Art and Design Commons^™

Strange Bodies: Hybrid, Text, And The Human Form. Prints From The Sheldon Museum Of Art, Alison G. Stewart , Editor

Zea E-Books Collection

Catalogue for the Sheldon Museum of Art’s exhibition “Strange Bodies: Hybrid, Text, and the Human Form," selected and curated by Professor Alison Stewart’s “History of Prints: New Media of the Renaissance” class during the fall semester of 2016 in the School of Art, Art History, & Design at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. Each of the eleven prints offers a different understanding or take on the body. Some are grounded in the physical and social aspects of humanity, while others present the body as a site for fantastic imagination and performance. Still others reference the printed page as a “body.” Whether …

The Year-Long Adventures Of The Blue Shoes & Their Friends, Michael R. Hill

Zea E-Books Collection

While participating in a Teacher Workshop organized by Georgina Valverde at the Art Institute of Chicago in 2013, Michael Hill began a one-year artistic and pedagogical odyssey making original images (always featuring some aspect of one or more athletic shoes) and posting them daily to a visual blog he created to help kick-start writing projects among the many student athletes he tutored at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He started the year self-identifying as “scholar/teacher,” but at year’s end Michael looked in the mirror and said, OK, still “scholar/ teacher,” but also “artist.” Here are the workshop organizer’s foreword, the scholar’s …

[Tsa Web Pages For] Symposium 2016 -- Crosscurrents: Land, Labor, And The Port Textile Society Of America’S 15th Biennial Symposium

Textile Society of America Symposium Proceedings

The web pages for the 2016 Savannah Symposium (archived in pdf).

The 2016 Textile Society of America Symposium will take place in Savannah, Georgia on the campus of the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) and at the Hyatt Regency Hotel. To maximize scholarly interchange, the Symposium will consist of multiple, concurrent sessions, plenary and keynote speakers, a poster session and curated exhibitions that will intersect with the scholarly program. In addition to the symposium sessions and exhibitions, there will be a series of dynamic pre- and post-conference workshops and study tours to local and regional art institutions and …

Textile Society Of America Newsletter 28:2 — Fall 2016, Textile Society Of America

Textile Society of America Newsletters

Letter from the Editor

Letter from the President

Letter from the Outgoing Executive Director

Volunteer Opportunities

Welcome New TSA Board Members

R. L. Shep Ethnic Textiles Book Award

Joanne Arnett Honored with Brandford Elliott Award

Opinion Page – After Savannah: Some Questions

Letter from the TSA Executive Board

TSA's 15th Biennial Symposium: Reports & Reviews

Letter from the Symposium Planning Chairs

Reports from Student & New Professional Awardees
TSA: Trading in the Unexpected

Trade in Cotton & Manufactured Cloth from Europe, to Africa, to North America: SNPA Symposium Session Review

SNPA Report: Analyzing Objects, Building History

Jean L. Kares Honored …

Symposium Program Outline For Crosscurrents: Land, Labor, And The Port. Textile Society Of America’S 15th Biennial Symposium. Savannah, Ga, October 19-23, 2016.

Textile Society of America Symposium Proceedings

Conference program: times, locations, speakers, events.

Wednesday, October 19th 2016, through Sunday, October 23rd 2016.

10 pages

The Intercontinental Reflections Of An Eighteenth-Century Mexican Rebozo, Eleanor A. Laughlin

Textile Society of America Symposium Proceedings

The eighteenth-century Mexican rebozo (scarf) is an excellent example of a garment type that crossed not only ocean currents, but also boundaries of race and class. Initially, the rebozo was associated with indigenous culture in Mexico. Evidence suggests that the rebozo existed during the pre-Columbian period,1 but it has been most commonly remembered as an article of clothing used by the Spaniards to cover the exposed bodies of indigenous women in the church setting. Aspects of the scarf’s decorative elements, such as fringe and dying methods, are thought to have been inspired by Asian styles that arrived in Mexico via …

