Stories to Tell: Narratives in Fiber Artwork List
Artworks are listed in the order in which they appear in the TAC Gallery.
Artworks available for purchase may be picked up at TAC the week of December 16, 2024 or after.
Cherie St. Cyr
RAW UNCERTAINTY, 2019
Dye paint, discharge, potato dextrin; Machine pieced and quilted
$1,500
Artwork Statement
In a time of political mayhem and confusion I made this quilt to deal with a feeling of brittleness and vulnerability. It is part of my mark-making series. I have never felt comfortable enough to show it.
Artist Bio
I have worked in the medium of fiber since the early 90s. I began this incarnation as a silk painter and morphed into a textile dyer and quilter. All of my work begins as a bolt of white cloth that I dye, paint, discharge, overdye and use non-toxic resists. I maintain a studio in Madison and in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. I am the most represented artist at the university of Wisconsin Hospital.
IG: @Cheriest.cyr
Elizabeth Tuttle
Fading Into The Ether, 1995
Yarn; Tapestry Crochet
NFS
Artwork Statement
This group of five potholders depicts the passing of a friend and her journey from this world. I am enamored with the accidental effects that result when using commercial variegated yarns. My enjoyment of the push and pull between control and randomness makes me want to keep trying just one more combination of colors to see how it turns out.
Artist Bio
I have gone through many different phases of being a fiber artist. Through the years a constant has been making hundreds of potholders using Sugar and Cream variegated yarn in the tapestry crochet technique. I give them to friends and sell them for charity. The potholders are inspired by my art and influence my art. In December I will teach a workshop in tapestry crochet here at the TAC.
Pat Bishop
Legacies, 2019
Fabric; Fused and machine quilted
$1,400
Artwork Statement
Based on a photo taken in fall of the cemetery where my family members are buried. As a child my mother would take us along to place flowers on their graves. It has always had good memories for me, it is a beautiful, peaceful place and my siblings and I were allowed to act like children as if in a park.
Artist Bio
I make art because I have to, in one way or another I love to create. With my art I feel like I am saving memories. My art is based on a memory of things that mean a lot to me. I strive for abstraction by simplification. I have been working with cloth since I was a small child and it hasn’t lost its luster, actually probably my passion for it has increased. I have brought fabric and paint together, either by dyeing the cloth or painting it and then stitching.
IG: @BaumBishop
Connie Toebe
The Octopus Tamer, 2024
Embroidery on cotton
$750
Artwork Statement
I have a collection of women’s beauty and etiquette books, vintage ladies fashion magazines, and Victorian books of “feminine” hobbies and occupations. I have also been interested in early American girlhood embroideries for some time but it was only when I started doing embroidery myself, that these interests came together. I combine old fashion prints with scientific illustrations of plants, animals and obsolete technology.
Artist Bio
I have been an artist for as long as I can remember. I spent my childhood coloring and drawing. I went on to earn my BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. I have put my hand to various media from painting, photography and filmmaking to creating shadow puppets and diorama boxes.
Like many people, my life took a big shirt during Covid. At that time I discovered embroidery. It quickly became more than a way to pass the time, it became a passion. My whole artistic practice changed. Embroidery is now my main media for self expression.
IG: @connietoebe
Gail M. Willert
Sea Creature #12, From the series: Let the Oceans Live, 2023
Dyed, painted, and stitched fabric, momigamied paper, glazed ceramic, fiber, plastic, metal, and found sea shells
NFS
Artwork Statement
The vast beauty of the sea world and all its creatures are being threatened by our misuse of the environment. We have yet to discover all of the plants and animals that may possibly be inhabiting this world. I imagine and create some of these possible creatures to bring attention to what we may be losing, using the softness of fabric and the hardness of ceramic to emulate soft skins and leaves and shiny hard shells.
Artist Bio
Gail is a multi media artist who enjoys creating art using fiber, ceramic, photography, paint, found elements - any material or object is fair game to her. She loves using color and texture to convey her message - often on societal issues of the day. Born in Chicago, her education and degrees are from the University of Illinois, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the University of Chicago. Now living amid nature in Wisconsin, she exhibits regularly in museums and galleries throughout the Midwest and enjoys teaching art in various mediums.
