Qualia Contemporary is pleased to announce Interlaced, an exhibition of seven artists adapting the ancient medium of tapestries and textiles to tell a variety of stories relevant to today. The exhibition honors the rich -- and often overlooked -- legacy of craftwork, and highlights the medium's growing presence in contemporary art. Featuring art by Josh Faught, Terri Friedman, Robert Kushner, Hung Liu, Kiki Smith, William Wiley, and Xiaoze Xie, Interlaced will be open to the public from August 5 to October 1, 2021, with an opening celebration hosted on August 14 during gallery hours.
Fiber art is ripe with symbolic potential, binding individual insignificant yarns into a singular impactful piece. Tapestries bring out the connective potential of weaving and highlight the medium's unique capacity for detail, vivid color, and texture. Each of the artists in Interlaced engages with the medium in a unique way, applying distinct styles and processes to their pieces. Friedman and Faught both employ fiber art as their primary artistic medium, using hand-weaving techniques that replicate historical processes and styles to create elaborate works. These methods afford them the flexibility to use non-traditional materials in their pieces. The other artists in the show are well-known for their painting practices; for them, weaving is an experimental way to extend their painterly aesthetic and ideas into a new form using advanced electronically-controlled tapestry technology. In this way, the exhibition shows a cross-section of the contemporary fiber art world and reasserts the versatility of the form.
In Change of Seasons and Further Changes, Robert Kushner weaves dark, florid patterns embellished with gold thread. Kiki Smith's images also reflect the natural world with delicate depictions of flora and fauna, while Hung Liu's rich and colorful tapestries combine portraiture with imagery of birds in expressive compositions. Many of the pieces on display reflect a modern day condition or concern, thereby bridging the historical medium with contemporary culture. For example, William Wiley's Creative War Map (2005) responds to the U.S. military intervention abroad with humor and irony. Xiaoze Xie's jacquard tapestries depict the tactile nature of books, newspapers, and other texts in a unique style, blending realism with abstract elements, representing the transient nature of collective historical memory. Terri Friedman uses fiber art to think about brain science, and to grapple with anxiety around personal and political upheaval; She calls her weavings "somatic 'posters' of urgency." Josh Faught combines textiles, pop-cultural detritus, and archival materials to consider the role of language and community in constructing identity.
These ethereal yet tactile works ground diffuse concepts in the material realities of everyday life. Interlaced aims to highlight the breadth of fiber artists working today and help elevate this historical medium to the dominion of fine art in the cultural consciousness.
show less
Fiber art is ripe with symbolic potential, binding individual insignificant yarns into a singular impactful piece. Tapestries bring out the connective potential of weaving and highlight the medium's unique capacity for detail, vivid color, and texture. Each of the artists in Interlaced engages with the medium in a unique way, applying distinct styles and processes to their pieces. Friedman and Faught both employ fiber art as their primary artistic medium, using hand-weaving techniques that replicate historical processes and styles to create elaborate works. These methods afford them the flexibility to use non-traditional materials in their pieces. The other artists in the show are well-known for their painting practices; for them, weaving is an experimental way to extend their painterly aesthetic and ideas into a new form using advanced electronically-controlled tapestry technology. In this way, the exhibition shows a cross-section of the contemporary fiber art world and reasserts the versatility of the form.
In Change of Seasons and Further Changes, Robert Kushner weaves dark, florid patterns embellished with gold thread. Kiki Smith's images also reflect the natural world with delicate depictions of flora and fauna, while Hung Liu's rich and colorful tapestries combine portraiture with imagery of birds in expressive compositions. Many of the pieces on display reflect a modern day condition or concern, thereby bridging the historical medium with contemporary culture. For example, William Wiley's Creative War Map (2005) responds to the U.S. military intervention abroad with humor and irony. Xiaoze Xie's jacquard tapestries depict the tactile nature of books, newspapers, and other texts in a unique style, blending realism with abstract elements, representing the transient nature of collective historical memory. Terri Friedman uses fiber art to think about brain science, and to grapple with anxiety around personal and political upheaval; She calls her weavings "somatic 'posters' of urgency." Josh Faught combines textiles, pop-cultural detritus, and archival materials to consider the role of language and community in constructing identity.
These ethereal yet tactile works ground diffuse concepts in the material realities of everyday life. Interlaced aims to highlight the breadth of fiber artists working today and help elevate this historical medium to the dominion of fine art in the cultural consciousness.
