Contemporary Fiber Art: Crossing Thresholds
“Spiritus” by Wendy Kowynia
“I chose these artists because of the quality of their work (which I find exciting) as well as the wide diversity of material use, scale of work and exploration of techniques.”
Enjoy this video of our virtual tour from "Stone Souls" and "Contemporary Fiber Art: Crossing Thresholds"
Carbondale Arts presented “Contemporary Fiber Art: Crossing Thresholds”, a group exhibition curated by Jill Scher at the Carbondale Arts R2 Gallery. “Contemporary Fiber Art” which was on exhibition from April 2 - 29, 2021.
“Contemporary Fiber Art: Crossing Thresholds” was an exhibit of innovative work by award-winning fiber artists, which explored the intersection of art, nature, spirit, science, and the social and political environment, while pushing the traditional boundaries and application of fiber art. Featured local, regional, and national artists included Wendy Kowynia, Andrea Love, Salley Mavor, Liz Sargent, Jill Scher (curator), and Jan Schubert.
The work of the artists was diverse, ranging in size from miniature to architectural and to include two and three dimensional sculptures, environmentally themed installation art, mixed media woven panels, hand-stitched and felted illustrations, a puppetry performance and animated film.
Enjoy a conversation with all 6 artists of “Contemporary Fiber Art”!
This exhibition opened the same dates (April 2 - 29, 2021) as “Stone Souls” by Alice Bedard-Voorhees and Greg Watts. Both of these exhibitions were generously sponsored by Kat and Pete Rich who are super awesome supporters of the arts and are constantly inspired by the power of creativity here in our community.
Wendy Kowynia, Steamboat Springs, CO
Wendy Kowynia lives and works in a small semi-heated studio just steps from her backdoor in Steamboat Springs Colorado. Her work pushes beyond the traditional boundaries of weaving. Her pieces evolve slowly, one thread at a time, at a pace just as slow as the snowflakes that fall all winter. What she likes best is to sit quietly at the loom, engaged in the slow meditative rhythm of weaving.
Jill Scher (curator), Carbondale, CO
Jill holds a BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design. Her primary practice is as a fiber artist using felting and embellishment as her main medium. She has worked as a production hand-weaver, a textile designer for a fabric mill, and as a handwork instructor at the Waldorf School on the Roaring Fork. Currently Jill is a full-time studio artist with a focus on sculptural work, installations, and one of a kind art to wear. Her studio is located at the Third Street Center in Carbondale, where incidentally, she was chosen to design and create the installation to honor capital campaign donors. Her work can be found in the Marshall University Graduate School permanent collection, Telluride Gallery of Fine Art, the Third Street Center in Carbondale, Co., as well as private collections nationwide.
Andrea Love,
Port Townsend, WA
Andrea Love is an independent stop motion director, animator and fiber artist residing in Port Townsend, Washington. She is self-taught, works from her home studio, and has a decade of experience making commercials, short films, and small personal projects exploring the relationship between fiber and film. Her work has garnered millions of views across social media platforms, and has been screened at film festivals including the Tribeca Film Festival and LA Shorts Fest. Her most recent short film Tulip, a nine-minute adaptation of Thumbelina, is premiering this Spring at the New York International Children’s Film Festival.
Jan Schubert, Carbondale, CO
Jan Schubert holds a B.A. in Early Childhood Education and a Waldorf Teaching Certificate. She is a graduate of The Juniper School of Story and Puppetry Arts and is the owner of Bee Happy Candles. She authored and illustrated another children's story, “The Sun Seed.”
Salley Mavor,
Falmouth, MA
Award winning fiber artist Salley Mavor has spent 4 decades developing her signature style and working methods, carving out her own niche within the children’s book world and the fiber art community. Her three-dimensional embroidered tableaus have been used as children’s book illustrations, social commentary and stop-motion animation.
Salley has illustrated 11 picture books using her distinctive blend of materials and hand-stitching techniques, including Pocketful of Posies, which won the 2011 Boston Globe-Horn Book Award and the 2011 Golden Kite Award. Her popular how-to book, Felt Wee Folk is in its 2nd edition, inspiring creativity in all ages. The picture book, My Bed: Enchanting Ways to Fall Asleep around the World is her most recent publication. She lives and works in her home studio in Falmouth, Massachusetts.
Liz Sargent,
Savannah, GA
Liz Sargent is an artist working in Savannah, GA. She earned an MFA in Fiber at Cranbrook Academy of Art in 2002. Recent exhibitions include Entanglements at Laney Contemporary Fine Art in Savannah, GA curated by Melissa Messina and Lisa Jaye Young, Slipstream at the Gallery at Sasaki, an award-winning international design firm in Boston, and The Fugitive Strand at Youkobo Art Space in Tokyo, Japan where she completed an artist residency. Her work was exhibited as part of Metropolis Magazine’s editor’s picks, traveling to the International Furniture Fair in New York and Neocon World’s Trade Fair in Chicago, and has been featured in FiberArts, Azure, and Selvedge. She currently teaches at Savannah College of Art and Design in Savannah, Georgia.