Reouth Erez: Ekphrasis Textile

The Israeli textile and illustration designer Reouth Erez, who is based in Tel Aviv, has a passion for combining literature, philosophy and art, along with a practical design vision. This creative combination is clearly seen in Reouth's Ekphrasis project.

Ekphrasis or ecphrasis, comes from the Greek for the description of a work of art produced as a rhetorical exercise, often used in the adjectival form ekphrastic is a vivid, often dramatic, verbal description of a visual work of art, either real or imagined. In ancient times, it referred to a description of any thing, person, or experience. The work comes from the Greek 'ek' and 'phrasis', 'out' and 'speak' respectively, and the verb 'ekphrazein' "to proclaim or call an inanimate object by name."

In her Ekphrasis textile project Reouth wanted to actually 'revive' classical texts (poetry) from different places and times (eg: Edgar Allen Poe, Pushkin, the Israeli poet Yehuda Amichai).

The common denominator between the songs is the subject of man and his urges. The written texts are very visual/sensory - the prints she has created speak the words of the poem as a source of inspiration, or texts, not just a description of words.

The choice to create clothing comes from the desire to expose the audience to those who will be tempted by a "desirable object" as it were.

Each garment print is made from a particular poem. Each piece is accompanied by a pocket booklet with lyrics and other illustrations.

The person purchasing the item of clothing acquires a booklet. They can choose to be exposed to the ministers and be intrigued, and of course, to create a personal library for them. The intention is to operate the format of a rotating capsule collection.

Practical description of the project: Ekphrasis is a fashion and poetry brand. Five printed outfits and supplementary items - scarves, t-shirts, and poetry booklets.

Materials: cotton, velvet, silk, chiffon, faux leather, foil, flock.

Technique: manual drawing, digital drawing, digital printing, screen printing.

To find out more about the Ekphrasis textile project, follow the the link: https://ereouthe.wixsite.com/ekphrasis

To find out more about the artist and illustrator Reouth Erez, follow the link to her website: https://reoutherez.wixsite.com/reouth-erez/home

Rita Summers - The Making of Mary Mordaunt

Trapped, constricted, tied down by societies rules of norm. It is a shared history for many, and depressingly a largely female one. Whilst many men had at least some room for manoeuvre within their lot, some could work their way into different fields, different positions, some could emigrate, start afresh, anew, women could only really change their circumstances under the shadow of another. 

The men in their life, whether father, brother, husband, son, often set the parameters of a womans life, and the opportunities, or lack of them. Women had few if any outlets for growth, and were expected to support and compliment the world of the men in their life, that role was rarely reciprocal.

I know from the stories in my own family history, as well as that of others, the staggering amount of women, generation after generation after generation, who lived in frustration, angry at the tiny world they were deemed to need. Many of them more sharply aware that they were more talented, more energetic, more dynamic than many of the men that surrounded them, yet, powerless to make a significant mark of their lives, to drive it in a direction that suited them, to have a purpose that didn't involve household and family.

Which inevitably leads us to Rita Summers and The Making of Mary Mordaunt. Rita Summers is a mixed media artist who produces work in a range of mediums from textiles to books, from fashion to art prints, and assemblages. She uses eco printing and dyeing, as well as mixed media techniques, and stitching and drawing.

The Making of Mary Mordaunt project was an important one for Rita, as a woman, and perhaps more specifically as a contemporary woman. Rita is fully aware that the contemporary world is in many ways a different place than it has been for so many countless generations of women, but she is also aware that in many ways it is still exactly the same. So in some respects, the Mary Mordant project reflects the past constriction in the role of a woman as individual, but can equally reflect the present constriction that many women still find themselves in within own present world.

I am going to allow Rita to give the detailed description and purpose of The Making of Mary Mordaunt, in her own words. There is little I would want to change or add, so it seems fitting.

