Kaneko: The tapestry of ATB10

Nebraska is almost 500 miles wide. I know because I drove from northern Colorado to see the fiber shows currently up at Kaneko in Omaha. I wanted to see American Tapestry Biennial 10 again and I decided to go when Dr. Jessica Hemmings who juried the show was giving a lecture. 

I visited this show in San Diego last May and you can see how Visions Art Museum displayed the show

HERE. The show in Omaha looks very different. The huge space dwarfs the tapestries but does help you feel like they aren't hung quite as close together as they actually are. I posted many detailed photographs of some of the tapestries in the post from Visions.

Here are a few shots of the Kaneko installation and some images of tapestries I didn't show in San Diego as well as a short video. The video was done with a hand-held video camera. Please don't yell at me because it is shaky. It is only intended to give you a feel for the space.

I have enjoyed all of these pieces over the last year and a half. Because I am one of the co-chairs for ATB10, I had the great pleasure of being the first person to see them as they were submitted by the artists, and now I have seen the show twice.

I was unable to get a good shot of Clare Coyle's piece in San Diego. Here is a little bit better photo of this marvelous piece plus a detail.

Clare Coyle, The Land Gives Us....

4.25 x 22.25 x 0.5 inches, cotton, silk, linen, wool

Clare Coyle, The Land Gives Us.... (detail)

Deborah Corsini, Disconnect; Connie Lippert, Wakulla (red line series); Rebecca Mezoff, Emergence VII; Clare Coyle, The Land Gives Us....; Mary Lane, Untitled #140; Kaneko displayed Cecilia Blomberg's Birch Rolls piece differently than Visions did.

Cecilia Blomberg, Birch Rolls, Each of 10: 118 x 5.5 inches, cotton warp, cotton fabric strips

Ann Booth's piece was much easier to appreciate in this show as it was hung in a spot I could look at it from both sides easily. This piece plays with you a little bit. This photo shows it from the right side and straight on. I believe she made this happen with soumak.

Ann Booth, Tahirih (two views), 32 x 21 inches, wool weft, cotton warp

Ann Booth, Tahirih (detail)

Sarah Warren, October Rain, 23.5 X 12.5 inches, hand-dyed wool weft on cotton warp

Barbara Brophy, Inspired by Rothko, 19 x 20.25 inches, wool weft, cotton warp

Kristin Saeterdal, Scared of the dark; Linda Giesen, White Sand; Anna Byrd Mays, BigPair

Dorthe Herup, Gundrun Elise and Burmann the ram II; Susan Iverson, Slow Passage

Susan Iverson, Slow Passage (detail)

Verona Szabo, Moment 1. 2. 3., Three panels each 23.6 x 19.7 inches, wool, silk

Joanne Sanburg, Home Sweet Home, 35 x 23 x 2 inches, wool, silk, cotton, and synthetic fiber on cotton warp, embellished with Japanese vintage bees, jewelry, crochet flowers, an old fly swatter, painted weft and woven (hat) straw

Joanne Sanburg, Home Sweet Home (detail)

Cornelia Theimer Gardella, Untitled #2 (Red, Blue), 26.5 x 40 inches, hand-dyed wool weft, cotton warp

Cheri White, R.I.P, 9.75 x 4 x 3/8 inches, cotton weft, cotton polyester warp

Don Burns, Autumn, 67 x 38 x 1 inch, wool, linen, silk, cotton

Sanda Bucur, Magic Carpet 2, 25.59 x 64.96 inches, wool, cotton

I took some photos of the show in the morning, sunlight streaming in through the clerestory and the glass brick walls. Then I went back after dark for Dr. Jessica Hemmings' lecture and I was take aback by how the yellow yarn in Lialia Kuchma's piece BlueRose looked like it was glowing neon. You can see it to some extent in the two photos below. In person the glow was striking.

Lialia Kuchma, BluRose, 64 x 71 inches, wool weft, cotton warp, Photographed in the morning with daylight in gallery.

Lialia Kuchma, BluRose, 64 x 71 inches, wool weft, cotton warp, Photographed after dark with entirely artificial light.

There was one piece that was accepted to the show but was damaged in international transport. Unfortunately it was not able to be returned to the USA in time for the show at the Kaneko. Here is that image.

Misako Wakamatsu, Complications, 112 x 52 x 2 inches, silk cloth & linen yarn

Please review my prior post about ATB10 for more photographs of the tapestries.

American Tapestry Biennial 10, San Diego.

Some of my favorites are shown there. The catalog for ATB10 is available through the American Tapestry Alliance HERE. Cornelia Theimer Gardella put the catalog together and she did a marvelous job.

