(Re)Fashioning Fiber with Atefeh Khas, Tara Goodarzy, and Persian New Arts

'Mashalak Jangel' (photograph by Rahele Zomorrodinia)

(photograph by Rahele Zomorrodinia)

(photograph by Rahele Zomorrodinia)

I am thrilled to have Iranian fiber/environmental artists, Atefeh Khas and Tara Goodarzy, participating in the upcoming exhibit that I am curating, (Re)Fashioning Fiber at Greenspaces NY.

Portuguese Castle/Hormoz Island, Iran (photograph by Rahele Zomorrodinia)

I have been in touch with Atefeh over the past year or more - thanks to another outstanding Iranian environmental artist, Dr. Ahmad Nadalian at the Paradise Art Center in Polour, Iran. Atefeh and Tara have particpated in a wave of environmental art festivals in Iran (organized by Nadalian) as well as being founding members of The Persian New Art Collective. I also featured Atefeh and Tara's fiber 'peace bracelets' on Ecco*Eco in March.

Fiber installation in progress on Hormoz Island, Iran (photograph by Rahele Zomorrodinia)

Environmental fiber installation on Hormoz Island, Iran (photograph by Sharnaz Zarkesh)

Fiber installation at Orumieh Lake/Tabriz, Iran (photograph by Sharnaz Zarkesh)

These exquisite images really speak for themselves, and this for me, is the beauty of the site-specific, eco-crafting work that Atefeh, Tara, and their contemporaries collaborate on. Even though Iran is worlds away, these green forests, distant shores, and ancient salt lakes seem like they are all glistening and spun from the same elements and fiber as ours.

(Re)Fashioning Fiber opens on May 20 in NYC.

(Re)Fashioning Fiber with the Women of Iran

photo by Shahnaz Zarkesh

Beautiful, handcrafted fiber 'peace bracelets' being distributed by Iranian artists, Atefeh Khas and Tara Goodarzy.

photo by Shahnaz Zarkesh

Atefeh and Tara have been reviving the domestic arts of their grandmothers and mothers via eco crafting initiatives meant to promote community building and environmental awareness. They are also part of the Iranian/Persian New Art Collective.

photo by Rahele Zomorrodinia

Atefeh Khas and Tara Goodarzy will participate in the upcoming group exhibition that I am curating for GreenSpaces NY in TriBeCa called (Re)Fashioning Fiber. Details to come.

You can also read more about my involvement with the Paradise Art Center in Polour, Iran here.

Knitted Knotted Netted Opening

Hunterdon Art Museum exterior in October 2009

'Knitted, Knotted, Netted' curated by Hildreth York

Pat Hickman video, 'The Gates' (1991-1994)

Ann Coddington Rast's 'Longing' installation

Work by Pat Hickman (foreground) and Karen Ciaramella (background)

Work by Pat Hickman (foreground) and Ann Coddington Rast (background)

Karen Ciaramella's wool forms/installation

Karen Ciaramella's 'Divine Goddess'

Carol D. Westfall's 'This Crowded Planet' series

Carol D. Westfall's 'This Crowded Planet' (detail)

Abigail Doan 'Fiber Flotsam' series (foreground) and Leslie Pontz crochet wire sculpture (background)

Abigail Doan 'Fiber Flotsam' series (foreground) and Leslie Pontz crochet wire sculpture (background)

Ruth Marshall's 'Coral Snake Series'

A special thanks to Knitted, Knotted, Netted's curator Hildreth York for her vision and unique way of allowing artists to come together to weave a greater collective story.

Curator Hildreth York presenting in front of work by Norma Minkowitz

Aziumth: Writing on Walls at THE LAND

Azimuth: Writing on Walls
June 6 - July 17, 2009
Opening reception June 6, 6-9 pm

A text-environment based on a free renga by poet/writer, Miriam Sagan, and fourteen other poets at THE LAND/an art site gallery in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Miriam Sagan is the author of more than twenty books, including the recent Map of the Lost from University of New Mexico Press. Beginning with excerpts from poetry she wrote during her residency at THE LAND/an art site, she created this gallery-sized, collaborative poem with JB Bryan, Paula Castillo, Abigail Doan, Ephia, Dale Harris, Phyllis Hoge, J. A. Lee, Sabra Moore, Terry Mulert, Steve Peters, Suzanne Sbarge, John Tritica, Stefi Weisburd and Mera Wolf.

'It Is Beautiful Here' Opens Today

Hibernation 01 (fiber form), Abigail Doan 2008


So very exciting that my recycled textile fiber forms are featured in an international exhibit that opens to the public today in Fiskars, Finland. Although I was not in attendance for the gala opening and press preview of 'It Is Beautiful Here' last night, I do intend to travel to Fiskars with my family this summer to soak in and document the exhibit in person.

Fiskars is an amazing historic village that has a lasting tradition of supporting artisans and craftspersons. I want to extend a special thank you to the curators and organizers of this exhibition, as they have been incredibly lovely to work with. Next up, an exhibition on 'knitting, knotting, and netting' at the Hunterdon Museum of Art this October. What a great year for fiber exploration and travel thus far.

Interior views of Fiskar's Onoma Galleries and The Granary exhibition space

Opening a Book Exhibition Photos

THE LAND/gallery, Albuquerque, April 2009

Basia Irland (foreground), installation view

Basia Irland

Abigail Doan

Kathy Bruce

Mary Ellen Long

Mary Ellen Long

Curator notes, Jeffrey A. Lee

THE BOOK is, then, the container of provocation.[1]

Consider a book as a sequence (of texts, images, objects, ideas) bound or otherwise contained so that it’s kept together and in order. The binding or container also preserves its contents.

The book for me should be without limits, like the desert, thus an exploded book… a desert form whose only limits are the four horizons.[2]

Consider the sequence of seasons, of growth and perpetuation, of metamorphosis, or any other natural sequence. What binds it together or contains it? What preserves it? What interrupts or disturbs it, and what are the consequences?

Books, like ecologies, are local systems. Like an ecosystem, any part removed from a book compromises the whole. Unlike an ecosystem, anything put into a book can belong there.

THE SPACE we love is unwilling to remain permanently enclosed. It deploys and appears to move elsewhere without difficulty…[3]

I know from my experience that books ultimately convey their own unspeakable language to the solitary reader.[4]

A book is a sequence of spaces.[5]

[1] Dick Higgins
[2] Edmond Jabès
[3] Gaston Bachelard
[4] Harry Reese
[5] Ulises Carrión