Mary Mordaunt was a young woman in the early 1900's who, like everyone, had hopes and dreams that she put on hold for family and financial reasons.  She deeply wanted purpose in her life, beyond the usual daily routine activities.  Sometimes the frustration became almost more than she could bear, and she would feel herself unravelling.  Her dilemma is an age-old one, especially for women, even today.  The vintage clothing I've repurposed, the torn silk, the rust - all these express in visual form who she was and how she felt.  The vintage suitcase represents both her desire to travel and see the world, and her willingness to drop everything to be with those she loved, even if it meant putting her own wishes on hold.  The shredded paper symbolizes how she felt when she was torn between her responsibilities and her dreams.  Mary Mordaunt's story could be anyone's, including mine!

Just like to say a big thankyou to Rita for the opportunity to feature Mary Mordant, it was both a pleasure an an honour, and also to give credit where credit is due, Mary Mordant being a finalist in the national Bibliography Art Award 2016, in Port Fairie, Victoria, Australia. 

Rita has a website: www.gonerustic.com. She can also be found on social media sites: twitter, facebook

One final note, the imagery for this article was supplied by the artist, and you really do need to ask her permission before sharing any of the imagery. Thanks

I leave you with the final few words Rita penned regarding Mary Mordaunt:

a ticking clock

shreds time

my secret dreams

exposed

my patience ripped

away

can hope emerge

unfrayed

or is this all there is

The Symbolism of Personal Memory. The Artwork of Andrea Vail

Illustration: Andrea Vail. Gained (LOST) Opportunity, 2010.

The work of artist Andrea Vail is dedicated to, and uses a number of formats, disciplines and traditional crafts. Common themes run through her varied work which are as significant and fundamental as the history of our species. Memory, the layers of time and the significance of objects imbued with personality and a fundamental symbolism are an integral part of her work and guide us through a variety of everyday and abstract ideas, which in turn give us perhaps a sense of our belonging within the timeframe of the environment and that of our species.  

Although Vail's work covers a number of themes and ideas, it is perhaps as well to pick out one of those themes, to follow a strand of thought in some ways. A good example would be that of the simple key. A key in its own right is merely a tool made of metal in order to lock and unlock a mechanism. However, this simple but iconic tool has gradually become imbued with our shared psyche. It is part of our history as a species, but perhaps more importantly it is also part of our significantly individual history as well. A key is a form of memory, shared experience and in time that of layered reminders of that experience.

Illustration: Andrea Vail. Gained (LOST) Opportunity, 2010.

In some respects, it matters little as to the individual experiences that are attached to a key. All first-hand memories eventually fade, become confused or just become subsumed in the mass of human experience. However, the very real experience of creating a collection of random or lost keys is also an exercise in the symbolic. We all understand that a key can often be of a symbol of a deeply personal nature. We all have, and carry through our lives a number of different keys for a number of different reasons. Giving a key to someone can be a validation of trust in someone, a rite of passage as in that given to an adolescent, or the potential cementing of a relationship. On the other hand a key can also be a reluctant relinquishment of power or even a complete surrender of independence, as in old age. 

We are all aware of the significance and heightened symbolism attached to these small pieces of metal. By Vail highlighting these symbols she makes us fully aware that on the one hand they are inanimate objects devoid of emotion, whilst on the other they are personal artefacts as well as significant symbols of our shared human culture. The idea of placing a selection of keys together on a wall, whilst also separating them by the use of small individual sheets as well as the significance of drawn and sewn lines, the sewn lines being used to enclose the individual keys in acetate, thus cutting each individual statement from another, gives the impression that whilst we all share both the symbolism and the experience, we are also, as individuals, alone. 

Illustration: Andrea Vail. Gained (LOST) Opportunity, 2010.

