Wild Goose Chase, No. 3

Kaija Sanelma Harris (b. 1939)Finnish-born Kaija Sanelma Harris is recognized as one of Canada’s finest textile artists. The Saskatchewan-based artist is best known for her woven architectural tapestries. These combine imagery, structure, materials, and finishing methods to achieve their effect, as in her double weaves and “colour maps” of remembered landscapes. Harris has called herself a “true northerner,” attracted to “the beauty of ice and snow.” For Harris, “the light on the prairie is special,” its reflective properties affecting both colour and pattern. Weaving was also important to textile arts in the Scandinavia of her childhood.Harris has been lauded with numerous awards, including five Merit Awards, and four Premier’s Prizes in recognition of her textile works. She has also been awarded numerous merit awards from the Handweavers’ Guild of America. Her work can be found in private collections in her native Finland as well as commissioned tapestries for the Toronto Dominion Bank Tower in Toronto and Agriculture Canada in Saskatoon. Her work is also held in major public collections in Canada.