Textile exhibit features UW faculty

Textile arts faculty from UW–Madison, UW-Milwaukee and UW-River Falls will present new works in State of the Art, on exhibit at the UW–Madison Gallery of Design through Friday, Feb. 26.

Diane Sheehan, Fuyuko Matsubara and Sonya S.Y. Clark will represent UW–Madison. Sheehan’s work, “Trunk,” is a complex weave of linen, wire and paper, sculpted into a three-dimensional form. Matsubara’s “The Lights I” fashions hand-plied yarn of linen, cotton silk and rayon into diffuse, shimmering images. Clark, the UW–Madison Arts Institute’s 1999 Edna Wiechers Award winner, will draw upon her African heritage in “Whimsey Curl,” a headdress of wooden beads and cloth.

In addition to the UW–Madison faculty, UW-Milwaukee art professor Marna Goldstein Brauner will exhibit “24 Pillows,” a piece employing photoscreening, machine embroidery, beading and more on antique linen. UW-River Falls art professor Morgan Clifford will present “Transitions,” a silk-and-linen brocade weave with painted warp.

According to Betsy Tuttle, assistant director of the Gallery of Design, these five works illustrate the vitality and diversity of textile artists across the UW System. “In the past quarter century, we have seen the field of fiber art progress from an experimental to a mature art form. Each of these nationally respected professors brings the art of working in fiber into the millennial mainstream.”

The artists will discuss their work Sunday, Feb. 14 at 1:30 p.m. in the gallery, 1300 Linden Drive. A reception, free and open to the public, will follow. For more information, contact Tuttle at (608) 262-8815.