ARTIST TALK: World of Weaving

Thursday, January 16th
7:00pm - 8:00pm

Presented by the Middle Peninsula Fine Arts Association (MPFAA)

For over 25,000 years, people around the world have created woven fabrics from plant and animal fibers, making complex and colorful works of art that reflect the cultural and artistic diversity of their creators. While only fragments of these earliest textiles have been found in archaeological contexts, the legacy of these ancient artists has both survived and thrived. Today, fiber artists use ancient (and modern) techniques to recreate and expand on this early art form and make beautiful, functional art that is rapidly gaining popularity. Modern handweaving is widely recognized a heritage art that produces quality items while also having a positive impact on mental health. In this talk, Kathryn Swanson, an avid weaver, explores a brief overview of the ancient history of weaving, the variety of woven fabrics, and the mechanics of handweaving on a modern loom.

This talk is free and open to the public!

ABOUT THE SPEAKER

Kathryn “Kate” Swanson’s love of art began at an early age with art classes starting when she was about five years old. Since then, she has explored a wide variety of media including painting, drawing, pastel, pottery, glass, and fiber. Today, she primarily works in fiber, embracing a medium and technique that she has loved since elementary school. She sees her weaving as a meditative practice that is both calming and exhilarating, and she loves creating works of art that are aesthetically pleasing and often functional. Taking the cloth off the loom and realizing that she’s transformed yarn into handwoven art is one of her favorite parts of being an artist. When she is not weaving, Kate is the Executive Director of Gloucester Arts on Main.

This program has been organized by the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and is funded, in part, by the Paul Mellon Endowment and the Jean Stafford Camp Memorial Fund.