On another level Vail also sees the key as a form of opportunity, whether potential or lost. In fact, the name of this particular piece of artwork highlighted in this article: Gained (LOST) Opportunity gives us a good indication of where this theme can go. It is fascinating to consider the heightened symbolism, belief and potential that can be imbued into a simple mechanical format. However, it is perhaps not the key itself that takes on this burden of the potential for opportunity, whether real or not, as well as that of memory, experience and emotion, but that of the individual. We are a transient and short-lived species with little to seriously project beyond our lifespans, of the experiences we have had and the dreams we left unfulfilled. So in some respects, this particular piece of work by Vail could be seen as poignant, a look at the endless layers and the endless journey of successive lives and memories, pinpointed in an everyday object.

Although in many cases symbolism, and specifically that of a personal kind, is the only real tangible idea that we can leave behind us, that personal symbolism also fades in time.  However, perhaps that is not as important in the long run as we would believe it to be. In some respects, Vail's work shows us through the use of random and therefore unnamed and unidentified keys, the strength and enduring path of recollection and it is a tribute to the memory of remembrance to that of the individual but also to that of the many. We are a product of layers of humanity, a symbol, in our own right, of the hopes and opportunities, whether realised or lost, of the many individuals that came before us, just as we are to be the same for future generations. We are all keys of opportunity, of memory and of experience, we open the door for future versions of our species and therefore Vail's Gained (LOST) Opportunity is both literal and metaphoric, a description of the human condition and the cycle of life, opportunity and death that we all experience as both individuals and as a species.

Andrea Vail is a well-known and admired visual artist with a wealth of experience within the fine art world. She has exhibited widely and has her own fully comprehensive website which can be found here. The website contains many more examples of her intriguing and thought-provoking work.

All images were used with the permission of the artist and are therefore copyrighted.

Mixed Media Artist Judith Plotner

Illustration: Judith Plotner. Adirondack Journal I.

Many creative journeys are supremely private; others less so, many are degrees in between. The work of textile and mixed media artist Judith Plotner, although largely falling into the former category, can still be considered purely as an example of the rich world that can be composed from the elements that go to make up a mixed media base.

Illustration: Judith Plotner. Slate Valley.

Plotner uses the broad spectrum of the creative arts, bringing into her compositions the sensibilities of a fine art painting background, as well as that of printmaking, collage and textiles. The great strength of mixed media is the fact that layering and juxtapositioning can be achieved not only with the raw materials available within the different mediums, but also with that of mediums themselves. It is always fascinating to observe how sometimes a medium can complement another, while at other times the opposite can be both the aim and result. This can cause tension within a composition, which can be intentional on one level, but have reactions and unforeseen results, sometimes on more than one level.

Illustration: Judith Plotner. Adirondack Journal III.

The compositions chosen for this article seem reminiscent of small contained packages as if they were enclosed personal observations of the artist themselves. In some respect, that is exactly what they are. These observational diary pages if you will contain information, thoughts and muses, often scattered and seemingly random, though often connected by both the individual and the experience.

There is a sense of confinement that is physically attached to the compositions. The surrounding and inert space of these observational essays can seem to isolate the experience, but in fact, it is much more a case of the outside space allowing the artist to pinpoint an experience. This helps to discover and identify the completed observation and in some ways allow the outsider to study at least some elements of the parameters that contain the thoughts and processes of the artist.

Illustration: Judith Plotner. Autumnal.

Although the outside observer is not privy to the internal creative workings of the artist, whether that be personalised or externalised observations and encounters, they can in some respects be privy to the journey itself. By understanding the practical application of mediums and materials, whether that be through layering, stitching, stamping, dyeing, painting or printing, this functional part of the creative journey can be both observed and admired.

It is said that all creativity is subjective, and in many respects that is true. However, often the practical working journey of materials and processes used by the artist can be objectively followed, sometimes producing profound or at least interesting analogies and discoveries.

These five compositions of Plotner's are finely tuned and specifically composed. They are an interesting example of both the personalised experience of an artist, but also of the sometimes complex procedures that can entail the practical application of a mixed media artist. The compositions are wide ranging in their use of mediums and materials and show the genuine creative scope that can be found within the mixed media world.

Illustration: Judith Plotner. Global Warming.