IG: @gailwillert
Lori Fleury
New Horizon, 2024
Cotton, Wool; Hand woven Norwegian Krokbragd,
Twill weave
$450
Artwork Statement
This weaving represents earth and sky which shows their dichotomy in the horizon line which separates the two. Gifts from both the earth and sky are necessary for many cultures to thrive and new horizons are important for expanding our experience in the world. These can be transformative from one generation to the next. The red horizon represents the generations of family and love which is a theme throughout my work.
Artist Bio
My interest in weaving began with my Norwegian heritage and growing up watching my grandmother knit, sew and embroider. My grandfather’s side of the family were all spinners and weavers in Romsdal Norway.
I studied art at UW River Falls under Walter Nottingham which piqued my interest in weaving and later taught art, phy-ed and special education in Thailand and the U.S. for 35 years.
After college I rented a house that had a barn loom in the attic and my passion for weaving took off from there. Each year I challenge myself to learn something new about fiber arts.
Phoebe Saunders
Pair/G'ma & G'pa, 2024
Watercolor paper, charcoal, oil, graphite, mercerized cotton, bamboo chopsticks, and dye of acrylic, ink, watercolor, pigment, gel medium, and water. Form pieces and dry.
NFS
Artwork Statement
Exploring the influence of nature and color, with intention to create fine art, a sacred object. A tribute to the provided foundation of parental support, encouragement and guidance.
Artist Bio
Phoebe Saunders has been a lifelong Madison resident, outside of one year in Austin and a year in Berkeley. She was the lead designer at Absolutely Art as well as a featured artist. She has also contributed pieces to The Exquisite Uterus Project in 2013. She currently specializes in sculptural paper art but has worked with fiber arts, mixed-media, costume and set design, piece working, as well as graphic illustration.
IG: @phoebesaundersart
Candy Flynn
Not All the Way Through , 2010
Rust-dyed cotton; Hand beaded, stitched
$600
Artwork Statement
Not All the Way Through represents the effort to balance life in a world full of constraints.
Artist Bio
My fiber art career began with crocheting ornaments for my grandmother's friends. As an adult, I learned to quilt, originally making traditional patterns, then moving into more abstract work. I've experimented with many techniques with my current work being mostly hand stitched on naturally dyed fabrics.
Linda Farrelly
Morning Sunshine, 2022
Photography; Woven collage
$275
Artwork Statement
Morning Sunshine is a portrait of a time and place. I took two photographs several minutes apart of the sunshine coming in through my bedroom window, then wove them together to tell the story of light moving through the room during a period of time. Images seem static, but the world never is, constantly shifting and changing before our eyes.
Artist Bio
Linda is a multidisciplinary artist living and working in Madison, WI. She explores themes of time, place, identity, and belonging.
IG: @LindaFarrellyArt
Carlee Latimer
Thanks for Your Patience, 2023
Mixed fabric scraps, cotton batting; Machine pieced, hand quilted, hand embroidered
NFS
Artwork Statement
Thanks For Your Patience is a piece that depicts a chapter of opening up, growth, love, patience/impatience, sharing and heartache. It was originally created from my couch during a low point within the fall of 2023 and it was the first quilt that I completed in my new studio later that same season. In so many words this started as "a break-up quilt" and soon became much more. It holds a lot of stories (good and bad) and I realize now the longer I have it, the more narratives it continues to absorb.
The making of this one was completely organic - zero plan, all process. It poured out of me and revealed itself one piece at a time, each piece a memory unlocked and reflected upon, until it was begging to be sewn together like a puzzle. Soon after a friend saw it in its full form and said "it looks like pages of your sketchbook drawings, but giant and in textile form!" Thanks For Your Patience feels like me, it's the seventh quilt I've ever made and it has continued to be a jumping off point for many other projects.
Artist Bio
Carlee Latimer is an artist and organizer living in Madison, Wisconsin. As an interdisciplinary, social practice artist, her creative explorations are grounded in connections. Existing within a space of overlap, Carlee's work revolves around exploring the profound and nuanced connections between art, community, and the human experience. Through a variety of mediums and collaborative efforts, she aims to create art that inspires dialogue, fosters empathy, celebrates the everyday and helps people feel seen.
