“Time Warps: Textiles from Today’s Weavers.” What a catchy title for the biennial exhibition of works by the Connecticut Guild of Handweavers.
I’ve been looking forward to seeing this exhibition since I got the first announcement back in March. Nothing like cutting it close, since I am going on the last day it is on view! Whew!
This is from the Connecticut Historical Society’s event page on their website:
Time Warps: Textiles from Today’s Weavers
April 20, 2013 – May 17, 2013
This juried exhibit of handwoven goods displays the work of contemporary weavers who use both historical and modern techniques and designs. The Biennial Show organized by the Handweavers’ Guild of Connecticut includes articles of clothing (scarves, shawls, jackets), decorative pieces (wall hangings), and household items (table runners, rugs, towels, blankets). The work is produced by members of the Handweavers’ Guild of Connecticut, an organization of handweavers, spinners and fiber artists from all levels of experience who are dedicated to the education, preservation, and promotion of handweaving and spinning.
What they don’t mention is that Nancy Hoskins was one of the two jurors for this show. And what a wonderful surprise to see two of her pieces hanging in the show, both Byzantine portraits done in samitum.
There were two rooms of woven items, everything from tailored clothing, wall hangings, rugs, shawls, table linens, even a couple of wonderful soft sculptures. This is what greeted me when I entered the first room.
The rugs are particularly well displayed in these elevated cases on the floor. The items on the walls are displayed coming out of frames, which is a great idea, but would have been considerably better if the frames had been chosen to match the width of the items. Some of the shawls are ‘crumpled up’ in the frames, and I think that looks messy.
There are some wonderfully creative works on display. The two wonderful soft sculptures are Penelope sitting on a stool, holding her shuttles, with wild, jet black hair sticking straight out from her head and wrapped in yarn to make little pigtails. (I would love to show you, but I really can’t without permission!) The other wonderful soft sculpture is a felted owl standing on a perch. He is beyond description!
I was so inspired by the work in this exhibit! I’m not sure you can imagine what it felt like to walk through two rooms full of handwovens when I’ve been in such a very different living situation for almost 9 months. All that intense color and texture and fiber. It was a rush!
And tomorrow I will go to the last guild meeting of the year (my first and last this year). Bring it on!
