The Blogger Show and Abstract Contemporary Textile Art
Structures #48 ©2007 48" x 64"
I mentioned last month I will have a piece in the The Blogger Show in New York City. In conjunction with this show there will be work shown in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania at several galleries. I will have the above piece, Structures #48, at The Blogger Show at Digging Pitt Gallery.
The show runs from November 10 – January 12 with a public reception on December 8, 2007 from 6-9pm. I’m still not sure if I will be able to attend this opening or the one in NYC but I’m thinking about it.
Digging Pitt Gallery began Digging Pittsburgh Arts in June 2006. The experience has been enriching for the gallery. Through active participation in the art-blogging community, Digging Pitt has brought new artists to the flat file archive, with results like the Pittsburgh Alumni show, and now, the Blogger Show.
The artists in the exhibits represent a range of visual disciplines and aesthetics. The one commonality is actively blogging. Some use blogging as a platform for discussing issues facing visual artists while others treat the blog as a public journal. Whatever approach or combination of approaches, all have brought a level of clarity to artistic discourse.
You can read more about these shows on the Blogger Show blog.
List of artists that will have work at Digging Pitt during this show:
Martin Bromirski (Richmond VA) – Anaba
Sharon Butler (Mystic, CT) – Two Coats of Paint
Lisa Call (Parker, CO) – New Work and Inspiration
Rose Clancy (Pittsburgh, PA) – paperWorks
Kevin Clancy (Boston MA and Pittsburgh PA) – soft pink pulls through the ivory void
Warren Craghead – drawer
Ann Gordon (Detroit MI) – Detroitarts
Cable Griffith (Seattle WA) – Cable Griffith
Tracy Helgeson (upstate NY) – Works by Tracy Helgeson
Stephanie Lee Jackson (Brooklyn NY) – Pretty Lady
JT Kirkland (Washington, D.C.) – Thinking About Art
Mary Klein (Minneapolis, MN) – stillifes
Eva Lake (Portland, OR) – Eva Lake
Steven LaRose (Ashland OR) – Steven LaRose
Michael Lease (Richmond VA) – Annabelle’s Aspirin
John Morris (Pittsburgh, PA) – Digging Pittsburgh Arts
Elizabeth Perry (Pittsburgh, PA) – Woolgathering
Marc Snyder (Pittsburgh, PA) – Fiji Island Mermaid Press
Digging Pitt Gallery
4417 Butler St.
Pittsburgh, PA 15201
p 412.605.0450
Abstract Contemporary Textile Art
Thanks to everyone for their ideas on what I might call my work. I’ve been hunting around the internet and thinking about different words and I’ve decided on Textile Art and more specifically Abstract Contemporary Textile Art as the noun to describe what it is I make. I thought about Abstract Contemporary Textiles but it seemed a bit too nondescript. While I would prefer not to use the word "art" in the description of the noun for my work it has advantages on the internet for search engines so I will go with it.
If forced to pick I would categorize my work as Mixed Media. I’ve always considered my work mixed media because it is comprised of 3 very different components/processes/mediums. The first being the dyeing of the textiles to create the colors and designs in the fabric I use in my work.
The second is the composition that is similar to collage, using textiles instead of papers or other found objects. I cut my hand dyed fabric into the shapes I want and instead of gluing them together I sew them together.
The third component is the stitching which is very similar to drawing, only with thread. I don’t consider my work complete without the stitching and when you see my work in person it is more obvious the important role the texture lends to the piece.
This is one reason I love my methods for creating art – dyes, fabric, thread, drawing, collage and sometimes beads/buttons. There is so much variety in the process and the materials – I’m never bored.
Structures #48 – Stitching Detail ©2007
Posted by Lisa in: Abstract Contemporary Textile Art, Art Exhibits
Hi Lisa, I think this is a great choice!! I have been following the discussion and I think this really fits the bill. And congrats on the show.
~ Diane Clancy
http://www.dianeclancy.com/blog
Thanks for details about the exhibition at the Digging Pitt Gallery. I will be traveling from Australia to Pittsburgh to visit family for Christmas and am thrilled that I will be able to see one of your
quiltspieces of abstract contemporary textile art in real life.I just love this piece!!
textile art, I love it. to the point and intriguing. I had no idea you dyed it all yourself, where have I been?
I too love this piece, you’ve posted it b4 i think. It’s got a very territorial feel, both a positive and negative thing going on with boundaries…wars…histories; at least that is what it brings up for me. Much energy and it forces my eyes and mind to scatter.
Beautiful piece; beautiful description. Thanks for the Blogger list!
Lisa: I, too, agree that “textile art” is good. I think I could also appreciate “Contemporary Textiles” or “Contemporary Textile Art.” I’m not sure you need the word “abstract” in there. In so many ways, abstract is almost implied when you say contemporary. I do understand that for Web purposes, it doesn’t hurt to have all of the words, but you might not need to be that wordy in other formats.
Although you make a good case for considering your work as “mixed media,” I have problems thinking of it in those terms. I think mixed media has become one of those overused descriptions, what you use if you can’t decide what you really are but want to be included in the serious art world. I guess part of my bias about this right now is an irritation at pieces I’ve been viewing here locally. I look and look and for the life of me can’t see what’s mixed about what I am seeing.
Now, if you always embellished your quilts with beads and the like, added paint, attached paper or metal or other items not readily associated with a textile piece, then I would say you could call what you make mixed media. Disclaimer: very much a personal opinion here, and not intended to offend anyone else categorizing their work as mixed media.
I definitely think Textile Artist will serve you better and keep you from getting lost in the mixed media category.