IG: @ carleelatimer
The Thanks for Your Patience zine accompanies this project and uses words and drawings to deepen the narrative. Website: carleelatimer.com
Rain Foster
Ancestress, 2022
Sari silk, wool, found object beads
$500
Artwork Statement
“Ancestress” is my great, great, great……Great Grandmother from many thousands of years ago. Being the Matriarch, she held forth in my community as the final authority in all things. She was consulted for her wisdom and was priestess for all rites of the earth and her people. She was beloved in her community and respected by all. If there are past lives, I see myself sitting at her feet basking in her presence.
Artist Bio
Rain Foster received her BFA from The Center for Creative Studies, Detroit, MI. in 1973. As an artist, she is inspired by the gifts of Nature: earth, air, fire, water, fabric shards and cast offs, bits of trees and plants, various natural fibers, and discarded detritus. From these materials she conceives and creates “Spirit “dolls”. Each one is an expression of herself in the context of a specific moment. Some are political statements, some personal. All come from her heart. She believes that stitching is not only a form of creativity but also meditation.
Elizabeth Shaw Neviaser
Scottish Highlander, 2024
Merino wool; Wet and needle felted
$800
Artwork Statement
A Scottish "coo" in its highland habitat is a dreamy, misty, and wonderful image to behold. My entire life I've been attracted to these beautiful animals. Later in life, I was surprised to learn I have a high degree of Scottish heritage in my DNA, and this gave me a much greater relationship to this "portrait" as I started working on it. My intention was to elevate vivid color for this piece to intensify my emotional attachment, and provide the sense of mystery and vibrancy I feel about this subject.
Artist Bio
Elizabeth Shaw Neviaser was born in Milwaukee in 1965, and completed her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree at UW-Madison in 2020.
Dyed felted wool is now her primary medium. She has taught workshops both in and outside the UW on felting techniques. Her felted wool work tends to be 2-dimensional, with focus on the figure and portraiture. Elizabeth also works with oil, acrylic, watercolor, and cold wax media. Additional work includes artisan paper-making, and Japanese Shibori dyed textiles.
She is inspired by how intimately and directly felted art can communicate ideas and emotion.
Elizabeth currently lives in Madison, Wisconsin.
IG: @elizabethshaw_art
Sally Miles
Portals, 2014
Acrylic paint, cotton and metallic thread, beads on unprimed canvas; Hand painted, hand stitched
NFS
Artwork Statement
Certain colors, shapes and formats have long resonated with me, and appear over and over in my artwork. Here, I work with the warm earth tones I love, variations on triangular shapes and their placement on a grid. As I developed these shapes using paint and stitch, they became Portals - entryways to other worlds - possibly the underworld, a place of secret knowledge, or a transformative adventure. Upon entering, the traveler may be guided by star, plant, webbing, the glitter of treasure, darkness… Each portal is different and, once chosen, takes you somewhere unknown and unique.
Artist Bio
Sally Miles is a visual artist drawing inspiration from art materials, travel, other artists, and the vast resources of nature and the imagination. She studied painting and drawing at Goddard College in Vermont and completed the certificate program for Expressive Arts at Salve Regina University in Rhode Island. She has been showing her work with the Madison Contemporary Fiber Artists group since 2013.
Ani Weaver and Weaving Partners in Beypore, India
Vayati, 2024
Cotton, spines of coconut palm frond; Woven with fan reed
NFS
Weaving Partners
Alessandra Sequeira, Costa Rica
Graciela Fournier, Costa Rica
Nemi Chand, India
Dr Pawan Sudhir, India
Beena Kittiyil, India
Ramachamdran Puthan Veettil, India
Kundyz Zhilybaeva, Kazakhstan
Aigul Kyrykbaeva. Kazakhstan.
