Friday Favorites--It is all about abstract

Elizabeth Barton has a whole post on her blog about the trend towards abstract art.  She does not need to convince me how great abstract art is.  Just check out my prints and my inspirations!  I was an abstract artist before it was popular, I am thrilled that it is popular again, and I will still be an abstract artist once it has gone out of popularity again. 

I have borrowed a quote from Elizabeth's blog but please do check out her entire post.

"So what can we as quiltmakers do with this current revival of abstraction? I think we should be loud and bold! Let's grab these ideas and run with them! Let’s show how cloth can Do it Better!! Let’s reinvent abstraction design ourselves – don’t tie yourselves to old tired predictable patterns, let’s show the painters of small abstract works (many are really tiny!) and all the other timid little abstract painters (!) how absolutely fabulous those same ideas would look Large and in Fiber with all the beautiful textures we have at our fingertips!"

Again, she is preaching to the choir with me.  So, for today's Friday Favorites, I went looking for some abstract fiber artists to feature as inspirations.  I hope you will enjoy!

Friday Favorites

Aryana B Londir describes herself as a modern abstract artist.  Her art work reminds me of that of Lisa Call although Lisa applies paint and I did not see that in Aryana's description of her work.  Aryana presents three series at her website for us to see.  My favorite series is the Compartments but my very favorite piece is Connections #5.  The fiber work appears to be traditional piecing with an emphasis on repeated pattern much like Nancy Crow's technique. The technique is closest to traditional quilting.  Her love of line is clear. She has a blog but it does not look like she posts regularly.  Here is part of Aryana's artist statement.  You might compare it to the challenge that Elizabeth suggests above.
"I work in the abstract by choice; it challenges me, and invites viewers to evoke their own personal experiences and emotions.  It is natural for me to create fiber constructions which integrate my love for line, color and composition, and allows me to compose in the larger scale I crave. I love the sensuous feel of fabric, the ease in which it is manipulated, and its ability to take color in dye and paint."

Sarah Symes, a contemporary abstract fiber artist, is the second artist I want to feature.  She has posted pictures of her fiber work on Pinterest. She has also posted the step by step process she uses to create her art. Thank you, Sarah!  Her work appears to be machine applique much in the style of Elizabeth Barton's technique. The technique is closer to collage work than traditional quilting.  Her love of color and layering is evident in her work.  Here is part of her artist statement:
"I aspire to recreate my internal experiences of places and people through my work. It represents an abstraction of real life, infused with memories and ideas evoked by the subject. I try to conjure emotion through color and manipulate composition to suggest familiar forms and landscapes."

Deidre Adams is an artist I talked about a few posts ago.  While using fiber, she is more of a mixed media artist using paint on top of her quilting.  Yep, on top as in after she quilts. I cannot tell what material she uses as a base or her sewing technique but it is clear that heavily quilting her pieces is an integral part of her style.  She takes a very painterly approach to her art quilts.  Deidre's use of color and space  reminds me a great deal of Mark Rothko's work.  Deidre does have a blog that she posts to on a regular basis.  Here is a comment about her process from her artist statement:
"Patterning and design from the base fabrics interact with the stitching and my own system of painting and mark-making to create a richly layered surface."

Lessons I learned from the artists:

1. They all have different techniques, processes, and results so I am not limited.

2. They all have an inspiration that they start with.  Sometimes I forget to do that and then I get uninspired and blocked in my work.  Duh.

3.  They all use "the formal elements of visual language, specifically line, shape, color, scale, and balance." (from Deidre's artist statement)  So, I need to understand what that means in my work.  Who said you need to know the rules before you can break them?

3.  Generally the point of abstract work is help the viewer to recall a feeling.  It is not to portray something in detail but to create a feeling in their work that resonates with the viewer.  So, focus on the feeling I get when looking at abstract art work and ask myself "What (e.g. color, composition, lines) about this picture makes me feel this way (e.g. happy, sad, content)?"  Once I get that, then I can use it in my work to create emotion.
I hope you have a creative week!

Because of the lovely print I showed at the top of the post, this post is now on Nina-Marie's Off the Wall Fridays.