Fiber art refers to fine art whose material
consists of natural or synthetic fiber and other components, such as fabric or
yarn. It focuses on the materials and on the manual labour on the part of the
artist as part of the works' significance, and prioritizes aesthetic value over
utility.
History
The term fiber art came into use by
curators and art historians to describe the work of the artist-craftsman
following World War II. Those years saw a sharp increase in the design and
production of "art fabric." In the 1950s, as the contributions of
craft artists became more recognized—not just in fiber but in clay and other
media—an increasing number of weavers began binding fibers into nonfunctional
forms as works of art.
The 1960s and 70s brought an international
revolution in fiber art. Beyond weaving, fiber structures were created through
knotting, twining, plaiting, coiling, pleating, lashing, and interlacing.
Artists in the United States
and Europe explored the qualities of fabric to
develop works that could be hung or free standing, "two or three
dimensional, flat or volumetric, many stories high or miniature, nonobjective
or figurative, and representational or fantasy." The women's movement of
the same era was important in contributing to the rise of fiber art because of
the traditional association of women with textiles in the domestic sphere;
indeed, many of the most prominent fiber artists are women.
Since the 1980s, fiber work has become more
and more conceptual, influenced by postmodernist ideas. For fiber artists, in
addition to long-standing experimentation with materials and techniques, this
brought "a new focus on creating work which confronted cultural issues
such as: gender feminism; domesticity and the repetitive tasks related to
women's work; politics; the social and behavioral sciences; material specific
concepts related to fiber's softness, permeability, drapability, and so
on."
Fiber within the context of the textile
arts
Modern fiber art takes its context from the
textile arts, which have been practiced globally for millennia. Traditionally,
fiber is taken from plants or animals, for example cotton from cotton seed
pods, linen from flax stems, wool from sheep hair, or silk from the spun
cocoons of silkworms. In addition to these traditional materials, synthetic
materials such as plastic acrylic are now used.
In order for the fiber to be made into
cloth or clothing, it must be spun (or twisted) into a strand known as yarn.
When the yarn is ready and dyed for use it can be made into cloth in a number
of ways. Knitting and crochet are common methods of twisting and shaping the
yarn into garments or fabric. The most common use of yarn to make cloth is
weaving. In weaving, the yarn is wrapped on a frame called a loom and pulled
taut vertically. This is known as the warp. Then another strand of yarn is
worked back and forth wrapping over and under the warp. This wrapped yarn is
called the weft. Most art and commercial textiles are made by this process.
For centuries weaving has been the way to
produce clothes. In some cultures, weaving forms demonstrate social status. The
more intricate the weaving, the higher the status. Certain symbols and colors
also allowed identification of class and position. For example, in the ancient
Incan civilization, black and white designs indicated a military status.
In Europe
between the fourteenth and seventeenth centuries woven pieces called
"tapestries" took the place of paintings on walls. The Unicorn in
Captivity is part of a series consisting of seven tapestry panels known as The
Hunt of the Unicorn by Franco Flemish from this time period. Much of the art at
the time in history was used to tell common folktales that also had a religious
theme. As Mark Getlein wrote, "Tapestry is a special type of weaving in
which the weft yarns are manipulated freely to form a pattern or design on the
front of the fabric...Often the weft yarns are of several colors and the weaver
can use the different-colored yarns almost as flexible as a painter uses
pigment on canvas."
At the same time period in the Middle East , fiber artists did not make tapestry or wall
hanging weavings, but instead created beautifully crafted rugs. The woven rugs
did not depict scenes in a story, but instead used symbols and complex designs.
An example of this type of art are the giant rugs known as the Ardabil Carpets.
Getlein wrote, "Like most Islamic carpets, they were created by knotting
individual tufts of wool onto a woven ground."
Another fiber art technique is quilting in
which layers of fabric are sewn together. Although this technique has not been
around for as long as weaving, it is a popular form of art in American history.
Recently, quilted fiber art wall hangings have become popular with art
collectors. This non-traditional form often features bold designs. Quilting as
an art form was popularized in the 1970s and 80s.