Judith Plotner has exhibited extensively across the US. She has her own comprehensive website where many more examples of her work can be found. A link to the site can be found below.

All images were provided with the kind permission of the artist.

Reference links:
Judith Plotner website

Virginia Abrams Reflections

Illustration: Virginia Abrams. Reflections 5, 2009.

I am always pleasantly surprised and even intrigued when considering how many contemporary textile artists arrive at the genre from such diverse creative journeys and backgrounds. It perhaps says much about the comprehensive appeal of textile art that so many individuals feel compelled to take up the genre. Obviously, because of the diversity of these individual artists, textile art itself broadens its parameters immensely.

The American textile artist Virginia Abrams has a background in organic chemistry and biochemistry. She is fascinated with the complex interactions of the natural world and her work is centred on this fascination. Abrams work runs on themes suggested by nature. I have chosen one of these themes water, to illustrate this article. All of these pieces are literally reflections. However, it would be misleading to believe that they are merely optical observations conceived by Abrams. These are complex recipes using ingredients of light, air and water, all with shifting parameters. Each element adds its unique quality to the composition.

Illustration: Virginia Abrams. Reflections 1, 2008.

It is the combination and arrangement of elements that is the important point to remember when contemplating the nature of Abrams work. In what can appear to be an almost scientific fascination with the symbiotic partnership of the elements that are part of the makeup of the natural world, the artist draws our attention to the complexity of each moment. How each element contacts and subsequently influences the other is a fascinating creative exploration. We are asked to consider how many procedures and how many connections have to be made in order for water to ripple and for a reflection to be disturbed.

Illustration: Virginia Abrams. Reflections 4, 2009.

In some respects, these compositions are frozen moments in time, never to be repeated exactly with those particular elements and with those particular parameters. This implies that all connections with nature, particularly those as experienced from the human conception, are fleetingly unique moments in time. The proportions of Abrams compositions are therefore also unique; showing us a snapshot of a complex series of actions and reactions that take place between light, air and water with the added, but all important element as far as textile art is concerned, of colour and tone.

What seems to work exceptionally well in these particular compositions is that of the tranquil, balanced and seemingly limited colour palette, which on closer inspection is of course anything but simple. It entails a much more complex and accomplished use of colour, tone and texture on the part of the artist. However, the contemplative nature of the compositions draws the individual towards a sense of introspection of an almost meditative quality. Perhaps it could be said that these particular compositions are reflective in more ways than that of the obviously optical and observational.

Illustration: Virginia Abrams. Reflections 3, 2008.

Abrams work is impressive on both art and craft level. She has an intrinsic understanding of the balance and harmony that can be achieved through correct composition. Her confident use of materials and textile skills adds to the winning combination, helping to take the genre of textile art to yet another level of achievement.

There is a link to Virginia Abrams comprehensive website in the reference links section below, where many more of her textile art pieces can be found.

Artwork is reproduced with the kind permission of the artist.

Illustration: Virginia Abrams. Reflections 6, 2009.

Reference links:
Virginia Abrams website

Helene Davis and Hand Dyed Artwork

Illustration: Helene Davis. Black Rain.

Probably the most fundamental and guiding principal that colours, literally, the work of textile artist Helene Davis is that of her passion for hand-dyed fabric. Davis, after using bought quilting fabrics for a number of years, moved into the process of hand-dying her own fabrics, making each quilting project a much more personal and individual process.

Illustration: Helene Davis. Black Rain (detail).

Hand-dying is an exciting but often less than accurate medium in which to work. It takes a lot of skill, time, and patience in order to arrive at a range of fabrics in colour-ways, tones, and scale that can easily be worked with. The fact that the images shown in this article have arrived at that point, is easily evident. Davis is in control of the medium from start to finish. By producing her own dyed fabrics, she is able to forge a link between colour and texture that is both personal and individual, something that can never be truly said for bought fabric.

Illustration: Helene Davis. Flight to the Future.

