Internationally acclaimed artist to exhibit in Newcastle

American-born fibre artist Kerr Grabowski will present her second Australian exhibition at Timeless Textiles gallery in October 2017.

Known for innovative approaches to dyeing and screening processes, Kerr’s love of colour and mark-making, and her spontaneity, combine to create the diverse pieces in the exhibition. They include one-of-a-kind silk fabrics used to create art wear and wall art, silk organza clothing and wall pieces made of printed, dyed and stitched teabag papers.

“I have always sewn, so it seemed perfectly logical to turn my drawings into clothing,” Kerr said. “Art school in Mississippi in the 70s was about art, not craft, so for a while, I pretended that this ‘clothing’ I was creating was merely a means to an end, a way to support my daughter and myself. After a while I admitted my love of making art that others could literally wrap themselves up in. I am still at it after 38 years.”

She says her Flora and Fauna from Mississippi to Australia exhibition begins as narrative, staying true to the rich oral history of her Mississippi roots.

“My muse is the thread that connects the life cycle of the garden, interactions between friends and lovers, and mysterious items washing up on the beach” Kerr explains. “I spend hours watching the flora and fauna in my garden, monarch eggs on milkweed, tiny caterpillars eating and creeping through the grass to that special spot to morph into a chrysalis, then emerging to begin again.”

 The techniques used to create the exhibition include collage incorporating teabags and papers, which are laminated to organza. Kerr says the results have the delicacy of ageing petals. While the origin of some of the pieces are obvious, most are textures and forms taken from flora and fauna but abstracted.

 “Although I am inspired primarily by banksia, magnolia, okra and roaches, the imagery is more imaginary. The delicacy of tender new petals, and of very old ones, inspires the organza clothing pieces with soft colours and gentle marks.”

The Flora and Fauna from Mississippi to Australia exhibition will be opened by Judy Hooworth from 6- 8 pm on 12 October and runs until 5 November 2017.

Food meets fibre in Taste of Textiles exhibition.

Taste of Textiles, is being launched Saturday 12th December 2014, at Newcastle’s Timeless Textiles Gallery, which celebrates a passion for humble and exotic, seasonal food and the rich textures of fibre arts.

Taste of Textiles exhibition brings together work from 20 fibre artists from around the world displaying their passion for textile art, cooking and growing food. This creative venture will appeal to everyone with a love of food and a flair for the creative. Artists contributing to Taste of Textiles include Nicola Henley, Marjolein Dallinga, Polly Stirling, Sylvia Watt, Glenys Mann, Judy Hooworth and Meredith Woolnough to name a few.

The contributing artists have represented a variety of vivid produce in their works, including the humble potato, mulberries, beetroot, saffron and rose petals. Each has created a visual narrative based on and inspired by their love for that particular produce.

Inspired by the artists’ passion, local cook Bev Whitehead has created and tested simple recipes to mirror the artworks. These include lemon myrtle spelt shortbread, chilli jelly, fig affogato, pomegranate with rosewater jelly with Persian Fairy Floss.

A limited edition boxed set containing stunning images of the both the final dishes and the artwork that inspired them, beautifully captured by local photographer Garrick Muntz is also available at the opening.

Opening: by Janet De Boer at 2pm, Saturday, 13 Decemberand continues until 23 December 2014.

Internationally acclaimed US fibre artist to exhibit in Newcastle

American-born fibre artist Kerr Grabowski will present her first Australian exhibition at Islington’s Timeless Textiles gallery in April 2014.

The Wearable Narratives exhibition will open with a parade showcasing Kerr’s extraordinary wearable art.

Known for innovative approaches to dyeing and screening processes, Kerr integrates a love of colour, mark-making and spontaneity with the challenge of creating one-of-a-kind silk fabrics and art wear.

Kerr’s history as a fibre artist has been marked by constant experimentation with, and innovative approaches to, dyeing and screening processes. She has produced a DVD on Deconstructed Screen Printing, a mono-printing technique allowing for a more intuitive approach to screen-printing.

A studio artist since 1976, Kerr is known for her whimsically elegant hand painted and screened silk fabrics and Art to Wear. Formerly head of Fibers at Peters Valley Craft Center in New Jersey, Kerr now maintains a studio in Bay Saint Louis, Mississippi.

She was the recipient of a 2014 Mississippi Arts Council Fellowship and New Jersey Council on the Arts Fellowship and is widely published, including Ornament, Surface Design Journal, Fiber Arts Design Book Sixand Silk Painting for Fashionand Fine Artand Textiles Now, DVD Adventures in Surface Design (DVD)and Deconstructed Screen Printing (DVD)

 “I have always sewn, so at some point it seemed perfectly logical to turn my drawings into clothing,” Kerr said. “Art school in Mississippi in the 70’s was about art, not craft, so for a while, I pretended that this ‘clothing’ I was creating was merely a means to an end, a way to support my daughter and myself. After a while I admitted my love of making art that others could literally wrap themselves up in. I am still at it after 38 years.”

New York Times reviewer Betty Freudenheim says, “Kerr Grabowski’s silk vests attain the delightful spontaneity of ink drawings on their linings, while the exterior fabrics, worked with special dyes, rival the rich, fluid hues of painted canvases.”

Of the Wearable Narratives exhibition Kerr writes:

True to the rich oral history of my Mississippi roots, my work begins as narrative. The life cycle of the garden, interactions between friends and lovers, mysterious items washing up on the beach; the thread that connects is my muse.

I have a garden and spend hours watching the flora and their accompanying fauna; monarch eggs on milkweed, tiny caterpillars eating, eating, creeping far through the grass to that special spot for morphing into a chrysalis, then emerging to begin again.

Creating Art to Wear allows the future wearer and myself to become a part of this amazing connecting thread of life. Some of the pieces in ‘Wearable Narratives’ capture the humorous bumbling of humans as we navigate life, others are inspired by the beauty and textures of the garden.  

The Wearable Narratives exhibition opens  with a fashion parade at 6- 8 pm 20 March until 13 April 2014.