I last wrote about Kassia St. Clair when I reviewed her book, "The Secret Lives of Colour", in June of 2019. The book, her first, was a really good read. About 70 colours were profiled by St. Clair, each one with its own history. Readers learned how colours are experienced differently in different cultures, how precious dyes came to signify elite status, and how the toxicity of some dyes drove innovation in dye manufacture.
I was reminded of St. Clair when my friend Lauma shared with me a link for a video from Karen Brown, featuring a 38-minute interview with Kassia St. Clair, discussing "The Secret Lives of Colour" as well as her most recent book.
"The Golden Thread: How Fabric Changed History", weaves the fascinating story of how textiles have driven human development in areas like technology, trade and even space exploration. The book has been well-received, having been chosen as a Sunday Times Book of the Year, and nominated for the Somerset Maugham Award.
A recent review of "The Golden Thread" is available from The Washington Post.
Visions Art Museum, in San Diego, California, is a non-profit organization with a focus on fibre art. It stages twenty exhibitions annually, and though it is now closed to visitors, four of its shows are currently available on-line.
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| Octopus and Crab (detail), Beth Blenkinship |
Beth Blankenship's solo exhibition, "Connecting Threads", showcases her longtime fascination with marine life. Using thread and beads, she has made a series of vessels celebrating the diversity of aquatic plants and animals.
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| Meltdown #1 (detail), Sandra Meech |
Canadian artist Sandra Meech has a longstanding interest in the people and landscape of the polar regions. "Polar Expressions" is a masterful display of her use of painted cloth and stitch to create contemporary quilts.
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| Break Up, Maria Shell |
"Shifting Tides: Convergence in Cloth" is a group show, staged by members of Studio Art Quilt Associates. Its 46 varied works focus "on the current state of the Pacific Ocean ecosystem, its marvellous natural diversity, and the human activities that both sustain and threaten oceanic life".
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| The Wave, Carol Simpson |
While I have not attempted anything as ambitious as McLean's project, I have found some solace in knitting during these difficult days. At this point I am using wool scraps to make slippers for the local women's shelter. It steadies me to have something to do with my hands while watching too much television.
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| I'll Fly Away, Susan Brubaker Knapp |
An article in The New York Times reviews "We Are the Story", one of a series of quilt exhibitions at seven sites throughout Minneapolis and St. Paul, presented by the Textile Center and the national Women of Color Quilters Network. The first exhibition, "Gone but Never Forgotten:Remembering Those Lost to Police Brutality, is available online, and other shows run through the spring.
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| Writing on the Wall, Deborah Fell |
I subscribe to a blog by painter James Gurney, where I recently learned about an innovative approach to building that relies on knitted textiles to support concrete construction. This method is being explored as a new way to build affordable housing, with a smaller environmental footprint.
The video below features architect Mariana Popescu, explaining how knitting machines can create the "bones" of concrete structures.
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| Repair (detail), Kevan Lunney, 2016 Aluminum base, neon glass tubes, industrial wool felt, white electric cord; back fully enclosed with removable aluminum plate, knitted construction |
This virtual show is presented by the New Bedford Art Museum, in Massachusetts. It showcases fifty-two outstanding works, juried from over 1100 submissions, in the categories of
Those who have enjoyed the Netflix series of The Crown, Season 4, and The Queen's Gambit, may wish to know more about the costumes. Currently, the Brooklyn Museum is staging a virtual show that allows visitors to see many of the costumes made for these productions, to view them in detail, and to access more information from the costume designers themselves.
To learn more, go to the exhibition website, which offers a link to a virtual exploration of the show. The link includes film clips featuring the various costumes, and a panel discussion with the designers.
I learned about this exhibition by reading Leanne Delap's article in a recent issue of The Kit, available here.
Many of us are especially focused on family at this time of year. So please indulge me when I explain how very proud I am of my daughter, Katya. The busy mom of two little ones, Katya has long had an interest in knitting and a great eye for colour. When the pandemic began, she took the opportunity to open a home-based business, offering hand-dyed yarn. Hidden Pond Yarns is getting 5-star reviews!
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| without hat |
I discovered this charming doll pattern on line, and just had to knit it up for my granddaughter. A steep learning curve for me, but I persisted. I love her unruly hair. My daughter chose the colour palette and supplied me with her own hand-dyed yarn.
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| with hat |
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| AIDS Memorial Quilt panel, NAMES Project |
This recent article in The Observer, by Karen Chernick, traces the history of quilts as political statement.
In Quilting as a Radical Act: An Exhibition Examines the Art Form's Revolutionary Impact, Chernick reviews a new exhibition at the Toledo Museum of Art, titled Radical Tradition: American Quilts and Social Change.
While the common public perception of quilts and quilters is one of cozy domesticity, the reality is often different. This show gathers together over 30 quilts from the mid-19th century onward, revealing a long history of quilts made for social causes.
Quilts that comment on our current pandemic, and that pay tribute to its victims, are no doubt already in the making.
Thank you, Lynda, for sharing news of this 3-artist exhibition of art quilts, currently staged at BIG Arts Gallery, Sanibel Island, Florida. Featured is the fibre-based art of Sally Dutko, Bonnie Langenfeld, and Angela Scozzari.
While we can't teleport to Florida, we can enjoy the virtual version of this show.
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| Sally Dutko, Dots Without the Polka, hand-dyed cottons, silk |