The abstract process and the compositional layout allows the artist free reign over colour balances, textural juxtapositions, and tonal harmonies that seem effortless to the viewer, but are obviously hard to produce creatively without appearing indistinct and in many ways incomplete.

Davis is well aware that her coloured and textured fabrics have to balance compositionally, optically, and even emotionally. Each of these compositions has areas that are cut up into smaller sections of light and dark, placed next to areas where the dyed fabric is allowed to expand over much larger sections of the work. This carefully balanced juxtaposition helps to break up the colours and textures and allow the eye to roam over the composition, picking out small sections and details of interest.

Illustration: Helene Davis. Infrared.

Close ups of Davis work show that the stitch-making is also part of the process, as it is in many art quilts. However, by looking at a close up detail of Black Rain for example, it can be seen that the artist has also added a whole section of beading work as part of the textural and tonal process. This added mark-making process produces yet another layer of textural quality to the piece, allowing the work to be seen from a distance or close up, producing a different quality and experience every time.

Illustration: Helene Davis. Nexus.

These abstract pieces of artwork have been created by using a number of the processes found within the hand-dying craft and that of quilting. However, the way they are re-used and re-combined allows the artist to produce an extraordinarily tactile and sensory experience of colour, texture, and tone. Each piece is a balanced use of these processes, and one that cannot be re-conceived or re-connected after its creation.

Illustration: Helene Davis. World Upside Down.

The work of Helene Davis can be found on a number of sites on the Internet. Some of her work can be seen here. There is also a site, which can be found here, where many more of her hand-dyed fabrics can be seen.

All images are used with the kind permission of the artist.

The Perceptive Visions of Textile Artist Denise Linet

Illustration: Denise Linet. Random Ascent, 2009.

The work of textile artist Denise Linet resembles that of a complex assemblage of different mediums, experiences, and observations. Linet's work incorporates a whole host of printing processes from straightforward dying and painting to the much more complex and accomplished process of the transference of photographic imagery. These processes give the artist a wide range of surface textures and mark making capabilities in which to build up her compositions.

Illustration: Denise Linet. Pond's Edge, 2009.

It is the very nature of the relationship between the layers and processes, which are such an integral part of her work that seem to so intrigue Linet. These are not random juxtapositions, but are that of a complex visualization of a particular point in space. The artist has taken a moment in time, sometimes at a particular setting or personal experience, which is then interpreted in a number of textile mediums. These separate and often partial experiences and interpretations are then built up to create a complex assemblage, to recreate the overall sensory and emotional experience of that particular point for the artist.

Illustration: Denise Linet. Meadow with Flowers, 2009.

This is an intriguing concept and interpretation of the human idea of seeing and experiencing. None of us can truly visualize or experience completely and wholly at one viewing. We view a point in space and then unconsciously interpret that point using a number of different values and emotions, which are then pieced together in order for us to appreciate what we think we experience as a whole. Linet has reproduced that process of our inbuilt evaluation of time and place in her complex and multi faceted compositions. This is how we truly see the world, as a deeply rich and complex series of visual and sensory perceptions that build up through layers, juxtapositions, and relationships, in order to produce the final imagery that is our memory.

 Illustration: Denise Linet. Fantasy Garden, 2009.

She intrinsically seems to understand the complex multi-faceted visual and emotional parameters of our experiences with the landscape, each other and of ourselves. Through her work, Linet is able to give us an inkling of our own complexity and for that, we must be truly grateful.

Illustration: Denise Linet. Squam Lake - Early Autumn, 2008.

Denise Linet has exhibited her work extensively across the US since the mid-1990s. She has her own website, with more of her work on show, which can be found below.

All images are shown with the kind permission of the artist.

Reference links:

Denise Linet website

The Quiet Stillness of the Textile Work of Gerrie Congdon

Illustration: Gerrie Congdon. Sunset Composition, 2009.