Other fiber art techniques are knitting,
rug hooking, felting, braiding or plaiting, macrame, lace making, flocking
(texture) and more. There are a wide variety of dye techniques. Sometimes
cyanotype and heliographic (sun printing) are used.
Fiber artists face the same dilemma of all
artists; determining "what is art?" More so with fiber arts and other
media associated with handicraft, because they have long been associated with
domestic or utilitarian production. Typically, pieces like pot-holders, which
just follow patterns without doing anything more, are not considered works of
fiber art. Fiber art works are works of art that communicate some sort of
message, emotion or meaning and go beyond just the literal meaning of the
materials. Fiber arts face the challenge at times of the message or meaning of
the work of art being eclipsed by the study of the materials used and their
history, rather than what they contribute to the overall work of art.
Feminism and fiber art
History of textile work
Sewing had always been considered women's
work, of which was often part-time, casual, most likely in the home and not
regarded as important enough to declare. Within Western Society, textiles are
described usually as 'textiles' or 'fiber'. These two terms most commonly
connote ideas identified with domesticity and women's creativity. This women's
creativity is labor-intensive yet devalued as this women's work, where it
becomes invisible and described as non-productive.
The Industrial Revolution changed the whole
industry. Women started to sew less because it became more affordable to
purchase well-made clothing from stores. Fabric retailers found that they
needed to convince women to return to their sewing machines, so the companies
devised a variety of strategies to revitalize sewing. A theme that many
retailers employed was to send out the message that sewing not only saved money
and let them explore their personal style, but was also a way to be feminine
and show gracefulness. Sewing was portrayed as a way to be a good mother and an
attractive and thrifty wife.
Dr. Deborah Thom, professor at Cambridge University
The reclamation of fiber arts
In the 1970s, needlework was reclaimed by
the Feminist Movement. This began the reintroduction of textiles and fiber in
'high art'.
Judy Chicago founded the first feminist art
program in the United States, and proceeded to coin the name Feminist Art, with
many artists working with fiber arts, especially in her project Womanhouse.
Chicago created one of the first pieces of "high art" that
incorporates and celebrates needlework and fabrics within women's history,
called The Dinner Party(1979).
The Subversive Stitch
In 1984, Rozsika Parker published The
Subversive Stitch: Embroidery and the making of the feminine. Parker has
published books on art history and psychotherapy, and uses theories from both
fields in her analysis of "women's work". Parker examines the belief
of women and embroidery as both feminine and natural, and the appearance of
natural that is actually socially constructed.
Many people had varying reactions from
emotionally moved to deeply disgraced after seeing the exhibitions 'The
Subversive Stitch', of which incorporated two shows called 'Embroidery in
Women's Lives 1300-1900' and 'Women in Textiles Today' in July 1989, as
recorded in Pennina Barnett's article "Afterthoughts on curating 'The
Subversive Stitch' ". The critical response from women and feminist's
reviews and articles were similar. These two shows were based on Parker's book.
Barnett describes that most historical
studies of embroidery concentrate on questions of style and technique, where
these exhibitions track the idea of femininity that was forced upon women
through embroidery from medieval times, when it was considered a high art form
practiced by both men and women, to its current denotation as a 'feminine
craft'. But perhaps this exhibition, with both historical and modern shows side
by side provoke new ideas into the more historical objects. Adding names and
dates to the creation of the objects thrusts them into the art world once
again. The context in which these women worked, varying greatly because of
class, race, and gender, juxtaposed with contemporary work beside names, dates,
and even poetry created a language and a new critical way of looking into this
medium.
As Ann Newdigate states in her essay
"Kinda art, sorta tapestry: tapestry as shorthand access to the
definitions, languages, institutions, attitudes, hierarchies, ideologies,
constructions, classifications, histories, prejudices and other bad habits of
the West", there was a shift in textiles after The Subversive Stitch was
published.
