Ellen Lesperance

The first monograph on an artist who consistently combines knitting patterns and female activism in her work to transmit messages on history, feminism and labour. Inspired by actions of female protest that have shaped the twentieth century, Ellen Lesperance sources archival images of protesters' hand-knitted garments which she translates into knit symbols before rendering them as meticulous gouache paintings on paper. Citing inspiration from Bauhaus-era female weavers and feminist body art of the 1970s and 1980s, Lesperance reframes image-making outside of male-dominated Western painting traditions, while honouring the creative labour of women standing up against social and political ills. Text: Jennifer Kabat, Amy Tobin.