Fabric Manipulation...

Visual inspiration for fabric manipulation can be found in a number of natural forms. Linear elements and shapes in smooth natural stones, or weathered and cut stones, tree bark or branches, wood grains, water falls or waves or ripples, as well as natural foliage can all provide ideas for twisting, folding and pleating a variety of smooth or textured fabrics.

Fabric Manipulation...

Part of the attraction of developing fibre art works based on fabric manipulation techniques is based on the unpredictable and very dramatic results that can be achieved simply by twisting and folding fabrics in ways that are either sympathetic to or ‘work against’ the existing warp and weft of a woven fabric, a length of woven fabric ‘cut on the bias’, or a length of knitted or crocheted fabric that that can stretched in a range of different ways.

Fibre manipulations and fibre supports...

Fibre supports such as shaped cards or interfacing can help to support sections of fibre fold and pleats. Some folds and pleats can be stretched and expanded in unexpected ways and then mounted fabric manipulations can be joined together and overlapped in order to create new shadows.

Fibre manipulation, folds and pleating...

I often look to traditional smocking and pleating techniques as initial guides for my own fabric manipulations with calico and cotton fabrics. An examination of regular folds and pleats can then be varied and twisted into new and unexpected combinations.

Fabric Manipulation...Stitches

Fabric manipulation can be achieved by the use of stitching techniques that are discrete or hidden from view. A stitching technique can also become a prominent feature on a textile artwork that depends on fabric manipulation methods. When I began to use fabric manipulation methods, I used natural coloured threads that matched the neutral tones of my calico fabrics.

Fabric Manipulation...Starting with shapes and shadows

The use of a single neutral coloured cloth can help to build fabric manipulation skills. Shapes and shadows are emphasised, and forms can be easily evaluated. My own early experiments with fabric manipulation techniques used natural calico fabrics, and I used a combination of hand stitches and machine stitches.

Fabric manipulation...

The manipulation of lengths of fabric, either man-made or commercially produced, can produce very valuable results. Raised sections and gathered, twisted or folded areas can highlight shadows and textures as well as shapes and lines. I have found the following book to be very useful:
Colette Wolff, The art of manipulating fabric Iola, Wisconsin: Krause, 1996.

Crochet and flexible fibre design...

I find that some specialist books on specific fibre techniques can provide pathways to new ways of thinking about fibreart compositions, as well as design problems and solutions. Crochet can be a very useful fibre technique because sections of a fibrework can be started and finished in a very spontaneous and flexible manner. Different sections of crochet can also be joined together, or combined with elements created through the use of other fibre techniques such as knitting, weaving, basketry or sewing. Here is an early text that advocated the development of “free” forms of crochet:

Del Pitt Feldman, Crochet discovery and design New York: Doubleday & Company, 1972.

Exhibitions...

I originally completed my qualifications as a secondary art teacher at institutions that became part of the University of South Australia, and I exhibited my art and craft work in Australia for twenty years. Here is my art/craft resume:

Marisa Young. Dip.T., B.Ed. (Secondary Art Teaching), M.Ed., Grad Dip. (LIM), Ph.D., MACE.


PRIZES, PUBLICATIONS & EXHIBITIONS.
Fibrework, drawing, painting, sculpture and printmaking.

Prizes.
1979. Sole winner, SAS-Channel Ten Young Artist’s Award [$3000.00]. Work shown at the Adelaide Festival Centre.
1997. First prize, machine and hand embroidered pincushion, ’Fantasy Pincushion Section’, Fantasy of Fabric Competition, RASV, Ascot Vale, Melbourne [September].

Publications.
1985. Work and exhibitions cited in Selected Australian Crafts: A Directory., published by the Crafts Council of Australia.
1995. Work and exhibitions cited in Who’s Who of Australian Visual Artists. (2nd ed., 1995), published by Thorpe in association with the National Association for the Visual Arts.