Hee Jeong, Republic of Korea
Tsenguun Odgerel, Mongolia
Isidoor Wens, Suriname and The Netherlands
Mariëlle van den Bergh, The Netherlands
Artwork Statement
My invitation to participate in Suthra 2024 - a convergence of nearly 100 international weavers and artists - in Beypore, India included an expectation to share knowledge. With a worldwide overculture and media that emphasizes division, I felt compelled to design a project that encouraged connection over perfection while creating an alternative narrative - one of unity. I taught thirteen participants, who had varying degrees of weaving and English speaking proficiency, to use a fan reed and the basics of weaving.
Vayati, a Sanskrit word which means “to weave” both physical cloth and stories, is the culmination of my experience at Suthra 2024. It is a cloth memoir - a celebration of our shared humanity and unique perspectives.
Artist Bio
Ani Weaver was born in California in 1976. She is formally trained as a registered nurse and informally trained as a weaver, dyer, and spinner. She has studied with Becky Ashenden at Vävstuga, taught at the Lake Superior Traditional Ways Gathering and Suthra 2024, exhibited her work at Tasara in Beypore, India and the Textile Arts Center in Madison, WI. Her pieces are an expression of years of curiosity, exploration, experimentation, and imbued with the intimacy forged in her human and other-than-human relationships. Ani lives, farms, and works in the Driftless region of Wisconsin.
IG: @driftless_weaver
Pat Kroth
Networth, 2020
Polyester net vegetable and fruit bags, plastic deer fencing, plastic poker chips, polyester organza, tulle, discarded threads, yarns; Layered and machine stitched
$1,800
Artwork Statement
I am interested by the notion of how we assign value to things. Sometimes, humble materials play an intriguing role. These game pieces and vegetable bags are simple, playful, colorful and yet have value for us in a certain context.
Artist Bio
Originally a Chicago native, fiber artist, Pat Kroth resides in Verona, Wisconsin. Artwork has been shown in: International Quilt Fest, Quilt National, Visions, World Quilt, Fiber Art International, Crafts National and Art Quilt Elements. Work is included in many public and private collections including: The Wisconsin Percent For Arts Program and University of Wisconsin Hospital. Featured on Public television, published in 500 Quilts, Lark Books. Her work can be found at regional art fairs and galleries.When she is not in the studio working, she’s often found out on her bike or cross country skis finding inspiration outdoors.
IG: @krothfiberart FB: Pat Kroth Fiber Art
Misty M. Cole
My Favorite Murder, 2023
Fabric, crime scene tape on vintage quilt top; Hand appliquéd, hand painted
$2,500
Artwork Statement
My Favorite Murder is a response to Mary Fons' statement that cutting up vintage quilts to make garments and bags is equivalent to murder. The star base is an upcycled vintage top I purchased. Vintage doll patterns say "slash." I machine quilted words, appliqued text, and added India ink splatter to further my narrative.
Artist Bio
Misty Cole uses her training in drawing and painting combined with her Baltimore Album-style applique skills to make innovative and provocative art quilts.
IG: @playmyste4me
Gina Studelska
Prayer Flags - Honoring Florence , 2023
Cyanotype on vintage linen handkerchiefs on silk organza
$700
Artwork Statement
Collected, used, and vintage textiles always resonate with me. They are so much a part of our everyday lives, who we are, and where we have come from.
I used vintage handkerchiefes from an estate sale, in the home of a woman named Florence, for these flags. She loved fine fabrics, traditional hand work and collecting. I never knew Florence but I know I would have liked her. Just like the ladies in my home church, London Moravian, who always had a lovely hankie at the ready for happy or sad occasions.
May they rest in peace.
Artist Bio
Gina works in mixed media and fibers. In her art she combines traditional elements with a variety of mark making techniques including rusting, block printing, dyeing, stitching and paint.
Gina grew up in an unincorporated town in Wisconsin. As kids, they were always outside; painting their chins with dandelions, stringing catalpa flowers, planting marigolds from seeds collected last year, digging in sand, and collecting leaves, feathers, and rocks.
Gina has a BA in Art from UW-Whitewater with a certification to teach and graduate work at Mount Mary and Cardinal Stritch Universities. Gina was an art educator for 34 years.
IG: @gina_studelska