Here is a very short video of the show.

I drove out to the college where Mary Zicafoose's solo show was... many miles and a Chipotle stop from downtown Omaha. The gallery was locked up, lights off. A kind office manager helped me realize that the postcard I was clutching hopefully in my hand which advertised the show did indeed state that it opens March 6th. Today is, after all, March 5th. It looked great through the windows though. I'll stop back tomorrow on my way out of town when hopefully it really will be March 6th.

Stay tuned for some images from the other fiber shows at Kaneko right now. Jon Eric Riis's work was the most inspiring--all nine large-scale tapestries.

American Tapestry Biennial 10, San Diego

I spent the weekend in San Diego attending the first opening of the American Tapestry Alliance's premier tapestry show, American Tapestry Biennial 10. I was one of the co-chairs for this show so it was quite gratifying to see it hanging after all the hard work to get it there.

The reception was a great deal of fun. There were three New Mexico artists who were accepted to the show this year and all three were at the opening. Way to show up New Mexico! (myself, Cornelia Theimer Gardella, and Linda Giesen) Also, Canada made a good showing with both represented artists coming to the opening. Thanks to Christine Rivers and Suzanne Paquette for making the long trip south. Michael Rohde of California was able to represent California and a few other artists had visited the show the weekend before.

Note: These are snapshots I took at the opening. The lighting was low and I was not always able to get a square shot. Please purchase a catalog of the show to see the artist-approved images of their work. You can do so from the American Tapestry Alliance HERE.

Below is a video walk-through of the show. There is a long section of stills near the end of the video that give you some shots of the gallery and opening reception.

I was able to take some photographs when the gallery opened and enjoyed hearing visitor's reactions to various pieces. One of the greatest a-ha moments I overheard was about Michael Rohde's piece, Contemplation. I heard a group of fiber enthusiasts talking about the beautiful naturally dyed colors and the interesting way the squares were put together.

Then perhaps a half an hour later as the group was leaving the gallery, a few of them turned around and saw Contemplation from 20 feet away and there were large exclamations about the image in the piece. The thrill of discovery.

Cecilia Blomberg, Birch Rolls, detail

Joanne Sanburg, Home Sweet Home, detail

One of my favorite pieces in the show (though there are many many favorites) is Anna Kocherovsky's Wishing Well.

Anna Kocherovsky, Wishing Well, 24 x 47 inches, wool, metallic, cotton

Wishing Well, detail

Elke Otte Hulse's Tempos Heterogeneos 2 was such a fascinating piece in person. Of course I had seen the images of the piece often because this piece won the Second Place Teitelbaum award, but I didn't understand the weave structure until I saw it in person. She used a doubled warp and the faces are much more detailed than the rest of the piece. She also makes interesting use of fuzzier textures with what must be the fabric strips she lists in the materials.

Elke Otte Hulse, Tempos Heterogeneos 2, 26 x 31 inches, cotton, fabric strips, linen

Tempos Hetergeneos 2, detail

Another piece with some wonderful texture and structure changes was Jennifer Sargent's Shadow Warrior. I was fascinated by the double warp sett and the sections of plain weave. The textile was airy and completely gorgeous.

Jennifer Sargent, Shadow Warrior, 36 x 32 inches, linen, cotton, silk

Shadow Warrior, detail

Another favorite work in the show which I did not manage to get a good full shot of is Cornelia Theimer Gardella's Untitled #2 (Red, Blue). I really love her amazing use of color and you have to see this piece in person to completely appreciate its simple beauty.

Cornelia Theimer Gardella, Untitled #2 (Red, Blue), 26.5 x 40 inches, on left. (Other tapestries are by Elke Otte Hulse, Mary Lane, and Dorthe Herup)

Suzanne Paquette had come down from Quebec for the opening and it was wonderful to be able to to talk to her about her piece, Maisons. The color blending in this piece was lovely and the sett was large to accommodate many colors in the weft bundle. She talked about this piece being about her "second home" in Morocco and her home in Quebec.

Suzanne Paquette, Maisons, 54 x 20 inches, wool and synthetic fibers on cotton warp

Maisons, detail

Clare Coyle and Tommye Scanlin both had fascinating pieces and these photos don't do them justice at all.

Top: Clare Coyle, The Land Gives Us..., 4.25 x 22.25 inches, cotton, silk, linen, wool; Bottom: Tommye Scanlin, In Spirit, 26 x 23 inches, wool, linen

The Land Gives Us..., detail

In Spirit, detail

Here are some more works from the show. I would love to show you all of them as they are all marvelous in different ways. Go see the show or buy a catalog!

