Fiber Greats!

browngrotta arts

2012-08-08T23:36:22Z

Tell us about the philosophy of browngrotta arts.

In our 25 years we have been dedicated to increasing the audience for, and appreciation of, art textiles, fiber sculpture and complementary art forms. We have done that through exhibitions, but also through documentation. We are working now on our 41st catalog, Retro/Prospective: 25+ Years of Art Textiles and Sculpture, which will document an exhibition of the same name that will run from October 26th - November 4th.

Our website, browngrotta.com, features over 1000 images of textile art. In the four years our website has been up, we've had 1.5 million pages viewed; more than half of our visitors are from outside the US. We also have a Facebook page and blog, arttextstyle, where we try to provide information on exhibits, lectures, videos about art. We live with the works we represent, installing and photographing them in the contemporized 1895 barn where Tom and I and browngrotta arts all live.

We represent the work of pioneers in the field, including Ed Rossbach, Ritzi Jacobi, Lenore Tawney, Franciose Grossen to name a few. We also represent exceptional mid-career artists, such as Gyöngy Laky Lia Cook, and John McQueen. We are committed to bringing accomplished artists from abroad, like Jin-Sook So, Sara Brennan, Simone Pheulpin and Aleksandra Stoyanov to US audiences.

Share something about the roots of when browngrotta arts was formed, its inception and how it has evolved over time.

Green from the Get Go: International Contemporary Basketmakers, Wayne Art Center, Pennsylvania 2011-12. Works from left to right: Hisako Sekijima; Jiro Yonezawa, Jan Buckman, Dona Anderson, Gyöngy Laky, Chris Drury, John McQueen, Dail Behennah. Photo by Tom Grotta, courtesy browngrotta arts.Tom has a photography degree from RIT and inherited a family love of art. His parents are noted collectors and have been involved with the American Craft Museum and the Museum of Arts and Design. When he finished college, he did a few portfolio projects for artists, often receiving art in return.

We displayed the art in our NY apartment and arranged a few sales to friends and friends of friends. When we moved to Connecticut in 1985, we had very little furniture. We decided to install and photograph art and see if we could attract interest to the artists we liked.

We discovered three things early on:

1) we appreciated fiber art -- basketry, sculpture, three-dimensional wall works (initially on our radar were Mary Merkel-Hess, Mariette Rousseau-Vermette and Markku Kosonen)

2) fiber art was not then as well represented by galleries or even in museums as paintings, ceramics, glass

3) the fiber art field was not being documented well. The photography by artists and museums was flat and exhibitions rarely included a catalog. We realized that by focusing on promoting this medium, we had a chance to increase the audience for the work and ensure that it received more recognition. We have remained true to that focus, but over the year have expanded our outreach from US collectors and museums to collectors, museums, consultants and designers worldwide.

Can you tell us about one or two of the most memorable projects that browngrotta arts has undertaken?

We are always excited about the projects that we undertake. The last 12 months have been remarkable in that we have mounted three significant installations and are working now on the fourth, Retro/Prospective: 25+ Years of Art Textiles and Sculpture.

Neural Networks by Lia Cook on the cover of the catalog Stimulus: art and its inception, available on Amazon and at browngrotta.com. Photo by Tom Grotta, courtesy browngrotta arts.Last October, we opened Stimulus: art and its inception, in which more than 60 international artists each provided us a work and an item or image to explain what inspired their piece and provided viewers an insight into the creative process. We prepared a 140-page, full-color catalog, to accompany Stimulus, with an essay by Jane Milosch of the Smithsonian.

In December we co-curated Green from the Get Go: International Contemporary Basketmakers at the Wayne Art Center with Jane Milosch. That show is scheduled to travel to the Edsel & Eleanor Ford House in Detroit next January. In May, we opened Paperworks: material as medium at the Flinn Gallery in the Greenwich Public Library in Connecticut.

