated to the Mackenzie Art Gallery collection in Regina, Saskatchewan. This notable donation prompted the highly regarded exhibition Prairie Interlace in 2023. Alongside large tapestry work Kaija also fulfilled commission work for interior designer and crafts advocate interior designer and crafts advocate Sandy Grotta, creating custom throws, afghans, and blankets, two of which are in the esteemed Grotta House collection. In 2001, Kaija was a top five finalist for the Saidye Bronfman Award.
Kaija's legacy as an innovative and hardworking artist is significant in the Canadian weaving community. She is remembered for developing new structures and methods in weaving, her sensitive approach to color, and her unwavering commitment to her practice. Kaija Harris passed away on August 27, 2022, at the age of 82.
Kaija exhibited in many group shows and had several solo shows between 1975 and 2008, including Northern Comfort (1988), Tapestries 1990-1993 (1993), Colour Maps (2008), and posthumously, Warp & Weft (2024), a joint retrospective exhibition presented by the Saskatchewan Craft Council and the Remai Modern, which was announced mid August 2024.
= Use of colour
=Kaija was known for her keen sense of colour. She found inspiration from the landscape around her, on both a large and small scale. In an interview with Sheila Roberson for The Craft Factor, Kaija reflected on when she first moved to Saskatchewan: “I fell in love with the province early, driving from the south to the north. I loved the light on the prairie”. In the same interview, Kaija expands on how the landscape inspired and influenced her work and talks about finding the elusive quality and subtle colours of nature that captivated and motivated her to express them through weaving.
The use of colour and texture in Kaija's tapestries were important to her. She chose different threads to blend together, working with shades and values to create the exact colour blends that she needed for her works.
In an interview with the Banff Centre radio program "Studio: Work in Progress", Harris stated that she is very interested in colour but in theory has not received any formal training. She described that her colour use and choice is intuitive, and that she had no inhibitions toward colour. She can put any colour anywhere, and it tends to work. This lack of inhibition is demonstrated in the way she blends and combines yarns, creating a fascinating depth of colour.
This technique of blending threads combined with Kaija's technical skills created complex and compelling uses of colour. When viewed up close these complicated blends reveal lines of individual fibers that combine into a smooth transition when viewed at a distance. This playful use of colour creates remarkable dimensionality in her works. Kaija also considered how different yarns and threads absorb and reflect light, further adding to their visual depth.
An interview "From Inner Eye to Public View: Designing with Kaija Sanelma Harris," by Dorothy Boran, discusses this use of blending threads and the different kinds of yarns Kaija used. Boran also discusses how the technical knowledge of Kaija's material lets her explore and innovate different methods to blend colours to create the effects she desired. This allows for further colour explorations that may seem questionable in other uses, yet are beautifully executed in her work.
= Use of structure
=Kaija Sanelma Harris developed contemporary structures and methods not previously used in weaving. Combined with her unique approach to colour, this has made her one of the most innovative weavers in Canadian art. In an interview with curator George Moppett for the Mendel Art Gallery's Tapestries 1990-1993 exhibition catalogue, Kaija described how she developed her own inlaid tapestry weave based on a technique of the British weaver, Theo Moorman. Kaija's first experiments resulted in a series of tapestries called Transition, which uses her own version of the Moorman weave to achieve a pictorial image. Kaija later refined this method which she called 'double weave' and 'inlaid tapestry weave.' These methods have two warps, which allowed Kaija to separate and reconnect the yarn systems resulting in three-dimensional works. These three-dimensional structures are in the body of the tapestry and integrated with the pattern itself, rather than assembled separately and attached afterwards.
In an artist statement from 1986 Kaija explained that she likes to stretch the possibilities of her work by finding ways to combine straight lines with ripples, folds, or pleats. These raised areas in the tapestry catch light and cast shadows, helping create the atmosphere or mood Kaija wants for the piece. Examples of Kaija's double and inlaid techniques resulting in three-dimensional works can be seen in her pieces such as Stubble Field (1984), On the Way to Shangri-La (1990) and A Place for Contemplation (1998).
Kaija's exploration of double weaving led her to consider how tapestries can be deconstructed, filled, and altered after the weave is off the loom as well. Kaija's "Wild Goose Chase" series played with how shrinkage from washing the textile can produce new textures and forms. In these works light gauzy weavings have been made to hang and be seen from both sides. In an article by Sheila Robertson for the Star-Phoenix, Robertson describes Kaija's works as striving to be sculptural. Robertson writes that Kaija was interested in the idea of excavating her own fabrics. She cut into the layers of finished tapestries to reveal the underlying structures, or experimented with the shrinkage of different wool varieties. Kaija further experimented with unconventional materials, weaving pockets with photo filters that allowed light to pass through, creating slippery glimmers under the delicate surface. These photo filter strategies can be seen in Kaija's "Woven Quilt Series." This altering of the weaving after the loom also extended to felting and embroidery. Robertson wrote that Kaija's work On the Wane (1999) shows the consideration that she put into her works through the small details of embroidery which finish the tapestry.
