Textiles: Fiber Arts

Dr. Dan shared his wisdom and love for the Fiber Arts. It is so cool to me. Who knew? (here are some notes taken from Dr. Barney's posts on Ning)

"Our studio focus today was on fibers (examples at this link) & textiles... (here is a blog that has many examples of thread as a way to create art... however, you may want to preview the images before showing these to your students as the blogger [Laura Hughes] posts some inappropriate images for children).Oh, one of my favourite embroiderers is Cayce Zavaglia... She was a painter who didn't want to bring in toxic oil painting materials when she had her baby, so she switched her medium to thread. She "paints" with thread!

Here is Cayce's artist statement:

I still consider myself a painter and find it difficult not to refer to these embroidered portraits as “paintings”. Although the medium employed is crewel embroidery wool, the technique borrows more from the worlds of drawing and painting.

Initially, working with an established range of wool colors proved frustrating. Unlike painting, I was unable to mix the colors by hand. Progressively, I created a system of sewing the threads in a sequence that would ultimately give the allusion of a certain color or tone. The direction in which the threads were sewn had to mimic the way lines are layered in a drawing to give the allusion of depth, volume, and form. Over time the stitches have become tighter and more complex but ultimately more evocative of flesh, hair, and cloth.

My work unabashedly nods its head to the tradition of tapestry and my own love of craft. Using wool instead of oils has allowed me to broaden the dialogue between portrait and process as well as propose a new definition for the word “painting”.

Introduction to Fiber Arts

Throughout the course of its history, fiber art has been recognized for its domestic and utilitarian functions. Thus, an artist’s choice to work in this field is today often loaded with an acute awareness of the many contexts in which it exists outside the world of fine art. Although fiber art is not exclusively gendered, is has typically been viewed as “women’s work” because women have so frequently been responsible for making clothing, bedding, and household accents. Some of the most common conceptual devices in fiber art consequently involve the revival or distortion of those traditions. For contemporary fiber artists, materials include woven fabric, yarn, string, thread, synthetic fiber, and leather. Technical processes can range from conventional skills such as knitting, sewing, or embroidery to more alternative means such as gluing, stapling, or direct application of paint. Fiber art appeals to some because the materials’ tactility and versatility help artists produce unique, powerful artwork. It also engages because of its attachments to gender stereotypes and cultural heritage. For example, Aminah Robinson uses quilting and mixed media fiber pieces to celebrate her Ohio roots, while Annette Messanger uses needlepoint circles as the vehicles for ironic, misogynist sayings. Regardless of the sometimes disparate pieces that this medium is used to create, it is consistent in its ability to facilitate a vast range of art, craft, and expression.

Here are some fun clips of Dr. Dan teaching us his mad sewing skills. 

For the Feminist art project we did finger-weaving Which was a blast

 

http://www.basketweaving.com/ArtTeachersPage.htm

Weaving projects can be connected to social studies lessons. It would be neat to learn basket weaving or roof weaving skills. Paper weaving (http://www.dickblick.com/lessonplans/paperweaving/) can be done and is really fun to make easter baskets( or other crafts.