Paperworks featured 31 artists, who, rather than cutting, folding or printing on paper as many artists do, treat paper as a raw material -- stacking, stitching, molding, carving and weaving it, as others would linen, wood, clay or marble. The past year aside, we are also pleased to have curated Beyond Weaving: International ArtTextiles in 2006, which Mildred Constantine, formerly of MOMA, called the most important fiber exhibition of the last 15 years; Advocates for Arts: Polish and Czech Fiber Artists from the Jacques and Anne Baruch Collection, a group of significant tapestries that we exhibited at SOFA Chicago in 2010 and a catalog, with an essay by Christa Mayer Thurman, formerly Curator of Textiles and Textile Conservation at the Art Institute of Chicago and Sheila Hicks and Seven Friends from Japan, curated by Sheila Hicks and including Hiroyuki Shindo and Chiaki and Kaori Maki.

Andrea Graham

2012-05-28T13:34:35Z

Andrea Graham is a feltmaker and educator residing in rural Ontario with her husband and three sons. She is a member of the Connections fibre group and an active member of the Ontario Crafts Council. Andrea has studied feltmaking with numerous respected feltmakers. She is passionate about educating the public across Canada and the U.S. in recognizing the complexities of handmade felt through her teaching and lectures. Andrea was the 2011 Artist and Educator in Residence at Queen's University.

When did you feel your art was your own?

I have been doing this full time for 11 years and I think the last year has been a pivotal time. I really stopped trying so hard to be ahead of the game or seeking my market. I decided this was futile and the best way to find my voice was to shut out all the other chatter and just create. I am not sure to what degree I can consider my work 100% my own. The inspiration and influence of so many is woven into my work as much as the fibres themselves. A bit romantic, perhaps, but I cannot ignore the journey.

When did you feel you found your own artistic voice?

Really not until about 10 years into my full-time feltmaking practice. I felt like I had reached a place technically that I could manipulate the fibres to desired result with a high degree of predictability (I would never be so presumptuous as to use the word “master”). I had learned from most of those on my feltmaking “bucket list” and, I guess it was just the time.

Was there any influence in your life that you felt that pushed your work to another level?

There are certainly milestones. Seeing the work of Jorie Johnson first hand and thinking “This is the bar”. The tremendous warmth and generosity of so many instructors who put aside any desire or need to hold anything back taught me so much. Events such as the “Felter’s Fling” where we gather from our corners of the world for felt immersion have been invaluable as has been grant funding. My friendship with Chris White with late nights discussing fibre dynamics and felting sample after sample reminds me that the wool always has something to teach me if I am paying attention. This piece, 'Bad Girl,' speaks to our need to either reject or adopt the labels that are inevitably assigned to us by our loved ones or others in our lives. I had made the decision at this point to embrace an arts career and discontinue my attempts to prove myself in other less fulfilling ways. It was a time of artistic freedom where I created a piece for me and it went on to receive awards and eventually evolved into an installation piece in a local gallery. It was real validation to trust my creative self.

Andrea Graham Resources

Website

Blog

Facebook Page

The Textile Study Group of New York (TSGNY)

2012-05-08T11:47:02Z

The Textile Study Group of New York (TSGNY) began in 1977, as a monthly gathering of six student fiber-artist friends who wanted to continue sharing news‚ resources, criticism, and inspiration.

TSGNY's emphasis on diversity is reflected in the textile-related activities of its members. The list includes artists' representatives, basket makers, book artists, collectors, conservators, crocheters, curators, dealers, dyers, embroiderers, felters, historians, knitters, knotters, lace makers, paper makers, quilters, sculptors, spinners, students, surface designers, teachers, wearable artists, weavers, and writers.

We recently caught up with Nancy Koenigsburg, one of the founding members, who is still very involved in this influential group.