"Then in 1984 when Rozsika Parker's
The Subversive Stitch: Embroidery and the Making of the Feminine, focusing on
textiles, could not be resisted by even the most conservative of Western
practitioners; modernism was finally disrupted in the Low Art sphere. The
empowering implications spread beyond European textile artists and affected
curators, teachers, and art administrators in a much wider Western context. The
post-modern influence, even though in only a few instances, started to blend
the firmly drawn lines of hierarchical distinctions. Twenty years after I had
taken up art as my vocation, I began to feel the oppositional codes of the
separate spheres slowly eroding as I wrote my thesis and investigated the
domestication of tapestry from its previous high art status (until about the
turn of the century) as a European male practice.
— Ann
Newdigate, Kinda art, sorta tapestry: tapestry as shorthand access to the
definitions, languages, institutions, attitudes, hierarchies, ideologies,
constructions, classifications, histories, prejudices and other bad habits of
the West, New Feminist Art Criticism: Critical Strategies. Page 178.
Craftivism within fiber arts
Craftivism is the continuation of craft for
political purposes by women. It's largely linked to third-wave feminism and
also other Feminist movements such as the music movement Riot Grrrl. The term
craftivism was coined by Betsy Greer in 2003, and runs Craftivist Collective,
however it is technically not a new term.
Germaine Greer, of who advocates for the
connection of women, nature, and craft. She argued that women's craft should be
in the home because it is a living art, not in a gallery or museum because it
is a dead male culture, supporting the use of textiles in different settings,
of which craftivism almost always employs.
Fiber arts today
In texts such as Hoopla: The art of
Unexpected Embroidery, written by Leanne Prain, she interviews fiber artists
from all around the world working with different styles and materials about
their contemporary practices within contemporary art and commercial design. The
book is a documentation of interviews with many different fiber artists from
around the world. All of the interviews are tailored to each different artist,
however one question that Leanne Prain keeps asking is "Do you believe
that your gender or social class has any bearing on your attraction to and
involvement with needlework?". Many artists in the book do identify as
feminists.
However, not all fiber artists are
feminists, even with its histories. In a review written by Karen Rosenberg
about "Pricked: Extreme Embroidery" at the Museum of Arts and Design
(January-April 2008), she states that it sounded like curators wanted to avoid
the word 'craft' and describe these works by addressing process and
materiality, of which sound "less dated". Rosenberg Rosenberg
In the Subversive Stitch: Embroidery and
the Making of the Feminine, Kate Walker is quoted saying that she has
”never worried
that embroidery's association with femininity, sweetness, passivity and
obedience may subvert my work's feminist intention. Femininity and sweetness
are part of women's strength. Passitivity and obedience, moreover, are the very
opposite of the qualities necessary to make a sustained effort in needlework.
What's required are physical and mental skills, fine aesthetic judgment in
colour, texture and composition; patience during long training; and assertive
individuality of design (and consequent disobedience of aesthetic convention).
Quiet strength need not be mistaken for useless vulnerability."
— Kate Walker,
Rozsika Parker, The Subversive Stitch: Embroidery and the Making of the Feminine.
1984. Print
The overall tone of the textile and fiber
arts today sounds usually similar to feminist theory and strategy when Ann
Newdigate states:
"For me, now, it does not matter
whether what I do in my studio complies with a minor or a major language –
whether it is kinda art or sorta textile. Whenever I feel a definition coming
on , I try to remember to ask myself 'Who constructed the definition?', 'Who
needs the oppositional distinctions and is going to benefit from them?', and
'Why should I comply with those codes and conventions?”
— Ann
Newdigate, Kinda art, sorta tapestry: tapestry as shorthand access to the
definitions, languages, institutions, attitudes, hierarchies, ideologies,
constructions, classifications, histories, prejudices and other bad habits of
the West, New Feminist Art Criticism: Critical Strategies, page 181
In 2013, Canadian artist, Colleen Heslin
won national recognition for her piece Almost Young and Wild and Free which was
praised for its "fresh approach to a traditional medium" using
textiles and craftwork to produce a colourful, abstract canvas of dyed
materials.
Resources
There are many specialized textiles
programs around the world. The Royal School of Needlework in England
Source From Wikipedia
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