Joanne Soroka

I am primarily a tapestry weaver, sometimes also working in paper and other textile practices. I make large and tiny work. Much of my production has been about my ethnically diverse ancestors, their ordinary lives and their journeys as immigrants. More recently I have broadened this out to include the plight of refugees and other people who are persecuted in general, and now the migrations of birds. Weaving is the ideal medium to discuss connections and linkages, with the theme that we are all brothers and sisters and that we are responsible for the welfare of other humans and animals. I try to use the medium to its maximum, employing colour and texture with shiny and matte materials. The tapestries are abstract, but incorporate emotion and a sense of place.