1. Tell us about some of the activities the TSGNY is involved in and the projects it undertakes.

Susan Martin Maffei, "What Lies Beneath" (desk cover) Size: 28"H x 23"W x 12"D Materials: Cotton, silk, linen, wool, metallic thread Technique: Woven tapestry, multi selvedge constructionThe TSGNY meets monthly from September through June with a speaker on some aspect of textiles - an artist, historian, curator, etc. These meetings are open to the membership and the public. A broad range of techniques and theories are covered. We have had a good number of juried exhibitions by our members, which have frequently been reviewed in national textile magazines.

This past winter two exhibitions celebrated our 35th anniversary - 9x9x3, juried by Janet Koplos, and Crossing Lines, juried by Rebecca Stevens. 9x9x3 was composed of identical boxes measuring 9” by 9” by 3” with the work contained totally within the box. Crossing Lines, at the World Financial Center, contained works both large and small and was seen by over 5,000 people. This included students, curators, collectors and the general public. For many people, this exhibition was groundbreaking in terms of textiles as art.

Our members exhibit and teach all over the US, Europe and Asia. During the recent Fiber Philadelphia 2012 Biennial, our members were represented in several galleries and juried exhibitions. Among the techniques represented are quilting, dying, weaving, paper-making, knitting, crocheting, jewelry, felting, beading, appliqué, photo processing and all of the combinations therein. Members are working in wool, silk, linen, copper, steel, beads and found materials. Many also teach and lecture to other groups.

2. Share something about the roots of when TSGNY was formed, its inception and how it has evolved over time.

Linda Coughlin, Linda Rae Coughlin Title: "No. Watch Your Back" Size: 33"H x 30"W x ½ "D Materials: Hand-dyed, recycled fabric, upholstery webbing Technique: Hooking, machine embroidering, sewingThe Textile Study Group of New York was formed in September of 1977 by five people who had studied at the New School, a college in New York City. Our instructor was Gail Wimmer who had studied at Tyler and in Poland. Most of us were with her for three years. When she announced in the spring of 1977 that she was leaving New York for a tenured position at the University of Arizona we were happy for her, but sad for us. When one woman asked, "What will we do now?" Gail replied "Just go in your studios and work and if you want to get together once in a while, do that.”

Indeed, we got together that following September. Our meeting engendered such interesting discussions and connections that we decided to meet the next month. We have been doing that every month from September through June ever since. –35 Years of collegial critique, group discussions and learning!!

After the first year or so we decided that assigning projects and having critiques was not enough. We wanted to learn more, so we began to invite speakers to our meetings. Through the years, we have compiled a stellar list. Among the earliest speakers were, Junius Bird, Mary Walker Phillips, Gayle Wimmer, Pauline Johnstone from the V&A in London, Shigeo Kubata from Japan, and Monique Levi-Strauss from France. Then a little later, we also added Jack Lenore Larsen, Mildred Constantine, Sheila Hicks, and other eminent forces in the fiber arts and textiles world. A more complete list of recent speakers can be found on our website (http://www.tsgny.org/MONTHLY.html)

3. Can you tell us about one of the most memorable projects that the TSGNY has undertaken?

Won Ju Seo, Title: "The Words in my Colors" Size: 18"H x 11"W x 5"D Materials: colorful silk cut-offs, thread, an encyclopedia Technique: Hand-sewing, cutting and installing a recycled book into artworkMany of our members are inveterate gallery goers, not just to look at textiles, but all arts. In 1993 or 1994 there was a large exhibition at the World Financial Center of arts done in Czechoslovakia during the Russian occupation, starting in the late 60's. One segment organized by a group of artists in Prague consisted of 5 1/2 inch square boxes sent to any artist who wanted to participate in a series of underground viewings. Work had to fit totally inside the box, which was then sent back to the committee. These were shown mostly in small groups in secretive shows - Russians wanted no art.

One member of the Textile Study Group told another, and eventually many members saw the show. It quickly became a catalyst for our first 9x9x3 show in 1995. Entrants could submit up to three boxes. One happy result of the show was that many people ordered more than three boxes, and the work they produced kept popping up in shows everywhere! The show traveled for two years and was so successful and such an interesting challenge, that members asked for a repeat. Thus, 9x9x3: New Visions was born, and it is proving to be just as exciting as it was the first time, for both the artists and the viewers.

