Entwinements: Textile Art Objects
Group Show
Erarta Museum presents Entwinements: Textile Art Objects, a group exhibition bringing together artists whose principle modes of expression and discovery revolve around sewing, weaving, embroidery, and other similar practices
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From felting to string art: an incredible array of techniques capable of rivalling pottery and painting
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Ancient crafts translated into the language of a contemporary artistic statement
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Collage, hand weaving, and patchwork giving old materials a new lease on life
The Entwinements exhibition project brings together works by the artists representing the Textile Workers Guild and offers a broad perspective of the currently popular medium of fibre art. The latter encompasses a wide range of practices that make use of all kinds of fibres, be it silk, wool, synthetics, and even magnetic tape.
Strange as it may seem, fibre art is a relatively new art form. While sewing, weaving, knitting, and embroidery have been practiced by humans since time immemorial, it was only in the 20th century that these practices were elevated to art status. Textile artists had to go great lengths to prove that crafts, too, are art in their own right, at times no less compelling and conceptually charged than, for instance, large-scale installations.
Any kind of handcraft requires a measure of self-discipline. At the same time, creative expression implies free reign of imagination, courage, and pursuit of experimentation. In Eastern Christianity, there exists a monastic practice of hesychasm, intended to unite the mind and heart in tacit prayer. Perhaps this is a fitting term to describe what is happening inside the textile artists’ studios. A fully rational practice, often based on routine repetition, can guide one towards the most profound spiritual insights.
Collage, patchwork, and quilt can equally epitomise the modern world, chaotic and decentralised, comprised of intersections, crossings, and entwinements. It stands to reason that the mastermind behind this project, Zoya Lendenskaya-Bolshakova metaphorically likens the ancient felting technique to the development of society: just like wool fibres, it has to sustain friction, strain, and flooding to become one single entity.