The Role Of Design Thinking In Scientific Research & Communication, Colleen Syron

SciComm 2016 - Lincoln, Nebraska, September 23-24, 2016

Design thnking: Research: • Interviews with designers • Observations and case studies • Experimental studies • Simulation • Reflection and theorizing

Designing is not a search for the optimum solution to the given problem, but that it is an exploratory process. The creative designer interprets the design brief not as a specification for a solution, but as a starting point for a journey of exploration,…

“Deduction proves that something must be; Induction shows that something actually is operative; Abduction suggests that something may be.” Charles Pierce

The main point of difference is that of timing. Both artists and scientists operate …

When The Wind Stops, Qwist Joseph

School of Art, Art History, and Design: Theses and Student Creative Work

The sculpture I make exemplifies my interest in objects, their creation and our tendency to covet them. Humans have developed elaborate and diverse systems to categorize and dictate the value of things. As a culture we elevate and protect Art and its display is a platform in which this object obsession is exaggerated. Through the podium of art exhibition, I explore the idea of object-ness. I question the parameters around what defines something as an object, and more specifically what’s necessary to transform that thing into Art. Further, I wonder where the line is drawn between Art and the ordinary; …

Victorian Counter-Worlds And The Uncanny: The Fantasy Illustrations Of Walter Crane And Arthur Rackham, Amzie A. Dunekacke

UCARE Research Products

I will prepare an in-depth examination of the different, often opposing ways illustrators Walter Crane and Arthur Rackham portray elements of fantasy in their fairy tale illustrations. Fantasy in fairy tales became very popular during the “Golden Age of Illustration” in Britain, which lasted from the mid nineteenth century until the First World War. Fantasy served as a form of escapism from the rigidity of Victorian society and the increasingly industrialized culture. In my examination, I will focus on how Crane and Rackham’s separate styles use or abandon elements of fantasy such as the horrific and grotesque, anthropomorphism of animals …

Textile Society Of America Newsletter 28:1 — Spring 2016, Textile Society Of America

Textile Society of America Newsletters

Letter from the Editor

Volunteer Opportunity: TSA Is Looking for a New Proceedings Editor

Letter from the President

Textiles Close Up Report: Art of the Zo: Textiles from Myanmar, India, and Bangladesh, Chin Weaving at the Philadelphia Museum of Art

R. L. Shep Ethnic Textile Book Award 2015 Nominees

Ossabaw Island, Indigo, and Sea Island Cotton: Two Ways to See a Georgia Barrier Island

Peer-Review Process Yields Range of Exciting Exhibitions for Biennial Symposium

Book Reviews:
Symbols of Power: Luxury Items from Islamic Lands, 7th–21st Century
Textiles of the Banjara: Cloth and Culture of a Wandering Tribe
The Handbook …

Maybe The Gate Could Be A Fan, Erin L. Schoenbeck

School of Art, Art History, and Design: Theses and Student Creative Work

I notice with quiet thrill an individual object or shape such as a railing, an odd pattern in the cement, a handle that does not match the rest, or a surprisingly decorative form intended only for a useful purpose. Choosing a form for its potential function, strange shape or particular color, I filter it through my aesthetic. My mental repetition of the day’s stresses is changed into lighthearted wondering. Maybe that gate I passed could become a beautiful fanned shape, its silhouette in gold and pale green. It could be so tiny its functional life outdoors is transformed into delicate …

Tangled Knot Tied, Shalya Marsh

School of Art, Art History, and Design: Theses and Student Creative Work

I make formal studies in layering that use abstraction and visual symbols as a metaphor for the complex relationship we as individuals have with language, interpretation, and human interaction. My current work explores ideas of connection through representations of knots and tangles. While knots can signify protection and strength, tangles allude to anxiety.