To learn more, browse the members gallery and find out about exhibitions and activities, visit their website, at www.tsgny.org

Read much more about the Textile Study Group of New York, its members, the artwork, and how this group has contributed to the our legacy of contemporary fiber arts and textiles, in the Summer issue of Fiber Art Now (July, 2012).

Rebecca Medel

2012-05-05T19:57:56Z

"I work with images that speak of voids," Medel says, "and the beauty of mathematics through an underlying geometry and use of mathematical principles."

Rebecca Medel

Kannon (detail)It was the middle of the second year of my three-year MFA program at UCLA when I began developing the artwork I am known for. I quickly felt that this work was my own. I used a combination of techniques that although widely done individually, were not combined in the way I used them by other artists in the field.

The way the ideas, images, & designs were visualized was more distinctive to me. During the twenty-five years I made this work using these techniques and ideas I always felt that I had found my artistic voice. I look at the smaller works as studies because it has been the larger scale work that I have been most interested in constructing. To me this work is more experiential; something larger than the self, and each one was a turning point in my artistic career.

Rebecca Medel Resources

Rebecca Medel's websiteNierika

Philadelphia Museum of Art

Pew Fellowships in the Arts

Tyler Fiber

Brown Grotta Arts

Spirit Lines

Jorie Johnson

2012-04-15T11:20:28Z

Shibori Felt & Lacquer VesselJorie Johnson enjoys designing, producing and wearing her unique handmade woolen felt creations. Introduced to the traditional textile technique in Finland, in 1977, by learning to make Scandinavian felt boots, Jorie was immediately enchanted by the magic and power of felting.

Jorie grew up in the household of a wool and fiber merchant and studied textile design for industry at RISD (USA) and KOTO (Finland). While on a whimsical 3-month tour of Japan in 1987, she decided that twelve weeks simply was not long enough, and she's lived there ever since. It was in Kyoto, Japan, that she re-established her textile studio and trademarked the name Joi Rae. After studying industrial textile design (weaving and printing) for fashion and interiors Jorie found her compatible expression in fiber through the traditional medium of feltmaking.

Her combination of rich colors and layering techniques, working various materials such as silk, rayon, and mohair into the felt product, results in warm, one-of-a-kind autumn, winter and spring clothing and accessories for the discerning collector.

Rainbow JumperJorie has developed her own innovative expression of the 8,000-year-old central-Asian technique of feltmaking. Jorie exhibits her contemporary feltworks in galleries, shops, and museums around the world.

Jorie generally takes time off from her studio work during the spring semester to lecture at various institutions. She holds a part-time lecturing post in the Textile Design Department of the Kyoto University of Art and Design. During the summer months, to escape the heat and humidity of Kyoto, she travels on research expeditions to learn more about traditional felting from different cultures. She attends international felt symposiums and gives workshops about contemporary surface and design technique developments in feltmaking.

When did you feel your art was your own?

After studying a variety of textile techniques during my university days in the USA (RISD) and Finland (KOTO, UIAH) I saw that more of my personal voice was evolving once I stayed with felt making for some years.

Wool & Washi Series: Shrink WrapOnce I found my medium I could start overlapping and applying aspects of other techniques that had caught my fancy like color blending learned from fabric printing, three-dimensional shapes envisioned through knitting, and basic fabric making and usage through weaving and couture. I was happy to find the medium which best fit my personality and offered itself as a vehicle for my expression.
Now it has been some thirty-five years since my first three-day Scandinavian felt boot-making intensive in Kuopio, Finland. During that infamous weekend, the American Ambassador and Cultural Attaché were visiting the Institute of Design I was attending, and we all had coffee together with the Dean. I have always felt later that the baton was handed off to me then, and I now introduce the wonders of wool, felt and textile creativity wherever I can, as an 'Ambassador of Wool.'

