FIBRE.ART.WALES - about fibre art
Fibre.Art.Wales was formed in 1999 with the aim of raising the profile of Welsh contemporary fibre art and to provide opportunities for artists to exhibit widely at home and abroad. One of its main purposes was to educate and stimulate the public regarding new developments and challenges in the current visual fibre art climate.
Throughout history fibre has been a rich and honoured medium for embellishing life and after life. Today, the creative potential of this medium is being expanded in order to increase appreciation and understanding of contemporary art in fibre media. When fibre materials or techniques are the primary medium in content-based artwork the result is fibre art.
As with any art medium there are a number of different genres within the fibre field including the personal, political, environmental, aesthetic, abstract, figurative, etc. Artwork may be grouped by medium, technique or concept. There is a tremendous diversity within the fibre field today. Considering that tapestry was, historically, the basis of fibre art, we've come a long way. Today creative expression in fibre includes all forms of "wall art", quilts, baskets, sculpture, clothing and installations. Both natural and man-made flexible materials are used. "To come a long way," however, does not mean we've arrived in the art world. We as fibre artists continually confront the bias and confusion regarding our art - that it can be fragile and short-lived. However, fibre art can provide a connection to our lives that other materials cannot. We can "feel" it in ways that go beyond our thinking of what art is or what it should be.
Most fibre artists exhibit in a wide arena of museums, galleries and corporate places. Some artists use fibre as their medium of choice but prefer not to use the "F" word to label their work. With or without the label, fibre is gaining in popularity, possibly because the seductive, tactile materials respond nicely to ostensibly impersonal modern technology.
The medium of fibre appeals to a broader audience because it uses familiar materials and techniques and thus provides a more accessible and understandable art form. The familiarity of the materials themselves usually suggest a meaningful reading even without necessarily revealing the artist's own conception. Therefore the audience can take something from the visual encounter and relate it to their own experience. Using fibre as a vehicle for visualising a personal statement makes sense for artists who want the viewers to trust their own interpretation, even for an audience untrained in art appreciation or critical theory.
Within the world of Fine Art there is a long history available which illustrates the incorporation of textile material - fibre - into art forms. Just within the last century artists have taken fibre out of a utilitarian context and legitimised its use as an art form. The work is present, it involves and connects many genres, but it is the recognition of the use of fibre as a valid medium, as a source for expression and form, that is long overdue.