I've just received pictures from Pamela Thomas, who had taken my
Fiber Sculpture Week intensive at Fleisher the last week of July. My camera chose to run out of batteries at a most inopportune moment, but luckily Pamela came to the rescue.
Fiber is such a broad field of both
materials and techniques that it's hard to narrow it down to a few to present in a week's course. This summer I thought about starting with paper as a fiber medium as it would be a material that everyone would be intimately familiar with. Our first experiments produced a
folded paper box and a
plaited coaster, seen below.
Once students felt comfortable with the idea of
weaving and
manipulating paper we moved onto a newspaper basket. They started as woven mats for the base square, with the "staves" then folded up. Some
twining helped keep the base stable and a folded and bound top edge finished it off. (My sample piece has become my new favorite place to stash my embroidery supplies by my chair in the living room!)
Continuing with the idea of
vessels, we tried some
wrapping and coiling. The pic above shows a purple ribbon and yarn coiled form sitting on the basket. And you can see another form at the bottom right of the picture below made of curtain cording and twine, suggestive of a seed pod.
This bright lady is Joan Forman, a great experimenter in mixed media (although her first love is watercolor and collage). Her week's labor produced the objects above. When we moved on to
soft/stuffed forms, she transformed a needlepoint pillow top into a triangular form that tried to be a snake but turned into a seated form using Joan's button collection for embellishment and structural tacking.
The aforementioned Pamela- of -the -pictures, was extremely interested in
doll forms, and was in seventh heaven when she was able to start the form above utilizing her African-inspired fabrics. She was able to selectively place her pattern pieces so that the face in the print acted as the face of her doll. She also discovered how much faster machine-sewing is over handsewing! I'm a great fan of the handsewn- especially in embroidered embellishment- but for structural stitching and speed GO for the Machine!
I'm pleased with what these ladies were able to accomplish in such a short time. However I'm torn between wanting to introduce techniques and materials versus being able to create interesting, inventive, artistic forms. When students are learning a technique for the first time it's hard to think about content and be ambitious with form at the same time. And one week is too short to be able to master anything! I've also realized that in my teaching I'm far more concerned that students learn new methods and be able to accomplish and complete something than to make that something perfect and beautiful.
Sculpture is not my comfort zone artistically- but it's good to do things outside your comfort zone sometimes. It challenges and stretches the imagination. I enjoy looking and thinking about sculpture more than I like producing it. So I appreciate these ladies taking this adventure with me.
This past week during the Visual Arts Camp the campers focused on the theme "Go Green". All the projects were driven either conceptually or materially by the idea of environmental consciousness. The first project my group completed was a fence weaving, shown above, which reused fabric strips salvaged from interior design samples. The peace sign was a popular motif, but we also had recycling arrows and the 3 R's. Before weaving we talked about how fabric is made, whether it's natural/sustainable or synthetic, how far textiles are shipped around the world for our use and what choices they should make when buying clothes.
These 2 images above and below feature the wheat-pasted mural created by the entire camp. Students trekked down to Liberty Lands park to do tree/leaf/texture rubbings on paper. We talked about how it's possible to use nature for inspiration without taking anything away from nature to make art. The rubbings were torn and cut to be pasted into the tree shapes on the side of the building. The paste was made from flour and water, and the campers got VERY messy!!! The one below was made almost entirely by my daughter (proud mama here). Both of the projects above should still be visible if you got to 3rd and Fairmount.
All of the remaining images show my campers' animal/habitat sculptures. The animals were made with clay, which was then painted. The habitats were created with reused cardboard leftover from the previous week's play props, paint, and rocks and sticks found around the building. In preparing for the project the campers brainstormed their favorite animals, what was special about their habitat, and how each animal has special qualities to survive in their habitat. Most of our week's projects were collaborative and more public art. This was the only project that the kids really got to take home.
Cats and dogs with indoor/outdoor habitat- a collaboration between 2 campers.
Duck Pond! I'm intrigued by the cartoonishness...
Beaver and nibbled tree in the forest.
Mama and baby Skunk in woodland burrow. This one is my daughter's!
Elephant at the watering hole in the savannah.
One camper wanted to use more of his imagination and created his own creature.
Above is an installation shot of small weavings. And below is one that spoke to me the most. This series were quick weavings- more diary-like, and they have that feel of gritty urban textures that I am captivated by. They are reminiscent of all the layers of paint and stucco and brick and posters that crumble from the walls in our neighborhoods here. Like strata.
Here is an installation shot showing some of David Foss's paintings alongside Kathryn's Black and White weaving. It was the most unified pairing in the installation, and it made me wonder if that was planned in the making of the pieces at all, or if it was just a moment of serendipity when they arranged the hanging.
The piecing is representative of the street map. The major curve is supposed to be Ridge Ave and the large block top left is Fairmount Park. Serendipity! The embroidered "S" on the table runner falls right where Strawberry Hill Mansion would be on the map! Note how big this piece is!!! It's currently 3x4 feet. Making it the largest embroidered piece I've ever made! Craziness considering I only have one month to finish this puppy.