When did you feel you found your own artistic voice?

What I found in art school was that one’s artistic voice has a heart of its own and not to be surprised by what comes out, especially if it makes you feel like you are standing naked in front of the class. The voice in the last few years said, “Okay, let’s take a look at the colors, forms and techniques that you have inadvertently used often within this re-invented felt making medium, and then we can group them and work from there.”

Wool & Washi: Tea FieldsWorking in wearables and accessories is an area that is influenced by ergonomics, comfort, and durability, so there are some restraints on one hand, but those become the challenges on the other. So much on the Joi Rae Textile Highway is experimentation that the voice keeps changing to express the research and search for new capabilities within this fascinating medium.

Was there any influence in your life that you felt that pushed your work to another level?

Living in Japan, the end of the Silk Road to the East, has provided an amazing wealth of textile influence. Before living in Japan, I spent many years in Finland and was involved with that special Northern European light and daily use of textiles, so, I learned that one naturally accepts the influences or attracts the influences around them. I often say, even the Japanese are influenced by Japan.

When institutional leaders, curators, and gallery owners started to show some interest in the work I do, then I started to think much more about the level of quality, expression, and concept, as well as how to embed my subtle mark of personality.

I am striving to raise the level of the craft, so it attains equanimity with other mediums which include papermaking, print, and sculpture in the art world. To prove the viability of wool, which can be used as an art form, as well as a craft form, is why I try to make the “V” in the road into a “Z” and find myself zigzagging between work for the wall and work for the body.

Felted Landscape CushionsI am sure my colors would change drastically if I moved to another climate and culture, so recognizing the market potential here means combining one's interests with what compliments the client’s interests as far as clothing pieces.

The wall, carpet, and room accessories coordinate with the structural materials and objects in the room as my departure point. I realized that ceramics (mud), tatami (grass) and felt (sheep’s wool) all are found or raised from the same earthly roots, so their vibrations coordinate beautifully together, especially in a traditional Japanese house. In contrast, they give warmth to an interior of a glass and concrete environment as well.

Also, there is no doubt that when one gets involved with a collaboration work, all parties involved start to evolve into new ways of thinking. I enjoyed the “Standing in the Fields” felt and Japanese lacquer works with Clifton Monteith and Sumi ink on silk works with Tsutsumi Kawabe and later with Christine Flint Sato of the UK who lives in Nara. Also, whenever possible, I take the chance to consult with costume designers and textile professionals to broaden my knowledge and keep up with contemporary trends. I am fascinated by all textiles but feel akin to wool and working in the feltmaking medium.

Currently I have a hat in Hats: An Anthology by Stephen Jones, Bard Graduate Center Main Gallery, NYC, originating at the V&A in London, and am among the invited artists at the upcoming show Textiles Today, Redefining the Medium, at the Durango Art Center, Colorado curated by Ilze Aviks.

Jorie Johnson Resources

Joie Rae Textiles

Felt United

Anna Gunnarsdottir

2012-03-12T00:44:29Z

'Shells'Anna Gunnarsdottir is a Textile Artist living in Iceland. Anna studied arts in Akureyri, Iceland and took various courses in Denmark, Norway, UK and USA. She works mainly with wool, silk, leather and fish skin. She makes sculptures from wool small one and very big one for outside exhibitions and installations. Anna has her own studio and gallery “Svartfugl and Hvitspoi” in the center of the town Akureyri. She is the member of Artists Association of Iceland as well Textile Association of Iceland. She has taken part in many single as well as collective exhibitions in Iceland and around the world. She has captured a lot of appreciation and prizes for her work. The latest price was in Cheongju International Craft Biennale 2011 in Korea where she got a prize for her felted and embroidered lamp. It is now in the exhibition in “Sculpture Inside” in Cottesloe Australia. Anna was elected City Artist of Akureyri in the year 2008.

'Cosmic Mother Shells'When did you feel your art was your own?

