Laurier Library Presents Take a Second Look: Celebrating Contemporary Fibre Art from the Waterloo Region

WATERLOO, ON — The Laurier Library is proud to announce Take a Second Look, a dynamic new fibre-based exhibition featuring the work of three acclaimed Waterloo Region artists: June DaSilva, Sally Gray, and Heather A. Hager.

On view throughout the 2026–27 academic year on floors 4, 5, and 6 of the Laurier Library at Wilfrid Laurier University’s Waterloo campus, Take a Second Look brings together three distinct approaches to materiality, process, and form. The exhibition features abstracted organic patterns embellished with beads and other precious materials, thoughtful handwoven compositions, and quilted sculptural forms that explore ecological concerns.

Together, the artists challenge traditional distinctions between art and craft, inviting viewers to reconsider the possibilities of contemporary fibre practices and to look beyond the surface to discover the histories, meanings, processes, and innovations embedded within the medium. Through their varied approaches to process, DaSilva, Gray, and Hager encourage audiences to pause, look again, and discover what lies beneath the surface.

Take a Second Look is part of LIFT, the Laurier Library’s community outreach exhibition series, which shines a spotlight on the exceptional creative talent of artists working throughout the Waterloo Region.

The Artists

June DaSilva is a textile artist based in Kitchener, Ontario. With degrees in chemical engineering and education, DaSilva is a self-taught artist whose practice explores the relationship between actual and perceived texture. “I find the intersection of actual texture with perceived texture to be fascinating in fibre art,” she explains. “When I stitch layers of cloth together, the peaks and valleys that are formed contrast with patterns in the fabric itself.” Her work has been exhibited regionally and internationally and is held in private collections. DaSilva can be found at instagram.com/theoreticalthreads.

Sally Gray is a Kitchener-based fibre artist whose multidisciplinary practice encompasses knitting, sewing, embroidery, quilting, spinning, felting, weaving, and bobbin lace making. Introduced to textiles by her mother at the age of 10, Gray has developed an interdisciplinary approach informed by diverse textile traditions and contemporary processes. Reflecting on the work presented in the exhibition, Gray explains: “The collection invites viewers to experience weaving as both a visual language and a performative process, revealing how rhythm, gesture, and material come together in the making of each piece.”

Heather A. Hager is a Waterloo-based textile artist working in mixed-media, non-traditional art quilts. Hager holds a PhD in ecology and has pursued her art education through classes and workshops. Her current practice explores the lives of insects and other organisms, as well as the complex relationship between humans and the natural world. “I am fascinated by insects, their life cycles, and the remarkable transformations that occur during their development,” Hager says. “I created the chrysalids from paper as a metaphor for the fragility and transience of these threatened insects.”

Exhibition Reception

The public is invited to meet the artists at an Exhibition Reception on Wednesday, October 7, from 7 pm to 9 pm

The exhibition is free and open to the public during Laurier Library operational hours:

• Monday–Thursday: 8:30 am–10 pm
• Friday: 8:30 am–6 pm
• Saturday–Sunday: 11 am–5 pm

Please note: The Library will be closed from Saturday, October 10 through Monday, October 12.