Remnants

February 2–April 25, 2021

Remnants presented an exceptional group of contemporary fiber artists whose work makes meaning from the textile fragments we encounter daily. A worn shirt, loose threads, attic relics, pocket detritus, discarded paper, fabric scraps, and abandoned plastics are just a few of the overlooked materials these artists turn into wondrous works of art.

Grounded in the language of textiles, the work in Remnants broadly addressed timely themes of repurposing, mending, and recycling. A sense of time permeates the practices of many of these artists as though slowing down bridges the divide between the found and the re-made. Ranging in scope from quilts to collage, sculpture to installation, the artists in Remnants treat leftover fabrics as places of memory, pieces of identity and their lived environments, articles of collaboration, and sites of intervention and re-imagination.

Artists in Remnants included Susie Brandt (MD), Joe Cunningham (CA), Patrizia Ferreira (WI), Pat Kroth (WI), Linda Marcus (WI) Amy Meissner (AK), Heidi Parkes (WI), Nirmal Raja (WI), Sylvan Robinson (NY), Lauren Sinner (OR), Holly Wong (CA), and Sherri Lynn Wood (OH).

Support for Remnants was generously provided by the Wisconsin Arts Board and Surface Design Association.