Sheila Hicks has worked with fibre materials since the late 1950s, transforming the art of weaving into contemporary sculpture. A Fulbright scholarship took her to Chile, where she found inspiration with indigenous weavers. It was during this time that she became curious about the potential of fibre as a primary material, and began manipulating it into sculpture. Hicks’s Prayer Rug series, begun in the 1960s, literally upends the notion of the rug as a textile with its deliberate vertical display.
‘Understanding and being understood is an important part of [Olga de Amaral’s] work. Through a complex system based on artisanal techniques, she finds answers to inner questions.’
Colombian artist Olga de Amaral, represented in the show by 5 Grafitos (2013), is known for embellishing her textile pieces with gold or silver leaf. By removing the elements of painting from the confines of the stretcher bars, she reinforces the viewers focus on the materials themselves. Her techniques also reference the work of pre-Hispanic weavers in South America.
Also exhibited are two works by Ursula von Rydingsvard, Untitled (2012) and Untitled (2013), both thread or fabric and pigment on handmade linen paper. German-born Von Rydingsvard, best known as a sculptor, takes both her inspiration and materials from nature, often using wood and metal elements as well as fabric.
The show will include five works by Elsa Hansen Oldham, known for her witty groupings of pop culture figures rendered in cross-stitch embroidery.