I rely heavily on format and structure as a means of conveying content. Repetition, contrast, and layering of elements suggest the complexity of relationships. The work is composed of a series of tied knots or tangles, single knot forms in multiple variations, or a combination of multiple …

Zero Street, Keith Graham

School of Art, Art History, and Design: Theses and Student Creative Work

“It becomes oppressive when important events, important changes, can’t break through to the surface of life and are continually unable to fulfill themselves. The still invisible and uncrystallized fact that is to be realized in the future is already growing, swelling, beginning to push through into a preexisting reality, which, however, doesn’t want to yield. It gets tighter and tighter, and therefore more and more suffocating. The lack of air increases our feeling of helplessness. We watch the gathering of the clouds and wait for a voice to speak from them, reading us the inexorable verdict of fate.” -Ryszard Kapúscínski …

Bead And Beadwork Traditions: A Study Of Trade And Cultural Exchanges Across The Coast Of Gujarat, East Africa And The Red Sea, Medha Bhatt

Textile Society of America Symposium Proceedings

Indian cotton textiles were the key commodity that powered the Indian Ocean trade exchanges. Gujarat played a significant role not only in the manufacture of cotton textiles but also carnelian beads that was used for commercial trade exchanges in the markets of East Africa, the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf. While these two commodities of trade have been studied separately in detail, less well examined is the interaction between the two and the emergence of glass beads in the commercial exchanges of the trading communities of Gujarat. The bonding of the beads to the fabric led to a sophisticated …

Growing A Dye Garden, Donna Brown

Textile Society of America Symposium Proceedings

Imagine looking out from your patio to an inspiring vista of the Denver Botanic Gardens Chatfield Farms (DGB). Add to this a life-long love of natural dyes. Can you envision the garden down there, the blossoms of cosmos and coreopsis, the rows of indigo, the spreading madder, the hopi sunflowers nodding in the breeze? I am Donna Brown and this has been my vision ever since we moved to our “room with a view” that overlooks DGB, a 750 acre native plant refuge and working farm housing the Hildebrand Ranch, an historic homestead with cutting and herb gardens I am …

America’S Indigo Obsession: From Colonial Plantations To Contemporary Diy Ethos, Sonja Dahl

Textile Society of America Symposium Proceedings

This research project is, as the title implies, quite broad. It has grown from stories shared generously with me by many of indigo’s proponents today, as well as the stories compiled in the historical and ethnographic research of scholars such as Andrea Feeser1 and Jenny Balfour Paul.2 This paper was originally written for oration, and what I offer here is a transcript of this talk as performed at the Textile Society of America’s 2016 symposium, Land, Labor and the Port in Savannah, GA, October 2016. It is an open reflection on some of the stories and broader themes I’ve encountered …

Title: Ajrakh- A Textile Tradition In Transition, Sharmila J. Dua Prof. Dr.

Textile Society of America Symposium Proceedings

The region of Gujarat in the west has been an important textile export zone of India and remains an important source of printed cloth, in terms of both volume and quality. Early evidence of Gujarat’s involvement in international trade of colourful block printed textiles comes from the fragments found at the Fostat excavations in Egypt. These have been dated back to the fifteenth century and have been printed by the resist printing technique. The designs, motifs and colours are typical of the hand block printed textiles characteristic of the region today. Khavda and Dhamadka villages in Kutch were known for …

The Changing Role Of Chaguar Textiles In The Lives Of The Wichí, An Indigenous People Of Argentina, Rachel Green

Textile Society of America Symposium Proceedings

Beating, spinning, and sewing fiber, a woman works to perpetuate her culture a thread and stitch at a time. While her hands work expertly and she talks casually, Carolina is crocheting a hat from a fiber called chaguar to be worn under a motorcycle helmet. She learned to crochet five years ago from a nonindigenous woman whose house she was paid to clean. Because crocheting is not a traditional technique, she only does it to sell to the local townspeople, preferring the techniques from her Wichí heritage. “Wichí” means simply “the people” in her original language. Their culture is centered …

Sacred Currency: The Value Of Textile In Colonial Andean Painting, Gaby Greenlee

Textile Society of America Symposium Proceedings

In this 18th century colonial Andean image painted in the former Inka capital of Cuzco, Peru, a wreath of flowers encircles a small female figure sitting upon a richly textured seat (Figure 1). She wears clothing that connotes distinction; her features and gestures are as delicate as her garments yet her eyes are fixed and discerning. Our eyes are drawn to her eyes. What does she see? What is her role? We also turn these questions on ourselves: what do we know about this figure that gives the painting meaning? We tend to interpret the work through her identity.

