“Fiber Art VIII,” the Sebastopol Center for the Arts’ Eighth Biennial International Fiber Art Exhibition opened on July 28, 2017, featuring many American artists as well as artists from around the globe. According to Sonoma Discover Magazine, the focus was on “social, political, and personal expression.” Eighty pieces were selected for this show. The jury was also international: Wendy Lugg from Australia, Jason Pollen from Kansas City, and Eszter Bornemisza from Hungary.
Working in collaboration with Surface Design Association, the Sebastopol Center for the Arts invited national and international artists to submit innovative and traditional fiber art work, contemporary concepts using either traditional or unusual materials. The exhibit features both two- and three-dimensional pieces, including wearable and large installation art.
Fiber arts include art made with any type of fiber, so they include, but are not limited to, quilting, weaving, knitting, crochet, tie-dye, and embroidery. The majority of artists are female but there have always been men who are also involved in fiber arts. There was an artist who had a degree in chemical engineering in the 1970s, obtained to assuage his parents, but his true passion and full time activity was embroidery, which he transformed into “paintings.”
The first prize, “Best of Show,” went to a creation from Norway: “Memory Bank,” by Helle Mellemstrand, an installation of 74 bowls of industrial felted vintage blankets. The bowls were actually held up at US customs and almost didn’t make it to the show! The customs officials needed to know what materials were used. Fortunately they obtained the information they required, and the rest is history.
There are many other memorable pieces as well. One installation uses men’s neckties. Another is an old-fashioned cash register made of fabric. One of the Merit Awards went to a three-dimensional depiction of commuters at the Grand Central Terminal in New York City, “The Terminal” by Blair Cahill. The Award of Excellence was given to a complex installation by Carolyn Kallenborn (from Wisconsin), called “Equilibrio.”
In addition to the biennial show, “Korean Voices in Fiber: Translating Tradition into Contemporary Art,” a traveling exhibit highlighting the ancient heritage of fiber art in Korea and the modern transformation of that traditional art, is on display at the arts center.
Fiber Art VIII is on display through September 3, 2017.
Photo:“Equilibrio” by Carolyn Kallenborn, the winner of the Fiber Art VIII show Award of Excellence. Photo by Diane Chehab