York University
Art Collection Online

This quilt consists of 109 individual, abstracted, landscape views assembled to form the rough outline of the map of Canada, familiar to every Canadian elementary school pupil.

109 Views represents Wieland’s exploration of the themes of nationalism and patriotism following her 1967 trip from Toronto to Vancouver, documented in the film Reason Over Passion (1969). Referencing in cloth the landscape tradition championed by Canadian painters such as the Group of Seven, the individual views also appear as photographic "snapshots" of the Canadian landscape.

Wieland experimented with non-traditional materials and forms throughout her career and began working with fabric in 1964–65. Creating assemblages, collages, and soft sculptures out of plastic shapes and found objects, she challenged the dominance of painting and traditional fine art materials through the use of materials and techniques associated with the domestic environment. A passionate and pioneering feminist, Wieland sought out opportunities to work collaboratively with other women in the production of art objects that included quilts and knitted art works.In this quilt, Wieland has adapted the medium of painting and the genre of landscape to her own unique vision. The tradition of quilt making has also been transformed, for Wieland’s quilts are very different from the customary patchwork quilt so familiar in North America. Such quilts are often highly structured with designs that follow a rigid template requiring meticulous hand stitching by anonymous creators.

Preferring the free form and the casual to the confining strictures of tradition, Wieland has remade the medium to one distinctly her own. At the same time, Wieland acknowledged and credited the contributions of other participants in the creative process. This quilt was created for True Patriot Love/Veritable Amour Patriotique (1971), the first solo exhibition granted to a living female artist in the history of the National Gallery of Canada. In 1972, the Art Gallery of York University purchased the work from the artist for the permanent collection.

Text by Debra Antoncic and Joyce Zemans