In light of the conclusion of our biennial conference in Portland, OR, artist, educator, and SDA member Robert Mertens reflects on his experiences, thoughts, and conversations while attending Making our Mark: SDA at 40. “The site of art begins to diverge from the literal space of art, and the physical conditions of a specific location recedes …

This week’s Friday Fibers Roundup features a mix nature themed articles–from indigo dyeing, to needle-felted portraits of pets, and so much more. 1) Artist Laurel Roth Hope creates humorous, colorful, and one-of-a-kind sweaters to fit a standard urban pigeon–complete with a retrofitted hood with eye and beak holes. While seemingly funny at first, each suit …

As we continue to celebrate SDA’s 40th anniversary, we wish to recognize the diversity of talent working within the field of fiber art and surface design with our second annual Exhibition in Print. This year’s theme–Future Fabrication–asks artists to think about how innovations related to fiber and textile materials might shape our future. With works …

This week’s Friday Fibers Roundup features a combination of forward-thinking fashion, digital textiles, and a call for entries that meshes traditional and digital technologies. 1) “Touch and Electronic Textiles” by Ricardo O’ Nascimento explores the use of capacitive sensing in textiles through various national and international projects (via Medium). 2) Mechanization, Material, and the Matrix …

Weaving can be viewed as a handcraft, an ethnic tradition, a global commodity, and a prototype for binary systems. It can also be viewed as embodied cognition, a term that came up frequently during a recent conference, Weaving: Cognition/Technology/Culture at Columbia University, New York. The purpose of the conference was to challenge the common assumption …

Our amazing conference just finished, and to top it off, this week’s Friday Fibers Roundup features articles on some of our Keynote speakers and demonstrators (plus some extras)! 1) This video shows Aram Han Sifuentes’ Protest Banner Lending Library where Sifuentes leads workshops to teach others how to make their own protest banners in lieu …

Closing out SDA’s Outstanding Students Award Winners is another top-notch gallery of student work featuring innovation within the field of fibers and textiles. All were nominated by the chair of their department, and will receive a certificate as well as a one-year membership to the Surface Design Association. For more information on the Outstanding Student Awards …

This week’s Friday Fibers Roundup features a mix of drag race costuming, fashioning the future, and the decolonization of craft. 1) “Steps Towards Decolonizing Craft” by Aram Han Sifuentes explores the problematic use of appropriation, primitivism, fetishisation, stolen, and stripped of context cultures become when artists and craftspeople are “inspired” or “drawn to” cultures not …

Our second gallery of SDA’s Outstanding Students Award Winners is just as amazing as last week’s, and features innovation within the field of fibers and textiles. Nominated by the chair of their department, all winners receive a certificate as well as a one-year membership to the Surface Design Association. For more information on the Outstanding …

Surface Design Association is pleased to present our Summer edition “Making our Mark: SDA at 40” to celebrate our 40th Anniversary. With opening letters from President Astrid Bennett and Guest Editor Wendy Weiss, this Journal reflects on the amazing people that helped SDA grow into what it is today, as well as looks forward to …