For the past decade, Dominique Rey has been documenting Les Filles de la Croix, a disappearing order of Catholic nuns. Her investigations into the order began in her hometown of Winnipeg, and have since taken her to Brazil, Argentina and France, where she captures the quiet lives and intimate spaces of the sisters.
Under the Rose Arch presents a selection of lens-based work from this ongoing documentary project. Each work derives from images taken by Rey at the various convents she visited, culminating in a composite portrait of the sisterhood. The artist represents the nuns through the spaces and objects that surround them, bringing the meditative and devotional qualities of their world into visibility.
This project is a continuation of Rey’s interest in the representation of women on the periphery. In this case, her subject is a group of sisters in a small, devout community that may soon vanish. Given the old age of the nuns and the increasing secularization of contemporary society, a question arises: who will carry on their legacy once these women are gone?
Dominique Rey holds a MFA from Bard College, NY (2007) and a MFA from Transart Institute in Berlin (2011). She is a multidisciplinary artist whose work has been exhibited nationally and internationally, with recent presentations in Lethbridge, Winnipeg, Montreal, Toronto and Calgary. Her work is in the collections of the National Gallery of Canada, Winnipeg Art Gallery, Province of Manitoba and Wedge Collection. The artist gratefully acknowledges the generous support of the Manitoba Arts Council and the University of Manitoba.
To read a review of Under the Rose Arch by Chris Hampton for Canadian Art, click here.