List of exhibitions
Warp & Weft, A Kaija Sanelma Harris Retrospective, 2024-2025. A joint exhibition between the Saskatchewan Craft Council and the Remai Modern. Solo Show
Prairie Interlace, 2024. Mackenzie Art Gallery, Regina, SK. Group Show
Prairie Interlace, 2023. Art Gallery of Southwest Manitoba, Bandon, MB. Group Show
Prairie Interlace, 2023. Mann Art Gallery, Prince Albert, SK. Group Show
Prairie Interlace, 2022. Nickle Galleries, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB. Group Show
Colour Maps, 2008. Saskatchewan Craft Council, Saskatoon SK. Solo Show
Dimensions 2004, 2004. Saskatchewan Craft Council, Saskatoon SK. Group Show
Dimensions 2003, 2003. Saskatchewan Craft Council, Saskatoon SK. Group Show
In Prairie Light, 2000. Station Arts Center, Rostern, SK. Solo Show
Dimensions 2000, 2000. Saskatchewan Craft Council, Saskatoon SK. Group Show
Arts 2000, 2000. Gallery Stratford, Stratford ON. Group Show
Dimensions '99, 1999. Saskatchewan Craft Council, Saskatoon SK. Group Show
1998. Traditions Handicraft Gallery, Regina, SK. Solo Show
Soft Wall, 1998. Manitoba Craft Council, Winnipeg MB. Group show
Dimensions '98, 1998. Saskatchewan Craft Council, Saskatoon SK. Group Show
Dimensions '97, 1997. Saskatchewan Craft Council, Saskatoon SK. Group Show
Veiled Images, 1995, Saskatchewan Craft Council, Saskatoon SK, Solo Show
Dimensions '95, 1995, Saskatchewan Craft Council, Saskatoon SK, Group Show
Made for a Cause, 1994, Saskatchewan Craft Council, Saskatoon SK, Group Show
Dimensions '94, 1994, Saskatchewan Craft Council, Saskatoon SK, Group Show
Making Meaning, Art and Craft in Saskatchewan, 1994, National Exhibition Center, Swift Current SK, Group Show
Tapestries 1990-1993, 1993, Mendel Art Gallery, Saskatoon SK, Group Show
Dimensions '93, 1993, Saskatchewan Craft Council, Saskatoon SK, Group Show
Dimensions '92, 1992, Saskatchewan Craft Council, Saskatoon SK, Group Show
Saskatchewan Open '92, 1992, Mendel Art Gallery, Saskatoon SK, Group Show
A Treasury of Canadian Craft, 1992, Canadian Craft Museum, Vancouver BC, Group Show
1991, Gallery Framers Inc, Saskatoon SK, Solo Show
In Place: Craft from Saskatchewan, 1991, Saskatchewan Craft Council, Saskatoon SK, Group Show
1991, Cosmo Civic Center, Saskatoon SK, Group Show
Something New on Broadway, 1990, Saskatchewan Craft Council, Saskatoon SK, Group Show
Dimensions '90, 1990, Saskatchewan Craft Council, Saskatoon SK, Group Show
Saskatchewan Open '90, 1990, Mendel Art Gallery, Saskatoon S, Group Show
Dimensions '89, 1989, Saskatchewan Craft Council, Saskatoon SK, Group Show
Northern Comfort, 1988-1989, Touring Saskatchewan, Solo Show
Northern Comfort, 1988, Saskatchewan Craft Council, Saskatoon SK, Solo Show
Collaborations, 1988, Saskatchewan Craft Council, Saskatoon SK, Group Show
Spotlight '88, 1988, The Exchange District, Winnipeg MB, Group Show
Contemporary Murals, 1988, Center des Arts Visuels, Montreal QC, Group Show
Dimensions '88, 1988, Saskatchewan Craft Council, Saskatoon SK, Group Show
1988, Craftspace, Manitoba Crafts Council, Winnipeg MB, Solo
Commonwealth Collection, 1987, Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver BC, Group Show
Dimensions '87, 1987, Saskatchewan Craft Council, Saskatoon SK, Group Show
Dimensions: Fiber, 1986, Musée Marsil Museum, St-Lambert QC, Group Show
Here and Now: Canadian Fiber Art, 1986, The Gallery and Library, Cambridge ON, Group Show
Then and Now, 1986, Saskatchewan Craft Council, Saskatoon SK, Group Show
Black and White, 1986, Saskatchewan Craft Council, Saskatoon SK, Group Show
Craft Focus 2, 1986, Ontario Crafts Council, Toronto ON, Group Show
Dimensions '86, 1986, Saskatchewan Craft Council, Saskatoon SK, Group Show
Saskatchewan Open '86, 1986, Mendel Art Gallery, Saskatoon SK, Group Show
Small Expressions, 1986, St.Lawrence Cener for the Arts, Toronto, ON, Group Show
Fabrications, 1986, The John Black Arid Gallery, Toronto ON, Group Show
Dimensions '84, 1984, Saskatchewan Craft Council, Saskatoon SK, Group Show
Table of works
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