When an artist conceives of a large body of work, it can be helpful to have a structure to constrain the project. A number, a list, or perhaps, the alphabet. Shelly Nicolle-Phillips’s Prairie Alphabet Project is tied closely to a place, and is in that way related to Canadian artist Ted Harrison’s A Northern Alphabet, where vibrant images of northern life relate to each letter of the alphabet. With Shelly’s textile alphabet, we learn about the animals and plants of the threatened grasslands ecosystem of southern Saskatchewan and Alberta while admiring the vibrant pictures depicted in the rug hooked pieces.
The clubfoot violet panel in progress. The fritillary butterfly relies on the violet for its habitat.
I don’t remember how I first stumbled on Shelly’s Instagram account, though it was probably the result of a connection I made through Digits & Threads. The first piece I saw drew me in—the rich textures and colours of wool fabric loops made the image of a flower, and a bold black letter in a script font gave a hint of its name. And Shelly’s caption told the story of plant and animal connections in an environment that is largely unfamiliar to me but such an important part of the Canadian ecological and cultural landscape. After following Shelly’s posts for a while, I reached out to her to find out more. We corresponded via email and had a great video chat.
All photos courtesy Shelly Nicholle-Phillips.
