A & E

Currently on display at two locations -- the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts and the Society for Contemporary Craft -- "Fiberart International 2007" features a record-breaking 93 artworks made of, or associated with, fiber.

As visitors will see, the artists who created these works employed an astonishing variety of techniques and materials, sometimes in a single work.

Many combined traditional procedures such as stitching, quilting or weaving with rusting, photocopying, heat transfer and even burning. And the materials included range from wool, linen and silk to silver wire, even rabbit-skin glue and rubber bands.

The reason for such wide-ranging examples, says Janet Bass, who co-chaired the exhibition along with Patty Murphy, is that more artists who are working in the field these days come from different disciplines and are getting into the mix more than ever before.

"More and more fine artists are using fabric and moving into fiber art in one way or another, because it allows them to do some things that they cannot do in any other way," Bass says. And, she says, conversely, each artist brings certain qualities to their works that only serve to add to their fiber-based pieces.

She points to Philadelphia artist Mi-Kyoung Lee's untitled, oval-shaped wall installation as a perfect example. Comprised of rubber bands and nails, there's no fiber-type material in it at all, yet its forms a woven-like surface on the wall. Thus, referencing fiber and therefore qualifying as a legitimate entry in the exhibition.

Likewise "Wall of Vessels" by Joan Webster-Vore of Hudson, Iowa, technically doesn't have fiber either, unless you count the pulp contained in the handmade paper she used to make the little baskets that look like boats nesting on twigs that are installed 6 inches from one wall, creating a delightful interplay of shadow and light.

"This falls into our category," Bass says of Webster-Vore's piece. "Baskets actually fall into our category because they are made of flexible materials that are woven."

Of course, this is a fiber-art show after all, and many traditional type works abound that are sure to amaze. One of them is most definitely "Kajo -- Shimmer," a vibrant weaving made of wool, cotton, linen and silk by Ariadna Donner, of Finland, that looks like it's shimmering as one stands in front of it.

Another is Kathryn Walter's "Frieze #1" which is a three-dimensional frieze made of gray industrial felt that the Toronto artist cut and hand built into repeated forms. It's a standout among many other felt works that are pretty amazing in themselves, such as Seattle artist Timea Tihanyi's 4-foot high "Andrea's Tree," which replicates the aptly named part of the human circulatory system in deep red synthetic felt.

More than 1,500 entries were received from all over the world by 609 artists. Bass says that of the artists included in the exhibition, a third of them reside outside the United States. Countries represented include Australia, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Lithuania, Netherlands, Norway, Taiwan and the United Kingdom. Fifty-seven of them came to the opening event April 13. Three flew in from Japan.

The jurors also reflect the international aspect of the exhibition. Japanese artist Naomi Kobayashi exhibits extensively both in Japan and internationally. Dorothy Caldwell, who also exhibits widely, is a founding member of the Textile Dyers and Printers Association in Canada. Lois Moran, recently retired editor-in-chief of the bimonthly American Craft journal, is vice president for North America on the World Crafts Council Executive Committee.

Caldwell, who lives just outside of Toronto, said of the exhibition, "I was delighted to discover work that was subtle, elegant and restrained as well as work full of humor, tongue-in-cheek wit, and offbeat ideas."

True. The exhibition does contain all of that. The latter may be best represented by Phoenix artist Christy Puetz's funky cartoon spider doll "Magdalena" or "Couture Series: Lucy" by ElizabethMesa-Gaido of Morehead, Ky., that looks like a three-dimensional version of a dressed-up Shmoo from Al Capp's Li'l Abner.

But perhaps it's Bass who has summed up this exhibition in total best: "It represents a pretty broad definition of fiber art. I think it shows the public how far fiber has moved from quilts and the kinds of things our grandmothers used to some things that don't have any fabric in them at all."

---

Need more fiber?

"Focus on Fiber"

Related events and exhibitions at a number of venues throughout the region are listed at www.fiberartinternational.org under the "Focus on Fiber" tab at the bottom of the site.

They include

• "Hanging by a Thread," le Poire, Crafton, through May 18. 412-921-0912.

• "Vessel," Brewhouse Space 101, South Side, through May 5. 412-381-7767.

• "Quilt Art Celebration, Northland Public Library, McCandless, through June 29. 412-366-8100.

• "Focus on 5," Sweetwater Center for the Arts, Sewickley, through April 30. 412-741-4405.

In conjunction with "Fiberart International 2007," 32 fiberart exhibitions and events are scheduled throughout the year in galleries, universities and museums across Western Pennsylvania.

Locally, the best among them can be found at the moment at Brewhouse Space 101 in the South Side where "Vessel," a Fiberarts Guild membership exhibition, demonstrates a wide range of interpretations of what a vessel is, or can be. At le Poire gallery in Crafton, "Hanging by a Thread" presents the works of 21 Pittsburgh area artists, many of which are Fiberarts Guild of Pittsburgh members as well, that are so varied and wide in their interpretations that it almost rivals the main exhibition, but on a much smaller scale.

• Most Read
• Most E-mailed
• Latest News