Friday Fibers Roundup

March 24, 2017

This week’s Friday Fibers Roundup features historical inquiries into Incan communication, Icelandic garments, and WWII era knitting, as well as a call for artist-in-residence, and two opening exhibitions.

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1) The video “Threads That Speak: How The Inca Used Strings to Communicate” looks at the system of knotted string—known as quipus—which was used for communication (via National Geographic).

2) Susan Austad creates illuminated mesh sculptures that shed light onto the way our planet changes and the scientific principles that cause those changes (via Creators).

3) Entangled: Threads & Making is an exhibition of sculpture, installation, tapestry, textiles, and jewelry from the early 20th century to the present day. The show is on display at the Turner Company until May 7th, 2017.

4) Caldera Arts’ Artist-in-residence program is seeking applicants working in any medium for their January/March 2018 residency season. Interested artists should apply by June 17th, 2017.

5) “The Woman Dressed in Blue” by Marianne Guckelsberger and Marled Mader explores a textile find from the 10th century Icelandic grave, and how they created a hypothetical reconstruction from their research (via Northern Women Arts Collaborative).

6) Fashion company Tonlé creates dresses, shirts, and pants out of leftover material cast aside by large manufacturers to fight back against some of the fashion industry’s biggest ills—textile waste and unjust labor practices (via Huffington Post).

7) “How Knitting was used as Code in WW2” by Molly Oldfield and John Mitchinson explores how knitting was used to subvert censorship, and help the resistance (via The Telegraph).

8) “Power Dressing Gets a New Look” by Vanessa Friedman features the highlights of Paris Fashion Week and the changing trends to how women are represented in the industry (via New York Times).

9) Art in the Barn: Still Crazy After All These Years…30 years in art features textile work of more than 80 international and national artists. The show is on display at Browngrotta Arts in Wilton, Connecticut from April 22nd-30th, 2017.

10) Embroidery artist Adam Pritchett creates minimalist botanical embroideries that usually feature flowers, vines, and tiny insects all inspired by the English countryside (via Colossal).