However, …

Ingenious And Practical; Parallels In The Making Of Arimatsu Trade Cloth And Contemporary Designers’ Production, Ana Lisa Hedstrom

Textile Society of America Symposium Proceedings

Yoshiko Wada introduced me to shibori in1976, and for over 40 years I have worked with shibori techniques based on the concepts of Arimatsu shibori. I had been aware of the Congo trade era and often peppered Yoshiko with questions about this curious chapter in the Arimatsu history. When I saw the textiles that Yoshiko has displayed here, I became very excited. There is an old axiom that nothing is ever really new. I love to see textiles that connect to my own decision making as a dyer, and where I can totally empathize with the artisan’s hand and eye. …

Here And There, Now, Sandra Heffernan

Textile Society of America Symposium Proceedings

A textile installation shaped by traditional embroidery, geographical differences, technology and novel natural dye is the focus of this paper. ‘Through the globe’ [Através do globo] is the result of a six week artist in residency at Contextile 2016 in Guimarães, Portugal.1 It builds upon environmental pest invasive weed dye research, interprets ‘traditional’ embroidery illustrating the poetics of place.2 The essence of Guimarães embroidery provides the narrative along the fourteen metre length and is the physical embodiment of the antipodal link between and Wellington, New Zealand. The challenge offered by Contextile 2016 was to collaborate with Oficina embroiderers to learn, …

Aesthetics, Economics And The Enchantment Of Cloth, Janis Jefferies, Barbara Layne

Textile Society of America Symposium Proceedings

In a changing world everyone crafts, designs and engages in making: each individual person and each collective subject, from communities to cities and regions, can define and enhance a life project. We are witnessing an unprecedented wave of social innovations, sometimes using technology and sometimes not. As these changes unfold, an expansive open set of process and practices in which new solutions are suggested and new meanings are created. Most revolutions are about energetic movement and upheavals; even if ideas take a while to become ideologies, we don’t think of them as slow events. But the phrase also makes us …

Textile Art As A Locus Of Colonization And Globalization: The Tapestry Project, Eunkyung Jeong Mfa, Ph.D.

Textile Society of America Symposium Proceedings

Tapestry Project was a 3+ year effort to plan, fund, design, create, and exhibit a 7’ x 14’ work of collaborative fiber art in a small rural community in Western Oklahoma. This project was remarkable for the ways it exhibited the historical concepts of colonization and globalization. From its inception, the project featured aspects of colonization, since the project’s formally trained founder envisioned herself sharing her knowledge and experience with interested but untrained local amateurs both for nobler purposes but also in order to help ensure her own tenure and promotion. While the “colonial oppressor” eventually succeeded in this quest, …

Cutting Edge Technology: Knitting In The Early Modern Era, Jane Malcolm-Davies Dr.

Textile Society of America Symposium Proceedings

New scientific evidence of trade in raw materials and finished goods for the knitted textile trade is emerging from a study of more than 100 extant knitted caps from the 16th century. These long-overlooked archaeological data are being re-excavated from museum archives for analysis in innovative ways. The caps are recorded in European collections as having been shipwrecked, deliberately concealed, preserved in peat bogs, or discarded as beyond use. Many were unearthed during construction work in cities, during building renovations or discovered on the seabed in far-flung locations across Europe – as far north as Norway and as far south …

The Legacy Of Yarn Dyed Cotton Lungis Of Cuddalore, Tamil Nadu: A Case Study, Vasantha M. Dr.

