“Ice Cold” by Kris GarlandPhoto: Sarah van SchagenGlobal warming got you in stitches? Trying to understand all the tightly knit issues by looking for common threads?
Weave your way down to Schmancy (part of the “trilogy of awesome“) in Seattle, Wash., for an artsy display of embroidery, quilting, felting, and otherwise fiber-fab interpretations of the Arctic’s plight. The Fiber Arctic show, on display through July 9, features sculpted icebergs, sequined whales, stranded polar bears, and one very sassy reindeer.
Though Schmancy regularly hosts group shows, this one was unique in terms of the environmental theme, offering the artists more of a challenge, said owner Kristin Rask at the opening June 12.
It was also an opportunity to utilize alternative fibers, like the iridescent seaweed Coco Howard used in her felted piece “What the Tara Expedition Found There,” created by repeatedly poking a barbed needle into the fibers to create the heat and friction that binds them.
“Art has always reflected what is in our world and in our horizon and what our fears are,” Howard said, “which is all tied in to climate change.”