Exhibitions.
1977-1979. Student group exhibitions, Secondary Art Teaching course, Torrens C.A.E. & Adelaide C.A.&E. [now The University of South Australia].
1977. Artwear group show [August]-Contemporary Art Society, South Australia.
1978, 1979. Drawings and sculptures displayed in the SAS-Channel Ten Young Artist’s Award Exhibition. Exhibition held at the Adelaide Festival Centre.
1980. Australian Miniatures Textile Show [May-June]-Crafts Council of Australia, Sydney, N.S.W..
1981. Batman Craft Purchase Exhibition [March-April]-Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery, Launceston, Tasmania.
1980-1981. West Lakes Mall Art Shows.
1980-1981. Contemporary Art Society Group Exhibitions.
1982, 1984. Heritage Festival Show [Fibres Section].
1982-1990, 1994. National Craft Acquisition Award Exhibitions, Museums and Art Galleries of the Northern Territory, Darwin.
1982. Invitational exhibition for the National Libraries Conference [August]-Crafts Council of S.A., Adelaide University Union Gallery.
1982. Creative Textile Exhibition [May-June]-Limeburners Gallery McLaren Vale, S.A..
1983. Creative Works in Fabric and Thread Show [September]-Beaver Galleries, Canberra.
1984-1992, 1994, 1996. Alice Craft Acquisition Exhibition, Alice Springs, Crafts Council of the Northern Territory.
1985, 1987. Invitation to submit work to the Ararat Gallery Biennial.
1988. Tamworth National Fibre Exhibition.
1988-1991. Art/Craft Exhibition, Royal Melbourne Show.
1989. The Night and the Stars Exhibition [September]-Contemporary Art Centre of South Australia.
1990-1991. Australian Institute of Art Education Delegate Exhibition [June-July]-North Adelaide School of Art Gallery.
1990. Mosman Art Show [July]-Sydney.
1990, 1991. Mosman Art Show [July]-Sydney.
1990, 1991. Contemporary Art Centre Members’ Show [December]-Parkside, South Australia.
1991. Art Exhibition, Royal Sydney Show.
1991. Blackwood Arts Festival Exhibition [July].
1991, 1992. Mornington Peninsula Craft Event [October].
1991. Dame Nancy Buttfield Embroidery Exhibition [September-November]-Carrick Hill, South Australia.
1992. Tamworth Miniatures Exhibition, Tamworth Arts in Action Festival [October]-Tamworth Community Centre.
1992. Jacaranda Art Society Drawing Exhibition [November] Grafton.
1993. Noah’s Art, Group Exhibition, Royal Zoological Society of S.A. Inc. in conjunction with the Crafts Council of South Australia.
1994. Wombat Art/Craft Exhibition, Institute Building, North Terrace, Adelaide. Group exhibition held in conjunction with the National Conference ‘Wombats in Australia’, supported by the Royal Zoological Society of S.A. Inc. in conjunction with the Crafts Council of South Australia.
1996. Stanthorpe Arts Festival-Queensland, (Fibre Section) [February-April].
1996. Inaugural National Wearable Art Exhibition, an initiative of the Clayfield College P&F Association held at the RNA Showgrounds, Brisbane [October].
1996. 8th National Dame Mary Durack Outback Crafts Exhibition (Fibre Section) presented by the Australian Stockman’s Hall of Fame and Outback Heritage Centre at the Queensland Museum, Brisbane [December].
1997. Australian Cotton Fibre Expo, (Contemporary Needlework Section) Narrabri, New South Wales [May].
1997. ASPACAE Art Exhibition, 8th Asian Pacific Confederation for Arts Educators 1997 [organized in conjunction with the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology Gallery, Monash University, and the University of Melbourne]. Fibre hanging displayed at the Old Treasury Buildings, corner of Spring and Collins Streets, Melbourne [July-August].
1997. Machine and hand embroidered pincushion, Fantasy Pincushion Section, Fantasy of Fabric Competition, RASV, Ascot Vale, Melbourne [September].

Introduction

This blog will include discussions related to fibre art design and craft techniques as well as historical research related to fibre art, fibre design and fibre crafts. I will provide bibliographic references to publications that I have found to be valuable, and I will include images of my own fibre works.
At the moment I am investigating the importance of drapery and folds in fibre works, and I am using a range of my own crochet craft techniques to produce fibre lengths that I can manipulate and stretch in different ways.