When I felt comfortable enough to start putting my own experiences into my work.

When did you feel you found your own artistic voice?

After graduating from art school in Akureyri, Iceland. I started participating in various art competitions around the world with my work which rewarded me with more recognition. It gave me the encouragement to put my own identity more into my work. At a similar time I was made an honorary artist of my hometown, Akureyri which was a great acknowledgement and gave me the necessary resources to truly find my own voice as an artist.

Was there any influence in your life that you felt that pushed your work to another level?

Childhood memories are a strong influence in my work. The sea shell forms which I´ve been creating with felting, they 'Glacial Peaks'originate from memories from when I was a child, playing on the beach in Icelandic countryside. When I began working with felt, it empowered me to bring those memories more into my work. I´ve always been intrigued by three dimensional forms, and to implement them to big sculptures was a logical progression for me.

When my work got accepted to Sculpture By The Sea in Australia, I found it a challenge and encouragement to create large sea shells of felted wool, which were placed on the beach in Sydney. I found it important to show people that it is possible to use felted wool for more than just clothes, but as artwork and in my case, large sculptures. I think, in many peoples’ eyes, that broadened the possibilities of the ways you can work with felt.

Anna Gunnarsdotir Resources

www.annagunnars.is

anna.design@nett.is

Adrienne Sloane

2012-02-21T10:56:37Z

Working from the Boston area, Adrienne Sloane has shown her work nationally for over 20 years. As both a hand and machine knitter, her recent work often addresses the political while remaining mindful of the historical context of her medium. She has taught sculptural fiber both nationally and internationally as well as also having worked with indigenous knitters in Bolivia and Peru.

Her work has been published in Fiberarts, American Craft, Surface Design Journal, The Culture of Knitting and is profiled in the book, Knitting Art: 150 Innovative Works from 18 Contemporary Artists. Sloane has work in the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Goldstein Museum of Design, The American Textile History Museum and the Kamm Collection. Sloane’s curatorial work includes the sculptural fiber exhibits Beyond Knitting and Primary Structures at the San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles and Metaphoric Fibers at the Textile Center in Minneapolis.

When did you feel you found your own artistic voice?

Uprooted, Knitted cotton, 44” x 22”, 2010.I think that finding my artistic voice is an ongoing process that has only strengthened with age. While my childhood exposure to the arts and later travels in Asia both informed my creative energy, my fiber journeys started in earnest in the mid-80’s when I bought a used knitting machine and began to teach myself how it worked. A book by Susanna Lewis and an article on the work of Judith Duffey inspired me to explore the sculptural possibilities of knitting.

I experimented for many years using hats as a form to play with color and design. However, but for the craft shows, it was a very solitary practice for me then. Returning to work after a studio fire in 1999, I found my work shifting in ways that more directly reflected my own thoughts and thus felt more centered. With a stronger and more public voice now, I feel I am using my craft best when I am working from a visceral place.

A House Divided, Knitted cotton, 64” x 54”, 2011.

When did you feel your art was your own?

I am not sure why I find something so compelling in the structure of knit, but there seems to be an infinitely interesting way to creatively engage with it. The hats, practical, pretty and fun gave me a starting point of speaking through my work. That period of my fiber life now feels like it was an apprenticeship to my current work as it gave me the tools to be able to express myself without getting caught up in technical details.

Crafting my own artist statement has also helped me understand my own relation to what I do. It reads in part:
Knitting shapes have long been defined by the human form. By moving the context of knitting from clothing geometry to sculpture, knitting becomes a medium with a link to a rich and complex fiber tradition that has the power of history behind it. I knit to rejoin the frayed and unraveled places I see around me.

Line of Fire, Knitted wire, 74”x79”x55”, 2007.

Was there any influence in your life that you felt that pushed your work to another level?

The 1999 studio fire was a seminal moment for me as it forced me to rethink what I was doing and why. During this hiatus, I got very involved in local arts advocacy groups. In 2004, finally having reestablished a studio and reclaimed my own practice, I found that that this advocacy work helped inform a new vision of what I wanted to be doing in my studio.

