Given the long tradition of arts like painting, drawing, and sculpture, among others, fiber art sometimes gets lost in the shuffle. But there’s always been, and continues to be, a subculture of fiber artists who are using textiles to express their experiences and culture. Whether it’s in the actual fabrics they use, the methods they employ, or the subjects of their work, fiber artists do more than just dye or crochet or quilt; they use a variety of materials to weave together stories about the artist’s experiences and the traditions to which they’re drawn.
Several students at PNCA’s MFA exhibit this past June are prime examples of this trend. Angélica Maria Millán Lazon’s Engendradxs, for instance, used velvet capes, portraits, and video to tell the story of her Colombian heritage. Fellow student Aruni Dharmakirthi’s Fissures of the In-Between also presented commentary on their experiences as a Sri Lankan-born artist and educator through the use of specific types of fabric.
Using fiber art to explore culture and expression isn’t just the new fad of the year, though. The biannual Student Fiber Art Trends event, sponsored by the Southeast Fiber Arts Alliance, gives university students across the Southeast United States the opportunity to showcase their fiber artwork. The 2016 exhibit featured a juried selection of 49 pieces by 31 students from nine schools in Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia, and Kentucky. The materials used included dyeing, Ikat, crochet, digital and screen printing, macramé, embroidery, applique, batik, beading, quilting, and many more. Clearly using fiber arts in innovative ways to tell new stories has been an up-and-coming trend for quite awhile.
Going back even further to 2013, Lori Zimmerman noted in an article for FiberArt.com that there was “an exciting sense of freedom these days in the fiber art world. We’re experiencing the fruits of a revolution that has been going on for some time; a constructive shift that is exploding in experimentation, pushing boundaries, and calling for nuance and meaning.” She discussed artists combining fibers and other forms of art in seamless multimedia projects—sculptures of plant materials, drawings using thread, the combination of metal and fiber, and many more.
“A fiber art piece is elevated from craft to art if the piece communicates an idea, describes a perception, or speaks of an emotion,” Zimmerman wrote. “In other words, art is created when the piece transcends the material by successfully incorporating the human element of intellect, spirit, or emotion.”
She also pointed out the increasing tendency for fiber artists to include culture and history in their work—uncovering materials at thrift stores, choosing vintage fabrics, and even incorporating materials from their own closets.
There’s no question that the world of fiber art has expanded to include not only more options in terms of creating the work itself, but also in the opportunities available to tell the artist’s own story.
Photo: Exhibition Odintsov Elena Innokentevna. Colored tapestry with multicolored decorative pattern. Credit: Stanislaw Mikulski / Shutterstock.com