Forever There

Daniel Rumbolt | Craft Council of NL | June 21-July 27, 2025

Reviewed by Maggie Burton

Through the reverent display of a variety of materials–fabric, beads, chains, pearls, fish hooks, feathers, to name a few—Daniel Rumbolt’s Forever There succeeds as a sparkling tribute to rural identity.

When I walked into the gallery, I was first drawn to the display in the center of the room. Rumbolt’s approach to colour and form is bold. Deep indigo silk bunches become fishing fly hackles on a background of a royal blue silk net secured to the ceiling in the center piece titled “What am I fishing for?” Dangling from a delicate gold net that ultimately hangs from the larger, aforementioned blue net are dozens of fly fishing flies made from feathers, beads, and fabric in pink, white, green, blue, brown, orange, and red. Fly ties are often brightly coloured, to attract some types of fish or to help the angler see his line in the water. This reimagining of a traditional craft likely practiced by members of Rumbolt’s home community is tribute both to the creativity of the queer rural perspective and the skills of the people of this province. An old book showcasing fly ties is displayed at the gallery alongside Rumbolt’s art. My own rural grandfather makes flies for salmon fishing, some are displayed at my father’s house in shadow boxes on the wall. The fly is a beautiful object in and of itself and Rumbolt’s flies are no exception.

Rumbolt considers memory directly in this installation, titling one set of five paintings on silk “To rebuild a broken memory.” Pastel pink, brown, green, and blue acrylic and oil pastel washes over the silk stretched over wood, each piece capturing a particular, fleeting moment but failing to stitch it all together panel to panel; it is not a continuous memory rather a series of broken ones. On the center panel is a translucent flap of fabric that reminded me of rural kitchen sheers. Perhaps what we see when we look into the past is hazy like these paintings. 

Fish nets are an important symbol in Forever There. There is one display where two more traditional-style fiber nets flank a set of three nets made from soft materials again in blues, pinks, greens, which elegantly drape down the wall and across the floor. As in fly tying, Rumbolt once again uses the skills he has gained in his studies of the fiber arts alongside the skills from the rural people of this province. Another set called “Ocean’s Bounty I” and “Ocean’s Bounty II” use gold and silver chains strung up on the wall like nets held open for a catch, but the catch is pearls and glass beads. Again, Rumbolt explores traditional materials with an unconventional approach, creating art that appreciates its past and wants to ensure that we remember to make beauty a part of whatever task we put our hands to.

Maggie Burton is a Newfoundland writer, violinist, and municipal politician. Her debut book of poetry, Chores, won the 2024 Griffin Canadian First Book Prize and was shortlisted for the Gerald Lampert Memorial Award. Her work has appeared in Prism, The Malahat Review, Riddle Fence, Room, Best Canadian Poetry, and elsewhere.