Collective term, coined in the 1970s, for creative, experimental fibre objects. A wide range of techniques is used, often in combinations that encompass both traditional (e.g. felting, knotting) and modern (e.g. photographic transfer) practices. The eclectic range of materials includes many not previously associated with textiles, such as paper, wood, iridescent film, nylon mesh and wire.9780195313918.fibre.01.jpgEd Rossbach: Early Cross, cotton knotted netting with wool pile, 330×305mm, 1967 (Boston, MA, Museum of Fine Arts); photograph © 2008 Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; see Fibre art
The first experimental work was done during the 1920s and 1930s by such artists as Anni Albers (1899–1994) in Germany. Equally innovative work was produced in the 1940s and 1950s by Trude Guermonprez (d 1975), Luba Kreje (b 1925), Lenore Tawney (b 1925), Loja Saarinen (1879–1968), Dorothy Liebes (1897–1972), Marianne Strengell (1909–98) and others. These artists were concerned with natural and manmade materials, vibrant colours, formal pattern-making and texture derived from construction. By the 1960s a new direction in tapestry was replacing the tradition of the painter's cartoon woven by artisans, although that was still practised. Inspired by the decade's concern for freedom, revolution and primitive vigour, a second generation of fibre artists began to define and expand their ideas. Loom-woven hangings gave way to variously constructed pieces for display on the floor, on pedestals or hung from the ceiling. These included shaped, woven sisal work with an emphasis on form (e.g. by Magdalena Abakanowicz (b 1930) in Poland; floor pieces made of wrapped and stitched modular units (e.g. by Sheila Hicks (b 1934) of the USA); cascading wrapped and knitted components (Claire Zeisler (1903–91), USA); large objects of such unusual fibres as rope (Françoise Grossen (b 1943), Switzerland); shaped tapestry weave (Herman Scholten (b 1932), Netherlands); synthetic materials, newsprint and raffia in basketry (Ed Rossbach (1914–2002), USA; see colour pl. IV, fig. 3); and ceiling-hung concentric layers of slit tapestry (Jagoda Buic (b 1930), Croatia).
In the 1970s and early 1980s there was intense activity by a third generation of artists. Continuing experimentation, together with a general maturation of style, resulted in huge, dynamic works. At the same time there was renewed interest in loom-woven and loom-controlled work and contemporary application of traditional techniques. There was a continued exploration of materials and techniques and a flowering of three-dimensional form. Fibre art was designed for use in architectural spaces (e.g. public buildings) and also in landscapes, and fibrous materials were used to create sculpture and painting. Examples from this period include outdoor work in twisted paper in large plaited forms (Neda Alhilali (b 1938), USA); ritualistic objects made of twisted paper tapes (Dominic DiMare (b 1932), USA); needle techniques on cloth (Emilia Bohdziewicz (1941–94), Poland); combinations of knitting and plaiting (Ann Sutton (b 1935), England); basketry work of morning glory vines, leaves and milkweed manipulated in tapestry weave (John McQueen (b 1943), USA); mended sheet and shirt environments (Sheila Hicks); plaited horsehair and gesso panels (Olga de Amaral (b 1932), Colombia); free spatial forms on textile reliefs (Peter Jacobi (b 1935) and Ritzi Jacobi (b 1941), Germany); a mural of warp-face repp, space-dyed warp with shaped polyurethane weft, mixing wool, jute and cotton (Lia Cook (b 1942), USA); a double plain-weave that becomes a three-dimensional construction (Warren Seelig (b 1946), USA); and interwoven cotton strands (Masakazu Kobayashi (b 1944), Japan).
During the 1980s a fourth generation of artists widened their approach even further. Some traditional methods were revived and used in combination with new technology. There was an incredible expansion of form, driven by the insistence on art as a vehicle for ideas. The wide range of techniques is reflected in such diverse works as the loom-woven hangings of Sheila Hicks; the shibori indigo dyeing of Shihoko Fukomoto (b 1945, Japan); the story-telling quilts in painted and pieced fabric of Faith Ringgold Inese Malitis (b 1959) and Ivars Malitis (b 1956, Latvia); the non-functional baskets of Ed Rossbach (1914–2002); the pressed, hammered, dyed and painted rayon of Lia Cook; the computerized weaving of abstract imagery of Cynthia Schira (b 1934, USA); the fibre optic weaving of Peggy Osterkamp (b 1940, USA); and by Hideho Tanaka (b 1942, Japan), sisal and stainless steel elements that absorb, reflect and transmit light.
.
