Natasja Bischoff & Kristy Woudstra
Built & Quilt
August 7-29th, 2026
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Opening reception Friday, August 7th, 7-10 pm
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Show Description
Natasja Bischoff’s latest body of work is a continued exploration of sculptural forms that consider several areas of interest within her practice. The first is that of materiality; wood and beeswax coloured with charcoal are the media. These materials align with a desire to work in an environmentally sustainable manner. The wood offcuts are up-cycled, the beeswax is natural and locally sourced. The compositions strive to create tension via abstraction, placement of form and contrast in materials. The maquette-like scale of the smaller sculptures are a nod to a lifelong interest in contemporary design and architecture.
Kristy Woudstra started this series of quilts four years ago as an exploration of identity, aging and belonging. They were created during a period of deep unknowing (aka entering life's middle years) as she faced her mother's failing health, her children leaving home and the societal invisibility that comes at a certain age.
Each quilt is the result of wrestling with all that was once held true and the slow process of considering every element, from the fabric to the binding, brought Woudstra much comfort, which she hopes others will feel as well.
Bio
Natasja Bischoff is a Hamilton native whose work is the culmination of a life lived surrounded simultaneously by industry and nature. These juxtaposing forces are seen through the lens of a creative whose Dutch- Indonesian father was a carpenter and whose paternal grandfather was both an artist and an architect. This DNA is made manifest through Bischoff’s interests in materiality, sustainability and the abstract composition of structural forms.
Bischoff studied at Sheridan College, University of Guelph and McMaster University. She facilitates art locally using art as a vehicle for connection to both self and others
Kristy Woudstra is a magazine writer and editor by trade, who began quilting about six years ago. She loves to express her thoughts and experiences through large, geometric shapes and bold colours. As the kid of very practical Dutch immigrants, she is both drawn to the functionality of this medium and inspired by the centuries of people (usually women) stitching together scraps of fabric to keep their families warm.
The overlap between Bischoff and Woudstra is where the medium through which each artist works is both familial and genetic extensions of themselves as daughters of Dutch immigrants.
--
Opening reception Friday, August 7th, 7-10 pm
––
Show Description
Natasja Bischoff’s latest body of work is a continued exploration of sculptural forms that consider several areas of interest within her practice. The first is that of materiality; wood and beeswax coloured with charcoal are the media. These materials align with a desire to work in an environmentally sustainable manner. The wood offcuts are up-cycled, the beeswax is natural and locally sourced. The compositions strive to create tension via abstraction, placement of form and contrast in materials. The maquette-like scale of the smaller sculptures are a nod to a lifelong interest in contemporary design and architecture.
Kristy Woudstra started this series of quilts four years ago as an exploration of identity, aging and belonging. They were created during a period of deep unknowing (aka entering life's middle years) as she faced her mother's failing health, her children leaving home and the societal invisibility that comes at a certain age.
Each quilt is the result of wrestling with all that was once held true and the slow process of considering every element, from the fabric to the binding, brought Woudstra much comfort, which she hopes others will feel as well.
Bio
Natasja Bischoff is a Hamilton native whose work is the culmination of a life lived surrounded simultaneously by industry and nature. These juxtaposing forces are seen through the lens of a creative whose Dutch- Indonesian father was a carpenter and whose paternal grandfather was both an artist and an architect. This DNA is made manifest through Bischoff’s interests in materiality, sustainability and the abstract composition of structural forms.
Bischoff studied at Sheridan College, University of Guelph and McMaster University. She facilitates art locally using art as a vehicle for connection to both self and others
Kristy Woudstra is a magazine writer and editor by trade, who began quilting about six years ago. She loves to express her thoughts and experiences through large, geometric shapes and bold colours. As the kid of very practical Dutch immigrants, she is both drawn to the functionality of this medium and inspired by the centuries of people (usually women) stitching together scraps of fabric to keep their families warm.
The overlap between Bischoff and Woudstra is where the medium through which each artist works is both familial and genetic extensions of themselves as daughters of Dutch immigrants.