{"id":96093,"date":"2025-09-08T13:40:29","date_gmt":"2025-09-08T20:40:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/?p=96093"},"modified":"2025-09-11T07:09:37","modified_gmt":"2025-09-11T14:09:37","slug":"the-weavers-guild-biennial-reveals-the-artistry-of-fabric-and-fiber","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/the-weavers-guild-biennial-reveals-the-artistry-of-fabric-and-fiber\/","title":{"rendered":"The Weavers\u2019 Guild Biennial Reveals the Artistry of Fabric and Fiber"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Handwoven

, from left to right: Eugenie Murdock \u201cPillows,” Mimi Rhodes \u201cKrokbragd Rug” and \u201cSunset on the Nile,” and Phyllis Mandel \u201cRainbow Weave Jacket.\u201d<\/p><\/div>\n

Spend a little time with the gifted, itinerant street painters on YouTube and it soon becomes apparent that almost anything can become the support for a painting, from a guitar to a guitar case, or a laptop\u2019s cover, or even an inexpensive, mass market oil painting on canvas. So why, you might ask, would Debbi Sigg go to the considerable trouble of painting on diaphanous and fragile pieces of silk? The answer, either in \u201cDisappearing\u201d or \u201cEnchanted Nocturne,\u201d has to do with the power of silk to absorb not just paint, but light itself, and to bring colors to life so they glow as they do nowhere else.<\/h4>\n

\u201cDisappearing\u201d accomplishes a feat of transformation, hung as it is above a long, narrow table on which Susan Hainsworth\u2019s overshot runner lies, creating the effect of an altar, or perhaps a formal entryway. A visit to Slow Cloth: A Celebration of One Thread at a Time<\/em> rekindles the appreciation of how much indispensable, yet accessible and even affordable luxury textiles add to our lives.<\/h4>\n

To say this, however, is rather to invert the values celebrated in the awards given out by the sophisticated juries of the Mary Meigs Atwater Weavers Guild of Utah, in their biennial exhibition, currently in the Pilar Pobil Celebration Gallery at the Utah Cultural Celebration Center. Weaving, a term the guild uses as a way of collecting virtually every form of textile art, is surely among the oldest human crafts, with examples found regularly by archaeological expeditions excavating their way back into prehistory.<\/h4>\n
\"Row

Mittens by Lisa Sewell<\/p><\/div>\n

In fact, judging by the numbers, the most popular forms this year are Latvian Selbu-Style mittens and hand-painted warps. The former are the contribution of Sarah Marsden, who submitted no less than 20 original color patterns. Beginning a weave by dyeing or painting the warp threads produces optically tactile fields of color that beguile the eye while qualifying as abstract paintings in depth. As Ivy Dehart\u2019s \u201cCloudy Day\u201d so aptly demonstrates with its Fancy Twill, the addition of a regular texture to such a free color application makes for a rich combination of contrasting patterns.<\/h4>\n

Of course, being in an art gallery where they are skillfully mounted by Mike Christensen and his staff brings out the ornamental qualities of even the most functional objects. But there\u2019s an irony here; many of the makers are disappointed to learn that their accessories are regarded by their new owners as too precious to wear or use. That pair of hers-and-his wedding towels lovingly and skillfully woven by Nickie Allen may languish on the shelf. When she realized that her double weave scarf wouldn\u2019t have enough suitable opportunities to be worn, Phyllis Mandel reworked it into a jacket suitable to wear on more occasions. Meanwhile, Barbara Ishimatsu chose thematically correct, local pine needles to bundle into her \u201cOn Pins and Needles\u201d pin cushion, thereby making an object that, like many here, can be appreciated when it is not in use as well as when it is.<\/h4>\n
\"Textile

Lisa Chin, “Into the Light”<\/p><\/div>\n

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