Bettina Matzkuhn

Bettina Matzkuhn is a Vancouver-based filmmaker and fibre artist whose work explores ecology, weather and geography through the language of hand embroidery, celebrating textiles as a versatile medium for storytelling.

Matzkuhn’s artistic practice extends into film, where her animated needlework has garnered critical acclaim. Blending textile art with animation to create a tactile, visually poetic form of storytelling, Matzkuhn’s innovative use of fabric and embroidery in filmmaking distinguishes her work as a unique contribution to the NFB’s collection. The Hometown (1979), her debut, was produced by the NFB and awarded Best First Film at the Ottawa International Animation Festival. This film was followed by the award-winning Distant Islands (1981), also produced by the NFB. Her third project with the NFB, The Magic Quilt (1985), earned the Ruby Slipper Award at the Los Angeles Film and Video Festival.

A graduate of Simon Fraser University (BFA, MA) and a recipient of Canada Council and British Columbia Arts Council grants, she has exhibited widely across Canada and internationally in South Korea, Mexico and the USA. Her work resides in national collections, including the Surrey Art Gallery, Cambridge Art Gallery and Western University’s Weldon Map Library. Her recent work includes The Zoology of Weather (2016, 3 min), showcased by the Crafts Council in the UK.