For teaching purposes, I keep an updated slide show of the work of current knit and crochet artists and I am constantly amazed by what practitioners are doing with it in both fine and public art. I also so appreciate those who have gone before and helped gain recognition for this field including those who have had the insight to advocate for its value while understanding the core connections and contributions fiber art has made to the arts.

Sea Change, Cotton installation, knit, 68”x66”x10”, 2009.

Adrienne Sloane Resources

www.adriennesloane.com

http://adriennesloane.blogspot.com

Karen Ruane

2012-01-01T14:26:59Z

“My main love is embroidery, by hand, traditional stuff like our grandmothers used to do”.

~Karen Ruane

Karen is a graduate in embroidery and surface design with a First Class Honors Degree and qualified teacher status. She lives in Lancashire UK. Her work has been exhibited widely.

Was there any influence in your life that you felt that pushed your work to another level?
I was very close to both my grandmothers throughout my life and as a child would be fascinated with their embroidery. I adored the colored silks and the pre printed patterns they would use to create beautiful things for the home.

When I studied at University I researched the role of cloth in the life of women throughout time. From furs and roughly woven cloth used by Nomadic tribes through to elaborate and ornate embroidery used to embellish the lives of wealthy Victorians. Through my work I hope to pay tribute to all women who have used cloth to enhance the lives of their families but most importantly I use my needle to remember, recognize and pay tribute to the role both my grandmothers played in my life.

Karen Ruane Resources

Read more about Karen and her creative process in the FAQ section on her blog. http://www.karenruane.blogspot.com/
Plan to spend some time on her blog. She has a wonderful video about her sketchbook. ( I liked the entry I found at: http://karenruane.blogspot.com/2010/05/books.html)

Karen also has an online class that will take you through the process of creating a unique “wrapping cloth."

Hollis Chatelain

2011-12-19T01:29:58Z

When did you feel your art was your own?
I started working in the art field when I was 19 years old as a photographer. Working in 2 custom photo labs in Philadelphia taught me about color and the technical aspects of photography. Since there wasn't a photography major at the university I was attending (Drexel University), I was able to take all of my electives in photography as independent study with the design teachers. This was a unique education that allowed me a lot of freedom. After graduating I discovered my love for drawing which led me to working as a medical illustrator at the University of Geneva in Switzerland.

I moved back to Africa in the late 80's and eventually started playing with textiles in 1990. Since I was working in total isolation without influence from the rest of the textile (or quilt) world, I referred back to what I had learned and loved in my past (photography and drawing).

It never occurred to me that my art wasn't my own because I didn't know what other people in the quilting world were doing, but it did take me until the 90's to find my medium.

When did you feel you found your own artistic voice?
I'm not sure that I have found my own artistic voice or that I ever will. Even though I am identified with a certain style of work, I actually have several different styles and love doing all of them. At this time in my career I am moving into a new project that will greatly influence the type of work I will be doing so my 'artistic voice' might change very soon and I'm thrilled about that. I hope that I will forever search for new projects that will keep me learning and exploring. Maybe I am afraid that if I find my artistic voice I will be tied to having to do what is expected of me and lose freedom.

Was there any influence in your life that you felt that pushed your work to another level?

Much of my work has always been influenced by my dreams, and I started dreaming monochromatic dreams around 2000. This changed my work. I stopped painting in full color at that time and haven't done it since. (Precious Water)

At this time the variety of color in my quilts comes only from the thread work. This pushed me to play more with color and to also create imagery using only thread on an abstract background (that I didn't paint). (Thirsty)

As I was once told (by an art professor), quilters have a wonderful advantage over other mediums in that we have the ability to create thousands of nuances of color through thread. I love that!