Connie Lippert, Wakulla (red line series), 32 x 24 inches, linen, wool, natural dyes

Lialia Kuchma, BluRose, 64 x 71 inches, wool weft, cotton warp

BluRose, detail

Joan Griffin, Forest Edge, 24 x 48 inches, wool, cotton

Christine Rivers, North Coast Reflections, 14 3/8 x 46 inches, wool and rayon weft, cotton warp

Margo Macdonald, Little Deschutes, 38 x 35 inches, wool over cotton

Kathy Spoering, October, 18 x 18 inches, wool weft, cotton warp

Annelise Kofoed-Hansen,  The Flying Umiaq 2, 39.4 x 45.3 inches, wool and flax

Inge Norgaard, Net Triptych, 10 x 49 inches, wool on cotton

This piece by Anna Olsson won the First Place Teitelbaum award. I love the simplicity of this piece and the social questions it asks.

Anna Olsson, Where have you been living since we last met? --Here and there, 31.5 x 39.4 inches, linen

Mary Lane, Untitled #140, 15 x 18 inches, wool, cotton, linen

The entrance piece for this show was Ulrikka Mokdad's Floating in Blissful Ignorance.

Ulrikka Mokdad, Floating in Blissful Ignorance, 50 x 33 inches, wool weft, linen warp

Floating in Blissful Ignorance, detail

And I felt very fortunate that my own piece was accepted to the show.

Rebecca Mezoff, Emergence VII, 44 x 44 inches, hand-dyed wool weft, cotton warp

And then I went and walked on the beach.

Christine Rivers, North Coast Reflections, detail

ATB10 will be traveling for the next year. If you can't make it to San Diego before the show ends July 20, it will be at Kent State University Museum in Kent, Ohio September 25, 2014 to January 4, 2015 and at Kaneko in Omaha, Nebraska February 6 to April 24, 2015. There is more information on the American Tapestry Alliance's website: http://americantapestryalliance.org/exhibitions/atbiennials/american-tapestry-biennial-10-2/

North America's premier tapestry show

Some of you know I have been up to my eyeballs for quite a few months in co-chairing the American Tapestry Biennial 10. It has been quite the roller coaster of excitement and I have to say, the show is going to be lovely.

Here is the publicity postcard hot off the presses.

As always, you can check out venues and get more information on the American Tapestry Alliance's website at www.americantapestryalliance.org. The page for the exhibition information is HERE. I hope to see some of you in San Diego, Kent, or Omaha! (Well to be honest, you won't see me in Kent, but the other two are distinct possibilities.)

I love going to see these shows in person because I always learn more than I ever could from a photograph. I'm the weirdo with her nose an inch and a half from the tapestry trying to count warp ridges or figure out what the structure is. Although admittedly, at 41 years old, I am getting a little presbyopic and my nose might be more like 8 inches from the tapestry... eyes don't focus quite as well. Tapestry would be worth bifocals.

American Tapestry Biennial 10

I had some great news recently. I submitted my newest tapestry to the American Tapestry Biennial 10 and it was accepted. Juror Dr. Jessica Hemmings, Professor of Visual Culture and Head of the Faculty of Visual Culture at the National College of Art & Design, Dublin, chose 37 tapestries out of 230 from 118 submitting artists. I feel quite lucky to be on the accepted list. I actually found out quite awhile ago since I am one of the co-chairs for this particular show. It was rather difficult for me to keep that secret for a number of weeks. I have learned a great deal from volunteering for ATA. The most valuable lesson is that if you don't get into a juried show, it isn't necessarily a statement about your work. It is quite possible that your work just didn't fit into the juror's vision for this particular body of work or show. Next time it just might.

The complete list of accepted artists can be found on the American Tapestry Alliance's website HERE.

The show will be at three venues.

Visions Art Museum
San Diego, CA
May 2 – July 20, 2014
http://www.visionsartmuseum.org/index.asp
Opening reception: May 10

Kent State University Museum
Kent, Ohio
September 25, 2014 – January 4, 2015
http://www.kent.edu/museum/index.cfm

Kaneko
Omaha, Nebraska
February 6 – April 24, 2015
thekaneko.org

Rebecca Mezoff, Emergence VII, 44 x 44 inches, hand-dyed wool tapestry

Here is another tapestry artist's experience with being accepted to this show along with a photo of her beautiful piece. Link: Tommye Scanlin.

I am 2 for 3 on ATB shows (I entered work for consideration into ATB 8, 9, and 10. I got into ATB 8 and 10). At this point I think a 50% acceptance rate would be phenomenal, so I completely expect to not get into ATB11. I'm just planning ahead. You can't be too careful.