Collaboration With the Dead contemporary embroidery

RECENT EXHIBITION REVIEW: "On a recent trip to Prince Edward Island, I picked up a copy of The Buzz—'PEI’s guide to what’s going on’. From the magazine, I learned about This Town Is Small (TTIS), an artist-run centre in Charlottetown. The gallery is dedicated to fostering contemporary visual art and supporting local artists. I met the director, artist Lisa Theriault, as well as Sarah Noonan. After recently completing an MFA in Estonia, Sarah returned to the Maritimes and is currently working as the interim programming coordinator at TTIS. The energy in the gallery felt like hope—a refreshing wind that hints of things moving forward. Currently on view is the exhibition 𝘊𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘋𝘦𝘢𝘥, by Summerside artist Nancy Cole—and it is stunning. After the death of her father, Cole discovered a box of photographs in his attic. The images are from his time in the Air Force, post-World War II and document his years abroad, in Algeria, France, and Morocco. They came alive again in his daughter’s hands. As a way of reconnecting with him, she began embroidering over the images on canvas, adding her own touch and observations—like augmented realities that conceal or reveal. I’m drawn to the idea of a loose thread hanging from the image, as if pulling it might unravel the whole picture—or offer an explanation for what was happening in that moment. I’m captivated by the intensity of the flames or the abundance of flowers covering the car in 𝘛𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘏𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘊𝘢𝘴𝘢, or the intricate patterns and textures of the women dressed in their abayas on the sidewalk in 𝘋𝘦𝘴 𝘗𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴. I’m left pondering the context and thoughts of the man in 𝘚𝘨𝘵. 𝘚𝘢𝘮 𝘏𝘢𝘱𝘬𝘢. People and places come alive, as if they might help resolve past difficulties—what was left dangling, unsaid, from the initial voyage. The relationship between the original photographs and the embroidered interventions infuses the images with new life. The connection between the archival and the altered reminds me of what can happen when you look at a beautiful landscape with someone else: there's an urge to speak, to share the experience, to give voice to what is seen. It becomes a moment of connection—and in the exchange, perhaps, the images finally come home. Go see it if you can!" - Daniel H Dugas

In Collaboration with the Dead, artist Nancy Cole engages in a posthumous conversation with her father, Murray Cole, through a series of hand-embroidered photographs. A Royal Canadian Air Force aviator stationed at RCAF Station Grostenquin in northeastern France during the early 1950s, Murray Cole documented his time abroad with a 35mm camera, capturing everyday life during a complex moment in Cold War history. His images depict scenes from post-war France, Morocco, and Algeria shaped by military service and fleeting personal pleasures.

Decades later, Nancy Cole revisits these photographs with needle and thread, printing them on canvas and delicately embroidering their surfaces. Her interventions echo the 19th-century tradition of embellished photographic postcards, where women’s handiwork transformed mass-produced images into valuable keepsakes. Here, the embellishment becomes an act of connection: a way of responding to her father’s gaze, complicating it, and layering it with her own.

“How thin the veneer of civilization is” -General Wayne Eyre Chief of the Defence Staff (retired)

"Furious Putin says West pushing him 'to point of no return' on nuclear WW3" -Mirror 04/06/2024

"Upon uncovering a collection of 35mm slide film after my father's passing, I was transported into a world marked by the palpable tension that defined the Cold War era — a time when the threat of mutually assured annihilation was very real"

During the First World War, homesick soldiers on the front lines sent beautiful silk postcards to their loved ones at home.

Wheels up for one last flight.