Textile Society of America Symposium Proceedings

Woven cotton textiles of India are ancient, diverse, and steeped in tradition, an amalgam of different ethnic influences, much like reflection of the country itself. Having had the advantage of possessing a unique raw material for more than 5000 years of recorded history, she has been a benefactress of her rich cotton textile heritage to the entire world. In a world where the trends are dictated by the mass producers and the consumers no longer make out the difference between the hand crafted and the machine made, it is a miracle that these textile traditions have been persistently passed on …

Kanga Textile Design, Education, And Production In Contemporary Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, Mackenzie Moon Ryan Phd.

Textile Society of America Symposium Proceedings

While today kanga textiles are commonly thought of as bearers of east African or Swahili culture, this industrially produced textile emerged from a complex history of global trade networks serving local consumer demands. Worn widely throughout the east African region, this textile emerged as a fashionable garment preferred by women along the Swahili Coast of east Africa in the late nineteenth century. Shortly after its introduction in 1886, these inexpensive printed textiles became favored consumer goods throughout the wider region, stretching from present-day southern Somalia, throughout Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, Malawi, and into eastern DRC and northern Mozambique. (Closely …

The Nature Of Collaboration In The Digital Age, Pauline Verbeek-Cowart

Textile Society of America Symposium Proceedings

I proposed this talk because the subject matter "Collaboration in the Digital Age" seemed timely and relevant. What I hope to achieve with this paper is to present initial material that could start a dialogue; a conversation that needs to happen to clarify what "Collaboration in the Digital Age " means. I am going to give an example of a truly magnificent collaboration and compare and contrast that with my personal trajectory. I want to preface this by saying that my comments are filtered through the lens of a maker and an educator. I chair the Fiber program at the …

Slipstitch: A Survey Of Contemporary Narrative-Based Stitch And Embroidery Practices In Australia, Belinda Von Mengersen

Textile Society of America Symposium Proceedings

Slipstitch, an Australian exhibition of contemporary stitch artworks was discussed in a panel session titled, Allegory and Subversion: contemporary stitch narratives, cross-cultural influences and international perspectives. This presentation situated the exhibition as one example within a broader view of contemporary allegorical, speculative and provisional stitch practices emerging within Australia and Internationally. Slipstitch is an Ararat Regional Art Gallery and National Exhibitions Touring Support (NETS) Victoria touring exhibition (2015-2017), curated by Dr Belinda von Mengersen. Slipstitch presented an Australian perspective on the contemporary uptake of stitch and embroidery practice by a new generation of artists. Long overdue, it was the first …

From Function To Fashion To A Contemporary Art Process, Journey’S Within A Fisherman’S Rib Jumper, Christine Wiltshier

Textile Society of America Symposium Proceedings

This paper investigates a number of journeys discovered within a fisherman’s rib jumper. The thread of each journey was unravelled whilst considering the notion, Could a process of unmaking become a form of making. This question framed a process lead studio research that centred on haptic experimentation. The vehicle chosen to investigate this question was that of the unravelling of a knitted garment. Along side a studio investigation, a number of threads were followed that connect a 1980’s fashion garment with historic coastal fishing economies in the United Kingdom. Connections were also unravelled between the machine construction of the garment …

Tradition And Transition: The Changing Fortunes Of Barkcloth In Uganda, Sarah Worden

Textile Society of America Symposium Proceedings

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries Scottish travellers, missionaries and colonial officials were among the first Europeans to visit east and central Africa. The objects they collected whilst living amongst those whose customs and traditions were so unfamiliar, form the backbone of the National Museum of Scotland’s early ethnographic collections. These collections are tied into the complex historical relationships between Scotland and Africa, however, it is often the case that little was documented regarding the collectors particular collecting strategies or acquisition. In these collections is a type of cloth, barkcloth, a material which predates weaving and is probably …