The textile artist Gerrie Congdon produces work that deals with the elemental landscape. The natural world is such a large part of Congdon's compositions that they set both the scene and the style of each piece. Her work forms a collage of experiences all of which are of the quiet, thoughtful and reflective variety, the best type when observing and representing the natural world.

Illustration: Gerrie Congdon. Illuminated Aspens, 2009.

There is a definite element of tranquillity that permeates her work, almost bordering on that of a serene stillness. Congdon reveals through a combination of screen-printing, painting, stencilling and discharging, a series of colour tones and textures that are able to transport us to the quiet places of the natural world. These undisturbed and untroubled havens might well be areas that are tucked away in the memory or imagination of the artist, though it seems more likely to be a matter of compositional thoughts that are imbued with Congdon's love of the natural repose that she finds around her, and that we often find ourselves in forgotten and undisturbed corners of the natural world.

Illustration: Gerrie Congdon. Red Sky, 2008.

Congdon uses both hand dyed and painted fabrics as well as those produced commercially. However, this does not produce an unbalanced or disturbing composition, as all fabrics whether hand produced or bought, are carefully selected and placed within the parameters of the tonal quality that she has chosen for a specific composition. This produces a harmonious balance that places neither type of fabric in any form of conflict, which would in affect destroy any tranquil remoteness that Congdon wanted to achieve.

Illustration: Gerrie Congdon. Sea of Salt, 2009.

It is this remote tranquillity that is the beauty and strength of her work. These compositions are landscapes, but of a more removed, introspective and abstract temperament than that usually experienced with fully representational art. Through her observations she is able to permeate the natural world with an element of silent stillness, that of a clutch of trees on a still winter's day, or of a peaceful and placid cove, where the world has gone quiet and humanity is at bay, at least for a moment.

Illustration: Gerrie Congdon. Breaking Barriers, 2007.

Congdon's work deserves to be seen amid quiet reflection and that of an understanding of the stillness and unstirred elements that still remain within us, perhaps deeply buried to protect them from the world we live in, but still accessible if we wish.

Gerrie Congdon has a comprehensive website, which can be found here. She also has a regularly updated blog where her work in progress can be followed, as well as having a Flickr account. The blog can be found here, while her Flickr account can be found here.

All images were used with the permission of the artist.

Reference links:
Gerrie Congdon website
Crazy for Fiber blog
Gerrie Congdon Flickr

The Textile Artwork of Altoon Sultan

Illustration: Altoon Sultan. Turquoise Circles.

Textile art can take many forms and use many mediums. In recent years a number of craft processes not usually associated with textile art have been incorporated by some of the more enterprising and non-judgemental artists. Some of the skills that have been incorporated into textile art include many that were considered to be the lesser craft skills, most of which were on a strictly amateur basis and have rarely if ever seen any professional aspect to their medium. These include such staples of the amateur world as crochet, macrame, hooked and rag rugging, to name only a few.

Illustration: Altoon Sultan. Boxed Circles.

Hooked rugs have always been seen as belonging to a world of instant necessity and practical need. The skill of hooked rugging was never considered part of any Arts & Crafts revival or even part of a middle class accomplishment package that was expected from every woman before and after marriage. These art and craft packages would usually include such skills as drawing, needlework and weaving, but could include some of the more unusual craft skills such as metalwork and ceramics. Rug making itself has a very high standard of achievement and status. When it was strictly in the field of weave, embroidery or even print it could and was often considered to be an art form in itself. However, rag and hooked rugs were another matter entirely and were rarely if ever mentioned in the same format and were not seen as a skill or part of any other medium. These rugs were strictly the property of some of the lowest and most poorly paid members of society. The skill has therefore been tarnished with an image of low social status and inapproachability.

Illustration: Altoon Sultan. Tiles.

