Venture under the blankets and experience a place of comfort and warmth. Inside the S’eliyemetaxwtexw Art Gallery, there are rich textiles dangling from the ceilings and along the walls, as well as stations to listen, observe, create, and play.
Mother-daughter duo Paula Funk and Madeline Funk-Foster created this special place in the ‚Inner Sanctuary‘ exhibit — welcoming everyone to come visit during February to replenish, reset, and reflect.
The Cascade met with this creative duo to chat about the exhibit.
How long have you been an artist?
Paula: I finished my BFA here [at UFV] in the very first class of ‘08 … I was a creative before that, but I think my conception of myself as an artist became more professional after my education was finished. I think it gave me a sense of direction and weight; I have put a lot of time and energy and money into this thing.
Madeline: I feel the same way. I was very conscious of not feeling comfortable calling myself an artist until I graduated.
Paula: Madeline graduated from the BFA here [UFV] in 2023.
You like to work on wood, but this is a blanket fort…
Paula: Yes. This actually is the most interdisciplinary work that I think either of us have ever done … it really stretched us as artists … but it’s the first time that I’ve actually done installation art, audio art, sculpture … We do have a couple of pieces on wood that represent our more traditional painterly backgrounds.
Madeline, I saw on your website that you like to work mostly with canvas, and some sculpture…
Madeline: The majority of my focus during my degree was painting — very much 2D works — and it’s only since the very tail end of my degree that I’ve been really interested in 3D forms, and how I can incorporate as many different mediums as I can. I’ve just found the intersection of those to be really interesting and really gratifying.
What would you like to say to people that are attending UFV?
Paula: I think what I would hope that this show says, and what I’d love to say to people, is to remember that making things with your hands is a tried and true way to calm your nervous system, quiet your brain, and become centred again in your humanity.
We have these stations where people can do things themselves — make a collage, make a scene, play a game. So the idea is that you’re here in an embodied environment, enjoying the security of the space, and then also doing something with your hands.
Madeline: I think creation is, to me, an inherently meditative process and I think there is enough to create something without the pressure of it being good.
I found that it’s so stifling to live under the pressure of, ‘you have to make good art’… And if you just let yourself make something without worrying about what it’s going to end up like … or ‘it’s got to fit in the rubric that my professor gave’ … If you just let yourself create, it’ll be healthier for the soul than forcing yourself to make something for other people.
Anything else you would like to share about the blanket fort?
Paula: It’s reminiscent of when you’re a kid and you create a blanket fort, where it’s a space that is only in the service of your own comfort and delight … It has no commercial purpose. It has no real rules ascribed to it.
Madeline: Its only functionality is comfort. Which is something that people spend very little time on nowadays. I feel like we’re very much in a culture of immediacy and productivity and, you know, go go go … I think taking time for delight and joy is so necessary.
Paula: Pursuit of something, just for sheer enjoyment … it can be a challenge to find the time and space for that. I would love it if people would just hang out in here.
And do you work well together?
Paula and Madeline: (Laugh) I think we do.
Inner Sanctuary‘ will be showing in the S’eliyemetaxwtexw Art Gallery, room B136, from Feb. 7 to 28. The gallery is open 12 – 5 p.m., Monday to Friday. An opening exhibition for the gallery will be held on Feb. 13, from 4 – 6 p.m. (popcorn and hot cocoa will be served).
Interviews have been edited for clarity and length.