Qualia Contemporary is pleased to announce Interlaced, an exhibition of seven artists adapting the ancient medium of tapestries and textiles to tell a variety of stories relevant to today. The exhibition honors the rich -- and often overlooked -- legacy of craftwork, and highlights the medium's growing presence in contemporary art. Featuring art by Josh Faught, Terri Friedman, Robert Kushner, Hung Liu, Kiki Smith, William Wiley, and Xiaoze Xie, Interlaced will be open to the public from August 5 to October 1, 2021, with an opening celebration hosted on August 14 during gallery hours.
Fiber art is ripe with symbolic potential, binding individual insignificant yarns into a singular impactful piece. Tapestries bring out the connective potential of weaving and highlight the medium's unique capacity for detail, vivid color, and texture. Each of the artists in Interlaced engages with the medium in a unique way, applying distinct styles and processes to their pieces. Friedman and Faught both employ fiber art as their primary artistic medium, using hand-weaving techniques that replicate historical processes and styles to create elaborate works. These methods afford them the flexibility to use non-traditional materials in their pieces. The other artists in the show are well-known for their painting practices; for them, weaving is an experimental way to extend their painterly aesthetic and ideas into a new form using advanced electronically-controlled tapestry technology. In this way, the exhibition shows a cross-section of the contemporary fiber art world and reasserts the versatility of the form.
In Change of Seasons and Further Changes, Robert Kushner weaves dark, florid patterns embellished with gold thread. Kiki Smith's images also reflect the natural world with delicate depictions of flora and fauna, while Hung Liu's rich and colorful tapestries combine portraiture with imagery of birds in expressive compositions. Many of the pieces on display reflect a modern day condition or concern, thereby bridging the historical medium with contemporary culture. For example, William Wiley's Creative War Map (2005) responds to the U.S. military intervention abroad with humor and irony. Xiaoze Xie's jacquard tapestries depict the tactile nature of books, newspapers, and other texts in a unique style, blending realism with abstract elements, representing the transient nature of collective historical memory. Terri Friedman uses fiber art to think about brain science, and to grapple with anxiety around personal and political upheaval; She calls her weavings "somatic 'posters' of urgency." Josh Faught combines textiles, pop-cultural detritus, and archival materials to consider the role of language and community in constructing identity.
These ethereal yet tactile works ground diffuse concepts in the material realities of everyday life. Interlaced aims to highlight the breadth of fiber artists working today and help elevate this historical medium to the dominion of fine art in the cultural consciousness.
read more
Fiber art is ripe with symbolic potential, binding individual insignificant yarns into a singular impactful piece. Tapestries bring out the connective potential of weaving and highlight the medium's unique capacity for detail, vivid color, and texture. Each of the artists in Interlaced engages with the medium in a unique way, applying distinct styles and processes to their pieces. Friedman and Faught both employ fiber art as their primary artistic medium, using hand-weaving techniques that replicate historical processes and styles to create elaborate works. These methods afford them the flexibility to use non-traditional materials in their pieces. The other artists in the show are well-known for their painting practices; for them, weaving is an experimental way to extend their painterly aesthetic and ideas into a new form using advanced electronically-controlled tapestry technology. In this way, the exhibition shows a cross-section of the contemporary fiber art world and reasserts the versatility of the form.
In Change of Seasons and Further Changes, Robert Kushner weaves dark, florid patterns embellished with gold thread. Kiki Smith's images also reflect the natural world with delicate depictions of flora and fauna, while Hung Liu's rich and colorful tapestries combine portraiture with imagery of birds in expressive compositions. Many of the pieces on display reflect a modern day condition or concern, thereby bridging the historical medium with contemporary culture. For example, William Wiley's Creative War Map (2005) responds to the U.S. military intervention abroad with humor and irony. Xiaoze Xie's jacquard tapestries depict the tactile nature of books, newspapers, and other texts in a unique style, blending realism with abstract elements, representing the transient nature of collective historical memory. Terri Friedman uses fiber art to think about brain science, and to grapple with anxiety around personal and political upheaval; She calls her weavings "somatic 'posters' of urgency." Josh Faught combines textiles, pop-cultural detritus, and archival materials to consider the role of language and community in constructing identity.
These ethereal yet tactile works ground diffuse concepts in the material realities of everyday life. Interlaced aims to highlight the breadth of fiber artists working today and help elevate this historical medium to the dominion of fine art in the cultural consciousness.
show less
Date/Times:
328 University Avenue, Palo Alto, CA 94301
The Best Events
Every Week in Your Inbox
From Our Sponsors
UPCOMING EVENTS
Great suggestion! We'll be in touch.
Event reviewed successfully.