Textile-inspired works made entirely of painted stitches
Renu Bourne is a Toronto-based acrylic painter whose work explores the connections between landscape, memory, and textiles. Born in England to Indian parents and now living in Canada, she draws inspiration from both the natural world and the fabrics that have shaped her family's history.
The evolution of this visual language began when her mother's saris were passed down to her daughter. Reflecting on the emotions and narratives embedded within the textiles, alongside her daughter's passion for crocheting, inspired her to consider how landscapes can similarly hold memory, connection and belonging.
Bourne's paintings are recognized for their distinctive fusion of landscape painting and textile-inspired abstraction.
Artist Statement
Landscapes Woven Through Memory
My woven series reimagines Canadian landscapes as knitted and woven forms. Working from photographs of places I have visited, I use acrylic paint, layered brushwork, and hundreds of individually painted stitches to create the illusion of fabric without the use of actual textiles.
Inspired by my mother's saris and my daughter's passion for crocheting, these paintings explore how both textiles and landscapes can carry memory, connection, and belonging across generations. Threads weave through branches, petals unravel at the edges, and knitted textures emerge across the landscape, suggesting the ways memories are continually reshaped over time.
Through these works, I invite viewers to experience the landscape not simply as a place, but as a source of comfort, reflection, and shared experience.
Discover KimNu, a unique creative collaboration between mixed media artist Kim Pittman Bartholomew and myself, Renu Bourne.