At the Opening of Fantastic Fibers 2018

My husband and I attended the opening of Fantastic Fibers 2018 at the Yeiser Art Center in Paducah, KY.

Here is a picture of my piece hanging in the gallery.

And here is a better photo of the actual piece (Come Dance with Me).

The show began in 1987 as a wearable art show but has evolved over the years to include a mix of traditional and non-traditional works created from natural or synthetic fibers and work that addresses the subject or medium of fiber. The exhibit opened on April 14, 2018. The exhibit is held during the American Quilter’s Society (AQS) show and the selected works will be seen by thousands of viewers. Paducah becomes a Mecca for quilters and quilt enthusiasts each April as more than 30,000 visitors from across the globe attend AQS QuiltWeek. This year’s AQS QuiltWeek dates are/were April 18 – 21, 2018. The Fantastic Fibers Exhibit is open through June 9, 2018.

I took several pictures of the pieces in this show. I was not surprised by the unusual pieces chosen by this juror. Aurturo Sandaval was the juror, and he uses very interesting materials for many of his own pieces. You can check him out here.

This is my favorite piece from the show. There was A LOT of threadwork, and it was somewhat three dimensional as the face was actually “shaped.” The visible eye was actually set into the piece and the cheek jutted out from the piece—almost like it was stuffed. I just loved it. You can see some of the maker’s other work here.

The maker is Jayne Gaskins and is called Memories (24” X 40” X 2”) She says about the piece, “A Peruvian woman gazes at her home in the Colca Canyon. In her mind are the hardships she and her people endured over the centuries in their struggles to maintain their culture and lands. This is a 2-D piece but, because of the unusually strong relief effect, depth has also been provided.”

There were quilts and quilt-like pieces.

(top left-Niraja Lorenz; top right-Kathy Nida; bottom-Pat Pauly)

(left-Gray Caskey; right-Caryl Bryer Fallert-Gentry)

There were other embroidered pieces (besides mine).

(top left-Paula Giovanini-Morris; bottom left-Jill Vendituoli; right-Marah Carpenter)

There were sculptural pieces, too.

(top left-Suzanna Scott; bottom left-Tina Struthers; top right-Chris Motley; bottom right-Eva Comanche-Sanchez)

I’ve shown you a REALLY small part of this exhibit. There are garments, more sculptural pieces, tapestries, and a couple of very contemporary and unusual pieces. (The “Best of Show” piece isn’t shown in this blog post.) If you have a chance to go see this exhibit in person, please do.