July 10, 2011

SDA Members Show - Merge and Flow

Of the nearly 4000 SDA members worldwide who were invited to submit, this exhibition showcases the creativity of nearly 200 who each interpreted the Confluence theme of "Merge and Flow".

Materials used ranged from woven fibres like silk, linen, wool and hemp, to the more unusual and unexpected: wire, plastic, foil, rice paper, digital imagery, metal and re-purposed clothing. And similarly, traditional to innovative approaches were employed to create the pieces: weaving, stitching, knitting, discharging, wax resit, mom-printing, printing, dyeing, felting, beading, foiling, crocheting, digital printing and collage, among others.

The walls were packed, as well as the floors around them.

Here are some of my favourites out of the 200 pieces...

Swarming Krill
Pole-wrapped, hand-dyed cotton and linen. Pieced, appliqued, embroidered.
Kristin Rohr, North Saanich BC, Can


Confluence 2
Dyed and stitched burlap.
Joan Schlichting, Redmond WA


Filling The Void
Cotton, paper, metal wire, Arashi shibori, weaving, painting, knitting, crochet, hand and machine stitch.
Christine Hager-Braun, Durham NC


Refractions
Silk organza, shibori dyed, French seams.
Candace Edgerley, Alexandria VA


Silhouette #7
Silk, cotton, shibori resist dyed, fused, quilted.
Rebecca Cross, Oberlin OH


Three Generations
Cotton, polyester thread, random stitch.
Shin-Hee Chin, McPherson KS


Handwork: Drawing
Cotton, hand painted, screen printed and monoprinted with fibre reactive dyes.
Astrid Bennett, Iowa City IA


Remnants 17
Fibre, encaustic, oil stick, waxed linen, knotting, stitching.
Deborah Kruger, Amherst MA


Insatiable
Sculptural crochet with polyester, floral wire and paint.
Jodi Colella, Wellesley MA


Metonym
Cotton, quilted, hand painted.
Deidre Adams, Littleton CO


Ebb And Flow
Hand stitched loofah sponges.
Meredith Strauss, Glendale CA


Postmark Bluewater
Batik with beeswax, printing, stitching.
Diane Rutherford, Grand Rapids MN


Movement In Time
Applique and hand stitching on hand-dyed cottons.
Mary Ruth Smith, Waco TX


Offset
Natural pigments, fibre reactive dyes, silk, Katazone.
Kathryn Eastman, St. Paul MN


Travelers' Meeting Place
Disperse dyes on silk.
Marie-Therese Wisinowsk, New South Wales AUST


Ancient Skills
Salvaged napkins, vintage crochet, buttons, pins, buckles, trapunto.
Diane Savona, Passaic NJ


Mid-Winter Thaw
Disperse dye on polyester, Peltex, stitching, burning.
Kimber Olson, Eden Prairie MN


Daegu 1
Recycled cotton and linen, screen printing and hand embroidery.
Karin Soderholm, Daegu, South Korea


Secluded Willow
Warp painting, weaving, drawing and hand embroidery.
Jane Evans, Grandora SK, Can


Untitled
Martha Brownscombe, East Lansing MI


Turning Point
Merino wool, cotton gauze, zipper, reverse nuno felting, machine embroidery.
Barbara McCaffrey, Victoria BC, Can

Jingzhe
Incense burning and screen printing on Lutradur.
Xia Gao, East Lansing MI


Sea Urchins
Handmade cut paper, nuno-felted wool, silk, embroidered, beaded.
Deborah Johnson, Magnolia DE


Healing Sutra #19
Hand embroidered antique cotton fabric stained with Walnut ink.
Erin Endicott, Port Republic NJ

(This piece won First Place based upon visual interest, craftsmanship and innovation.)

What can you say? WOW, eh?
And that was the end of Day 1 at the 2011 Surface Design Conference!

July 07, 2011

Reflections on Water at SDA

Reflections on Water is the name of the Featured Exhibition at the Katherine E. Nash Gallery in Minneapolis as part of the Surface Design Association 'Confluence' conference. The gallery statement reads: "Whether viewed aerially, from a distance or close enough to feel the spray of a wave, water is central to the art of Barbara Lee Smith, Linda Gass, and Mary Edna Fraser. Their work invites the viewer to reflect on the power of water and the state of the earth's ecosystems in a way that heightens awareness and inspires contemplation, hope and action."



Artist, teacher, author and lecturer, exhibition coordinator Barbara Lee Smith lives on an inlet of Puget Sound in western Washington. Her artist statement for this work reads: "I dwell on water. Moved by its moods and changes, absorbed by its colors and shifting shadows, I aim to capture a moment of time, place, season and weather. Elegy and celebration, the works I make serve as reminders of both the power of nature and the power of humankind to create and to destroy." She uses nonwoven material as the foundation for her work, creating intricate surfaces that are printed, collaged and stitched to capture atmospheric and landscape references.

South Getty
painted, printed, fused and stitched nonwoven synthetic
50" x 50"
close up showing the painting and stitching


Above The Caldera/Santorini
painted, printed, fused and stitched nonwoven synthetic
49" x 80"


Marshland/Twilight
painted, printed, fused and stitched nonwoven synthetic
50" x 39"


Mary Edna Fraser's art often results from excursions photographing in the family's vintage plane around her home in Charleston, South Carolina. Her artist statement reads: "Highlighting environmental concerns using the ancient medium of batik is my passion. The art conveys a sense of place often employing conservation science. My aesthetic floating world adapts the bird's eye view inspired by woodblock prints from Japan's Edo period (1615-1868)." Her large scale batiks are environmental prayer flags.


Homage to Hokusai II
batik on silk
53" x 43" (3 panels)


Backwater
batik on silk
50" x 14"


South Edisto River, SC
batik on silk
156" x 36"


Linda Gass fell in love with textiles when her grandmother taught her to sew as a child. She lives in the Sam Francisco Bay area. Her artist statement reads: "My artwork combines environmental activism and the aesthetics of art making to explore land use and water issues. I blend painting and textile techniques to create textured aerial landscapes showing the human marks on the land that affect our water resources. Each work is inspired and informed by the landscape, its history, maps and aerial photographs."



Body of Water
stitched painting on silk
30" x 30"


Puzzle of Salt
stitched painting on silk
29" x 29"

For more details about all of their works, their web sites are located here when you click on their names:
Barbara Lee Smith for nonwoven synthetics

Mary Edna Fraser for batiks

Linda Gass for environmental activism
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