Laura Kenney uses a traditional Nova Scotian craft, rug hooking, to create hand-hooked, hand-dyed rugs/wall-hangings. Laura primarily uses second hand wool clothing to create her rugs: “When you see a bolt of new wool, there’s no personality to it. It’s not like seeing an old pair of pants or skirt and thinking of the person who would have worn them - there is always a story to that. Also, I like using found material as it keeps with the tradition of using what you had.” Laura also uses recycled sari ribbon which she obtains from a woman’s cooperative in Nepal. “When I am using the ribbon for a piece, I think of the women gathering the sari scraps from the factories and sewing the strips end to end, and I feel their energy is going into the rugs that I create”. Laura has been rug hooking for over 17 years and is quickly gaining recognition in her field. In 2009 she took part in the Nova Scotia Folk Art Festival, a juried event with the top Folk Artists in the Province. In 2010, Laura was awarded juried status with the Nova Scotia Designer Craft Council and in 2011 her piece “Morning Routine” was purchased by the Nova Scotia Art Bank. More recently, Laura was one of 29 Nova Scotian artists whose work was selected for inclusion in Terroir, an exhibition organized and hosted by AGNS, the focus of which was to explore regional artistic production through the culture from which it emerges.

Secord Gallery
Upstairs at 6301 Quinpool Road, Halifax, Nova Scotia
(902) 423-6644    info@secordgallery.com

Monday through Friday: 9:30 to 5:30
Saturday: 10:00 to 5:00
Sunday: closed