Nine Threads- Mixed Media Art Exhibition
Forbes Library - Hosmer Gallery
April, Northampton, MA, 2012.
Forbes Library - Hosmer Gallery
April, Northampton, MA, 2012.
Guest Curator’s Statement
Fiber art. It’s a relatively new concept. Cloth? Weaving? Textiles? Yes. Paper. Machines. Metal. Plastic. Depends on what you do with them. The traditional definition of textiles has been expanding ever since Anni Albers used cellophane at the Bauhaus in 1929. And ever since Lenore Tawney helped to create the very genre of fiber art with her monumental off-loom sculptures in the mid-20th century.
We have here a disparate group of local artists. Working alone, they come together to share their work, giving themselves the permission to show nascent forms and seeds of ideas, and to test and attach spoken words to their individual artistic voices. Sharing, supporting, and pushing. A lone painter is included and supported, for the concepts of balance, line, and artistic integrity are not defined by medium.
There are several quilt artists here. They are certainly not traditional quilts with blocks, geometry, women’s social chatter and 12 stitches per inch. These are asymmetrical. Some are pieced but with vibrantly hand-dyed fabrics, while others are made guiding a special sewing machine to draw the stitch and create curvilinear drama. They are also whimsical and irreverent and personal and memorial.
Felting is non-woven cloth. One artist uses this centuries old technique to create both abstract and representational images inspired by nature. The other works in a technique less than 30 years old called nuno, resulting in ethereal and three dimensional clothes.
And the baskets. They have moved beyond their traditional role as vessels, and while they certainly pay homage to the great baskets traditions of other cultures, these pieces are self-consciously artistic, functioning fine art, fiber as sculpture.
And finally monumental and diminutive dolls that, though they are not meant to be played, delight and lift spirits and have a voice.
Enjoy.
Deborah Miller, Guest Curator
Fiber art. It’s a relatively new concept. Cloth? Weaving? Textiles? Yes. Paper. Machines. Metal. Plastic. Depends on what you do with them. The traditional definition of textiles has been expanding ever since Anni Albers used cellophane at the Bauhaus in 1929. And ever since Lenore Tawney helped to create the very genre of fiber art with her monumental off-loom sculptures in the mid-20th century.
We have here a disparate group of local artists. Working alone, they come together to share their work, giving themselves the permission to show nascent forms and seeds of ideas, and to test and attach spoken words to their individual artistic voices. Sharing, supporting, and pushing. A lone painter is included and supported, for the concepts of balance, line, and artistic integrity are not defined by medium.
There are several quilt artists here. They are certainly not traditional quilts with blocks, geometry, women’s social chatter and 12 stitches per inch. These are asymmetrical. Some are pieced but with vibrantly hand-dyed fabrics, while others are made guiding a special sewing machine to draw the stitch and create curvilinear drama. They are also whimsical and irreverent and personal and memorial.
Felting is non-woven cloth. One artist uses this centuries old technique to create both abstract and representational images inspired by nature. The other works in a technique less than 30 years old called nuno, resulting in ethereal and three dimensional clothes.
And the baskets. They have moved beyond their traditional role as vessels, and while they certainly pay homage to the great baskets traditions of other cultures, these pieces are self-consciously artistic, functioning fine art, fiber as sculpture.
And finally monumental and diminutive dolls that, though they are not meant to be played, delight and lift spirits and have a voice.
Enjoy.
Deborah Miller, Guest Curator
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