Hollis Chatelain Background

Hollis Chatelain was born and raised in Pennsylvania, but lived fourteen years of her adult life overseas in Switzerland and in four West African countries. At the end of 1996, she moved back to the United States. Hollis’ educational background is in design and photography. She has worked in the arts in one form or another since 1976. Hollis started her career as a textile artist in Africa. Her interest was sparked by the richness and beauty of African fabrics which are ever so integrated into the everyday life of Africans. Her distinctive use of colors and imagery, as well as her dye-painted scenes of multicultural life have brought her international recognition. Hollis’ work can be found in public and private collections in Europe, Asia, South America, Africa, and North America.

In addition to creating her textile art, Hollis lectures and leads workshops on drawing, color, dye painting, quilting, and West African textiles.

Hollis Chatelain Resources

www.hollisart.com

www.imaginehopeworldwide.org

Hollis Chatelain on Facebook

Videos

Stitched follows three competitive quilters as they race to complete their quilts in time for the nation's largest quilt show. Who will win Best in Show?

Luana's Post Awards Interviews with Caryl Bryer Fallert & Hollis Chatelain International Quilt Festival, Houston, TX, October 2009.

Katharine Cobey

2011-12-03T10:59:53Z

I spent from the time I was eleven until I was forty writing and publishing poetry. So it was with considerable dismay that I began to seriously consider knitting as a sculptural tool. I knew no one who knitted the way I wanted to, and the world that had previously honored what I did with words actually laughed at the idea that knitting could produce art.

Feminism is what helped me persist. Using a belittled technique to help overturn its own denigration seemed a personal challenge - one that I wanted to meet. I had written with no holds barred. What except my own fear could keep me from trying to knit the same way?

Bois le Duc, Magdalena Abakanowicz. 1970-71, 26 feet tall

Magdalena Abankanowicz’ work has been a great encouragement to me. My first encounter with her work was photographs in a book of contemporary fiber art. This was in 1979, the early days of my having a studio at the Torpedo Art Center in Alexandria, Virginia. At that time I was feeling isolated about my work. The people working with fiber around me seemed to be largely motivated by sales. They concentrated on making pretty or practical things, clothing mostly. They were extremely competent - one woman even folded a full-scale brown paper replica of the Pieta – but most of them simply made what they hoped was in fashion, or remade what had previously sold well. The fiber arts guild next to my studio even subscribed to a service that told them what colors were currently “in”.

Though I was only seeing photographs, I was astonished by Abakanowicz’ work. Magda was standing in front of her huge piece Bois le Duc - which towers above and beside her. It was not that her work was big, it was appropriately big: I realized that I was not alone in my interest in certain subject matters and my use of materials. Indeed, here was someone who set me new standards. Instead of being reluctant about being called a fiber artist, I would work to become a worthy one.

Boat with Four Figures, Katharine Cobey, 30’long, 12’ wide, 6’ high

Half my forebears seem to have taught English while the rest studied History or the Social Sciences. After making birdhouse collages in kindergarten, I had never drawn or sculpted anything. I had no practice, sense or idea whether I could relate what I saw in my head to what I did with my hands. But the more I studied the structure of knitting, the more I recognized it as a sculptural tool. Not only does a knitter work seamlessly and three-dimensionally, she makes her material and its surface design as she shapes it.Detail, Boat with Four Fibures

Pas Deux Rotating Installation, Hand knit coated wire 45"'h. 15"w. 11"dEven doing variations on a previous idea can be productive, as long as I keep from copying myself. Even commissions come with a caveat. I don’t make things to order. If you want a piece from me, it will be my design.

Perhaps the important word is risk. If I attempt what I have not done before, dialoguing with my materials and techniques I discover at least an impulse to work, and that leads to knowing what I can do and why I am doing it. I shy away from making pieces that are currently topical, on demand. It is easy to get such work exhibited but it takes me a long time to find an authentic visual language to express myself with. With any manual skill, there is always more to learn, more techniques to experiment with, and sometimes/often, playing around leads to new pieces.

Learn more about Katharine Cobey at www.katharinecobey.com.