Each year, SDA’s International Exhibition In Print showcases the breadth and depth of contemporary artists and designers working with or inspired by fiber art and/or textile-based materials, methods, and techniques. The work of selected artists is featured in the Fall 2025 issue of the Surface Design Journal.

Please visit CaFÉ Call for Entry for call details and to apply.

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ABOUT THE EXHIBITION

“It is the task of the translator to release in his own language that pure language that is
under the spell of another, to liberate the language imprisoned in a work in his re-creation
of that work.” –Walter Benjamin

In recent years, fiber’s boundaries have been pushed to their limits like never before. The tenth annual International Exhibition in Print celebrates fiber’s potential to emulate, recreate, and translate other qualities and contexts.

Some themes that expand translation as a material practice:

• Work that explores translation of language, metaphor, or concept in the medium of fiber.
• Work that emulates qualities of other materials.
• Work that illustrates fundamental aspects of fiber with thought-provoking reflections on other matter and material.
• Work that bridges cultural gaps, encouraging people from diverse backgrounds to appreciate and engage with each other.

The resulting Exhibition in Print will focus on translations and the “release” of limited understandings of what fiber can become. We are looking for poetic creations that embody fiber’s power to communicate through and beyond its materiality.

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JURORS

Nirmal Raja (she/her) is an interdisciplinary artist who recently relocated to Cambridge, MA after living and working in Milwaukee for over 24 years. She had lived in India, South Korea, and Hong Kong before immigrating to the United States thirty years ago. She holds a BA in English Literature from St. Francis College in Hyderabad, India; a BFA from the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design, and an MFA from the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee. She has participated in solo and group shows in the Midwest, nationally, and internationally. She received several awards including “Graduate of The Decade” from the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee. Raja received the Mary L. Nohl Fellowship for individual artists for 2020 and the Mildred L. Harpole Artists of the Year 2022 award from the Milwaukee Arts Board. Her art residencies include the Arts/Industry Residency at Kohler WI and Vermont Studio Center among others.

 

Lauren Sinner(she/her) is a multidisciplinary artist, curator, teacher, writer, and comedian based in Portland, Oregon. She is currently the Managing Editor of Surface Design Journal, Digital Media Manager at Portland Art Dealers Association, Mentor to MFA candidates, and independent contractor to many arts organizations throughout the country. She received her MFA in Applied Craft + Design from the joint program between the Oregon College of Art and Craft and the Pacific Northwest College of Art in 2016.

 

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ENTRY PROCEDURE, FEE, & AWARDS