Christine Miller
Wheel of Wonder, 2021
Wire, fiber [7" x 7" x 7"]
Wheel of Wonder has a changeable nature depending on which angle it is viewed from. In this time of strong disagreement, it is hoped that looking at a situation from another angle can provide the viewer with a new vantage point to consider.
Loretta Faveri
Let it Be, 2021
pages from my 1994 journal, ink, beeswax, thread, grommets [64" x 47" x 4"]
In 1994, I was abusing alcohol and spending too much time with unavailable men. Much of my daily angst was documented in my journal and years later, when I reread my words, I realized how much shame had consumed me. I removed the pages, applied ink and wax, cut the pages and then stitched them back together, not as they were but as something new. The process was healing, and allowed me to release the shame I felt and simply let the past be.
Debra Weiss
Dressed With No One To See, 2023
Copper, Fabric, Cotton Yarn [40" x 20" x 13"] [
This piece was created in response my personal daily life,to getting up and getting my day I started but working for hours alone in my home studio. The balance of gratification of work and often the loneliness in life.It is knit, crochet and macrame. * Dressed with nowhere to go * Sitting alone In silence * Dreaming of love and romance * Feeling despair * Days creep by Years fly * Dressed with no one to see *
Adrianna Hinds
Spirit Basket, 2023
round reed, branch [10.5" x 12.5" x 2"]
Free Form Round Reed Basket on Dried Wyoming Mountain Branch with Orange reed wrap. Made specifically in memory of the land.
Rebecca McGee Tuck
Incompatible Discord, 2021
found objects and sea debris [90" x 18" x 2"]
I walk the wrackline of the Massachusetts coastline, collecting debris. With each bag of marine trash that I bring home, I feel the precarious weight of the impact of pollution in the ocean. Every time I set out for these wrack line walks, I am faced directly with the dark reality of man made objects that clutter, tangle and threaten sea life. With my work I hope to raise awareness to the constant misuse of the ocean’s ecosystem by transforming pieces of sea debris into works of art and symbols of hope-- calling attention to the consequences of poisoning our oceans and encouraging a new commitment to action!
Barbara Shapiro
Faulty Towers: No Waste Fashion and The Inside Story, 2023
designer shopping bags paper, packing paper, sumi ink, glue [23 H x 17 W x 8 D" for installation of 2 works]
My Faulty Towers series uses recycled paper to comment on social ills and environmental issues. Artists must have a voice in these tumultuous times. Technique and material draw the viewer in, making the message poignant. “No Waste Fashion” is a piece with precarious stability. Our beloved fashion industry has long caused great damage to the environment and continues to abuse its workers, who are mostly women. Disposable fast fashion pushes our planet to a frightening tipping point. One twisted block has crashed open and “The Inside Story” spills out revealing the dirty little secrets of the fast fashion industry, exposing the true cost of wasteful and inhumane practices. By reusing the bags that held objects long-ago purchased from companies with sustainable and ethical business models, I create my own no-waste fashion that seeks to spark important conversations.
Kalliopi Monoyios
One Way Street, 2023
172 single-use plastic bags, polyester backing & thread [size 6 with a 6' foot train]
This quilted jacket is made from rescued single-use plastic trash and second-hand fabric. The intricate pattern devolves at the end of the 6-foot long train into tatters, pointing out that whether we use plastic for 5 seconds or 50 years, it's all a One Way Street street to trash.
Katayoun Bahrami & Narges Poursadeqi
Weaving Strings of Grief (Collaborative work with artist Narges Poursadeqi), 2022
Cyanotype and Crochet Rocks [72” x 288”]
"Weaving Strings of Grief: Woman, Life, Freedom" is an emotional, artistic response to the profound sociopolitical circumstances unfolding in Iran. In light of the ongoing struggle for personal freedom and gender equality, this fiber-based artwork is a tribute to the spirit of the Iranian people, particularly women, who confront oppression with unwavering resilience and those who lost their lives for freedom. Responding to the open call by Surface Design Journal, this installation employs textiles as a unique medium to create artwork that will leave a lasting impression on viewers. Through the emotive language of color, pattern, and fiber technique, "Weaving Strings of Grief" captures the essence of our present moment and seeks to resonate with future generations.
Eden Quispe
Metamorphosis, 2019
stitched, soldered and painted textiles [28" X 20"]
This piece was created of an acquaintance of mine who was just emerging from a traumatic past and beginning to tell her story. I used the introverted brown that the blue morpho butterfly uses for camouflage as well as the blue color it uses when its wings are open to create this portrait.
Lisa Thorpe
Insist, 2022
photos on fabric, thread, hand printed and dye fabric [18 x 24 mounted]
In light of the current situation with women's reproduction rights, and as a person who lives in Arkansas that has a near total ban on women's control over ones own body - this piece uses my strongest tool - my art
Janet Jaffke
United We Stand, 2022
Burlap, thread, gauze [101cm x 112cm]
This work was in response to the political division in the United States as well as around the world. The degradation of democracy and the tone of political discourse is breaking our institutions and society apart. In life I've come to understand how important it is for us to be united while still embracing our diversity. This work is my symbolic act of patching and repairing a society that is being torn apart - without unity nothing remarkable can be accomplished.
Mee Jey
MANNAT: A Special Prayer (for children victims of war and violence), 2021
Repurposed fabric on plastic mesh [12' x 21']
With the participation of 48 visitor/volunteer, I created this imagery of Ayan Kurdi, the Syrian child who drowned in the Mediterranean sea, and this image changed the way immigration crisis was dealt by global powers.
Evette Allerdings
Goodbye Dad, 2022
Silk, Acid dye [27.25"x1.5"x38.5"]
Missing my dad. I painted a scene from the last vacation he took with me before he passed. I feel him looking down on me with warmth and light.
Deidre Scherer
Dad’s Last Day, 2021
Thread on layered fabric, free-cut and free-stitched by machine [16" x 18"]
I worked from a drawing that I made at his bedside.
Sarah Blanchette
my mirror lives again every night so I keep it, 2022
Digital thermal print scans printed on velvet, cotton thread, vinyl, batting. Handsewn. [56.5” x 38” x 2”]
Title Origin: Taken from a recording I made with my paternal grandmother, Carol, 4 days before her passing. She was nearing incoherency and spoke of her time in school as a little girl. Image Origins: Cellphone photos of the orchid I gifted my paternal grandmother, Carol, during hospice; the last pop cans in her fridge before we sold her condo after she passed; her clothing; a sweet duck that made specific eye contact with me during a trip in her honor; my hand that held hers when she took her last breath.
Holly Wong
Shadow Body III, 2023
Polyester tulle thread and map pins [60" x 48" x 4"]
The works in my “Shadow Body” series, I use transparent fabrics with light reflective thread as a proxy for my mother’s spirit and a reminder of the permeable separation between the living and the dead. They also reflect my awareness of my aging body and the realization that I am now older than my mother was when she died at the age of 47. While there is a mourning aspect in these works, there is also a growing acceptance and celebration of my aging body.
