Left to right: Timeline, 2017, Tectonic Shift, 2017, Fracture, 2017, photograph by Kirby Zicafoose
October 3, 2017–February 10, 2018
Opening Reception: Tuesday, October 3, 2017, 6–8:00 p.m.
Like all artists, I have many stories to tell. I am as compelled to create work based on classic archetypal symbols as I am to depict climate change through my representation of tectonic plates, fault lines and land shifts. The selection of work in the Lower Skipwith Gallery, rendered in weft-faced ikat tapestry and as collographic monoprints on paper, is curated from from three recent bodies work: Fault Lines, Mountain for the Buddha, and The Blueprint Series.
Fault Lines: The five most recently completed pieces, Tectonic Shift, Fracture, Timeline, North, South, East & West, and The Capricorn Plate, are thematically driven by politics, human relationships, and land movement. Technically and visually, I take inspiration from modern abstractionists, and draw upon their influence in my signature large, bold color fields juxtaposed against the toothy edge of weft ikat. New series, like all new ventures, start unfamiliar, if not raw, but always with a destination in mind. By definition, they are required to stand alone. It takes several years behind ikat boards, dyepot and loom to develop a complete and integrated series of woven tapestries.
Mountain for the Buddha: The classic and powerful metaphysical triptych of the trinity expressed as mountain, pyramid, triangle and temple is the visual metaphor for this body of work. My intention is to not only reference landscape, but geometry and sacred space, as well, through a total of 13 diptych ikat tapestries and 36 collographic monoprints spanning 5 years.
The Blueprint Series: This series, based on personal identity, was born during a three month artist residency at the Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, Omaha, NE. This, the 7th and culminating tapestry of elaborate thumbprint representations, a silk weft ikat triptych, was selected to represent contemporary US tapestry at the 13th International Tapestry Triennial in Lodz, Poland in 2010.
—Mary Zicafoose