Fibers

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/10217/180168

Browse

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3

Open Access
Erin Bolte: capstone
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2017) Bolte, Erin, artist
The artist's statement: I create work that draws on the historic traditions of fiber art while pushing towards forms that ease the ennui. Every piece starts as a series of strings that build up with intention over time fusing together to create a form. During the creation process a constant conversation takes place between myself and the piece. It talks, I listen. Although I am the artist I am not in lead of the conversation. I push and pull and manipulate and question until the work before me emits a feeling of quiet confidence telling me that it is exactly what it needs to be. Fibers allows me to remain within my work long after it's created. My epithelial cells are forever nestled dead within the threads of my work. The needles that pierce fabric also prick my fingers. The sweat of my hands permeates the cloth. This is my language and this is how I speak the loudest.
Open Access
Maddie Shackelford: capstone
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2017) Shackelford, Maddie, artist
The artist's statement: There used to be an uncomfortable tension between art and craft. That pressure has since dissipated and been replaced with a new tension - that between art and design. Arguably art and design have different objectives, however I am interested in how they can be the same. Design is becoming less and less about simply displaying information in a visually stimulating way, and more about user experience, empathy and psychology. Being interested in both Fiber Art and Graphic Design, I want to explore how that user experience can be heightened by art, and how design can inspire and grow from roots founded in art. Because design is sometimes put in a category outside of art I explored this perceived dichotomy between art and design in a recent project. I created a brand and product packaging experience that was extremely elegant, tactile, and gave importance to the experience of opening or unwrapping a purchased product. The piece was about anxiety so I wanted to ease anxiety not just with the products within, but in the packaging experience as well. I did this by including soft and textured embroideries in the lids of the products. Does their inclusion in packaging mean that they are no longer art? I think not. I believe that their existence in the packaging makes the packaging more fine art like. Design and fiber must work in tandem to elevate each other. When I am creating from fiber the focus of my design is both visual and tactile. Fiber is very visual and can be graphic, but it also begs to be touched. When I am working on a wall piece I primarily think about where it can be hung, how it can be hung, and how light will interact with it. Texture, color, and shadow are all important design elements that go into a piece intended display on a wall. My studies of design and design thinking have caused me to gravitate to objects that are clean, neat, have ample breathing space, employ angular shapes and lines, and also have a pleasing flow. I prefer soothing color that calms a weave structure that might be busier. It is in my nature to want to clean up messes, so my Fiber Art work is never messy, never a thread out of place. On the opposite side, fiber has a long history in craft and function. When I make something intended for use in a home the design elements have to change. Form, color, texture, and shadow are still important, however it is more important to me to make sure the functional needs of the user are met. For example, can it be machine-washed? Will dye fade or bleed? Does it pill over time? Can it take some abuse? Is it soft, textured, and pleasant to touch? Even though functional pieces are still fiber art, it is important to me that the owners of the objects I make can use them without fear or hesitancy. I want to give people something they will use and love and pass on to someone else. I want to make precious things that are precious because they are well crafted and beautiful, not because they mean something to me specifically. That's not to say that my work is not imbued with meaning, meaning just isn't the most important part to me. Pieces with heart, made with soul, conviction, and reason tend to be more beautiful than something mass-produced. I think this is because our creativity comes from God, and when we are exercising our creativity and combining it with emotional intelligence we can make beautiful things. For me Fiber Art is an act of worship. It is using the creativity and ability that God gave me. I am still unsure of whether I want the subject of my work to be faith. But if not, the process will always be¬ a worshipful practice for me.
Open Access
Taylor Landry: capstone
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2017) Landry, Taylor, artist
The artist's statement: Often, I find myself stopped in the street, observing how perfectly composed the caution tape floating in a leaf strewn puddle over a break in the curb appears. What conspired for everything to come together in this exact moment? Chance happenings and the passing of time effortlessly arrange materials around me into complex compositions that inform my work. The splatters, scratches, and scattered debris silently decorating my environment inspire how I use dye, stitch, and found objects. The act of weaving individual threads into a unified cloth serves as a metaphor for how the tapestry of what makes us human is woven together with endless interconnecting strands of memory, emotion, relationships, and experiences. I weave to illuminate small moments and observations. I embroider found object collages and instant photographs of my everyday surroundings as a way to stitch together the untold narrative with the obvious and tangible and to delight in the random arrangement of our universe. Music and lyrics fuel my soul in a way that no other thing can, a thread so permanently entwined in the cloth of my own identity, fundamentally altering the way I perceive the world. For this body of work, I chose to honor the music that has impacted my identity most by composing titles inspired from song lyrics by the band, Modest Mouse. Provoked by my observations of the growing and decaying world around me, sparked by the fascination of how all things come together, and fueled by the words, sounds, and textures that fill my space, I construct in needle and thread a diary of my experience and identity. I expand and evolve small fragments of my surroundings to invoke the whole - landscapes of humanity.

Browse

Browsing Fibers by Subject "weaving"