Nebula

3.5 x 3.5 x 3.5 cm

size 11 miyuki delica glass beads, nylon thread, stainless steel hook

Jo Argue is interested in recreating the everyday as wearable remembrances of moments in time. Inspired by landscapes, colours and patterns that surround her, Jo gives them new life through beadwork. Using the herringbone triangle, she explores the geometry of patterns found in daily life, creating small dioramas of scenes as simple as a solitary tree in winter to the complexity of an autumn forest. Abstract works are often the result of plays of colour along the water or a glimpse of a painting in a new light. These tiny beads offer a new way to view and build worlds. Across culture beads have been used to tell stories, record events, and adorn clothing. Jo explores form and texture, searching for new possibilities and challenges, retelling the stories around her. Her work aims to compel viewers to want to reach out and touch the pieces, and connect to memories, feelings, and stories in their own lives.

Jo Argue is a sculptor, beadworker, and fibre artist who loves a good story. Her art practice is informed by the stories she hears, sees, and tells to others. The natural world is an intriguing subject for re-creation into whatever medium of choice she is drawn to in a particular moment in time. By day a mild mannered arts administrator, she becomes a deep time storyteller with a needle or rasp in her hand when the demands of society let go. Jo Argue has an MFA in visual arts and her stone sculpture, "Grandmother Dreams of Balance" won an award for best student work at the Halliburton School of Fine Art. Two of her beaded masks were part of a travelling exhibition called "Breathe" which explored artistic reactions to the pandemic through masks. Her stone sculptures were exhibited at the Georgina Arts Centre in Sutton, ON and her interactive presentation, "Remember" was part of Erring on the Mount in Peterborough, ON. Once she was also a university professor teaching storytelling and performance.