Altoon Sultan is a Vermont based fine artist who sees no stigma or prejudice in the skill of hooked rug making and has incorporated it effortlessly into her fine art work as a process of that art rather than as a minor support skill. She has a subtle eye for both texture and colour variation, as can be seen in the images shown in this article, all of which are the work of Sultan. For the artist it is not just a matter of producing a pattern out of the hooking technique, there is also the much subtler use of the direction that the loops take within the composition. Some compositions switch the direction with a change of colour or texture, while others use the change of loop direction in order to add a subtle pattern for the eye to follow.

Illustration: Altoon Sultan. Ovals.

Whereas the traditional hooked rug technique used scraps of fabric that could not be utilised for any other domestic use, and therefore were limited as to the range of the creative process, Sultan does not have this problem. Her fabrics can be individually and subtly dyed to produce a close range of colour shades and tones making the work appear both coordinated and connected. Each piece or ruglet, is an individual and unique process, from initial sketch and composition, through to the dyeing and hand picking of fabric strips, to the actual making.

These pieces are not rugs and cannot be placed on the floor. They are art pieces for the wall only. This is not to say that Sultan finds that there is something embarrassing about the medium or the skill involved in hooked rug making. It says much more about her being able to see the medium outside its narrow confines, often narrowed by outside elements rather than within the medium.

By highlighting the work of Altoon Sultan, it shows that no process within the textile world should be considered lower and less significant than another. All are processes that were learnt and handed down across generations and all have value. If we start to rationalise and grade the differing skills and techniques that are part of the large and varied world of art and craft textiles then we are also guilty of rationalising and grading the generations of people who, usually through necessity produced and honed those skills in the first place.

Illustration: Altoon Sultan. Blue Circle, Red Triangle.

Altoon Sultan has an interesting and comprehensive blog where her thought processes and methods of work can be seen in much greater detail than I have shown here. Her blog Studio and Garden can be found here.

The images were used with the kind permission of the artist.

Reference links:
Altoon Sultan blog

The Creative Artwork of Cynthia Corbin

Illustration: Cynthia Corbin. Permeable, 2008.

It is sometimes difficult to categorise Cynthia Corbin's work as it is so much more than the title of quilting or even textile art can do justice to. The techniques used in order to produce the resulting textural and painterly aspect of her work could very well be seen as on a literal par with some of the best efforts of fine art abstract painting.

The fact that Corbin does indeed work with fabrics and stitching and not oils, acrylics or pastels is all the more remarkable as all the fabrics used are individually painted with dyes, rather than bought or dyed en masse. This attention to detail, taking each separate fabric as a project in its own right, allows Corbin to build up a unique library of artistic moments which gives her a perspective towards quilting that is much deeper, more personal and certainly more creative than most.

 Illustration: Cynthia Corbin. Blocked, 2008.

It is the mark making techniques and textures that have added a completely new level of richness and singular creativity to her work. These elements, which often seem more reminiscent to that of fine art printing or pen and ink drawing, create a surface that can be explored in its own right. That Corbin could easily be satisfied with that singular result is obviously not part of her creative makeup as she then applies the technique of building up multi-layers that take their strength from the traditions of quilting. However, she also challenges the formulas and preconceptions of that tradition, asking us to see beyond the limits of the craft and accept in full the compositional use of a whole series of techniques of surface and much deeper textural formulas that take this work well beyond both quilting and textile art.

The work that Corbin produces is worth seeing purely for its unique and therefore personally artistic and creative approach, but it also has an elemental sense that takes us out of ourselves and allows us to explore the fundamental use of colour and texture on an emotional level, rather than an intellectual.

Illustration: Cynthia Corbin. Removed, 2008.

Cynthia Corbin teaches various classes and workshops, is a lecturer and has exhibited her work widely both inside and outside the US. She has a full calendar until at least 2011 and it seems there is very little that Corbin has not achieved or is willing to achieve within her discipline. There is also a comprehensive website where you can see much more of Corbin's work and includes more information about her lectures, classes, workshops and exhibitions. The website can be found here.

All images were used with the kind permission of the artist.

Illustration: Cynthia Corbin. Storm Door, 2008.

Reference links:
Cynthia Corbin Website