Studio News

Greetings!

Summer is on the horizon as is hope for continued easing of pandemic restrictions. This year has brought about unexpected opportunities for learning and a studio in flux. I am looking forward to introducing new work in the coming months, but wanted to share a few recent events.

Craft Boston

Half (pictured below) is one of several textile collages in a variety of styles and sizes, that will be exhibited in Fiber Stories, a virtual event sponsored by Craft Boston from July 16 - August 29. Fiber Stories will feature artist interviews and demonstrations, conversations with experts in the field, and the chance to shop for one-of-a-kind fiber-based art.

Half is a mixed media textile collage/book of paper and fabric that features stories about sharecropping.

Chocot (above), on view at the US Embassy in Timor-Leste, is a paper collage quilt structure consisting of reclaimed monoprints, watercolor paintings, fabric and stitching, and is a nod to the traditional practice of reclaiming used clothing for the creation of new quilts. The process of destroying, tearing and re-arranging the pieces parallel those of observation, deconstruction and analysis - steps required for growth and renewal.

Bainbridge Island Museum of Art

Water is on view in Water is… at the Bainbridge Island Museum of Art, Bainbridge Island, WA until June 27. Water, is from my Elemental series, and features stories about passages, purification, knowledge, and wisdom.

While delving into research for several projects, I set out to learn about natural dyeing, ink making, and harvesting pigments from plants, soil and rocks. Intact plants have been a prominent feature in much of my work and I continue to search for more ways in which to connect with and incorporate them.

Dyeing with plant materials is no longer a complete mystery, though I am far from expert on the subject. The fabric and paper samples pictured above will be used to create new mixed media books and collages.

Quarantine Public Library

2020 (above), was created for a special submission to the Quarantine Public Library (QPL) with the Book/Print Artist/Scholar of Color collective. The QPL is a repository of books made by artists and are free to download, print and assemble. The Book/Print/Scholar of Color Collective, founded by Tia Blassingame, brings scholars of book history and print culture into conversation and collaboration with Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) book artists, papermakers, curators, letterpress printers, and printmakers to build community and support systems.

2020 is a tribute and an offering to individuals whose lives were lost as a result of racially motivated violence, many of whom were not mentioned in the national news cycles. The image featured in 2020 is a composite of flowers grown in my garden, my daily refuge after listening to the morning news.

The entire QPL library can be downloaded in one file for a small fee. All proceeds will be donated to Everyoneon a nonprofit that connects low-income families to affordable internet service and computers. More about the QPL, including folding instructions, are on the QPL website. (If you decide on the print all option, Carolyn Swiszcz has a free DIY small book storage template on her website here).

Anteism Books

Several years ago (already!) I was invited to submit a definition for The Book: 101 Definitions – by Amaranth Borsuk, a chapbook initially published by MIT Press as part of their Essential Knowledge Series. The anthology was recently reprinted by Anteism and the Center for Expanded Poetics as a limited riso printed edition of 350. Currently there are 50 available copies remaining. Proceeds from the sale of this special printing of The Book…will be donated to We Need Diverse Books (WNDB), an organization that advocates essential changes in the publishing industry to produce and promote literature that reflects and honors the lives of all young people. Read more about WNDB here. Click here to order the riso printed copy of The Book: 101 Definitions.

Acquisitions

I am thrilled and honored to have work in several collections, but rarely mention placements in this newsletter. However, I am excited to announce two that have been recently purchased to commemorate special occasions:

I’ve had the pleasure of visiting (virtually), classes at several colleges and universities this year, sharing work and “talking” books. Occasionally, I am invited to speak publicly about my work. Such was the case recently at Tulane University, where Sara White, Kadin Henningsen, and I discussed our work in the collection of the Howard Tilton Library in Artist Books at TUSC, recorded here.

My next scheduled public talk is Artists Talking About Books, with Rhiannon Skye Tafoya and Annie Lopez, Wednesday, August 18 at noon CT for Textile Talks, weekly presentations and discussions on a variety of topics co-sponsored by 6 fiber art organizations. Artists Talking About Books is sponsored by the Surface Design Association. There is no charge for the event, but registration is required and the session will be recorded.

Additional public talks and other activities are in the works and will be announced in the News section of the website and on Facebook and Instagram.

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Kind Regards ~alisa