Wilson artist Suzanne Morlock creates a "Magic Carpet Ride" in Poland

Wilson artist Suzanne Morlock has just completed her latest site specific installation at the Central Museum of Textiles in Lodz, Poland.

The Central Museum of Textiles is a former textile factory and was established to commemorate the long history Lodz has with the manufacture of cotton fabrics. In the 19th century it was decided Lodz would be a textile center for the region with hundreds of factories starting throughout the city. This existed until other markets such as China and India proved to be cheaper sources of material during the next century.

Long since abandoned, numerous factory sites still exist in Lodz. The first factory, the White Factory began in 1835 and was owned by Ludwig Geyer. In 1952 this first textile factory was converted into the Central Museum of Textiles.

With Suzanne's solo exhibition at this venue, she chose to create a temporary "new textile factory". With the assistance of 12 art students from the Academy of Fine Arts in Lodz, they worked a total of 250 hours over a week to create a new kind of textile for a new Lodz.

Using local newspaper, Suzanne used her signature technique of changing the cast off into something new. Via a process of "spinning and knitting" the cast off newspapers became what the artist referred to as a magic carpet.

This site specific installation utilizes the architecture of the space and the social context of the place to help formulate her idea for this site specific installation which she entitled "Magic Carpet Ride".

The piece was approximately 80 feet long and 8 feet wide and while it harkens back to the textile tradition with the creation of a carpet, this carpet does not resemble it's historic predecessors in any other way. The exhibit will be up through March 27.

View photos and read about the installation in Polish (or you can use the handy translation tool):  http://www.muzeumwlokiennictwa.pl/czasowe/1/413,suzanne-morlock-magic-carpet-ride.html

Needle Trade Art Show opens at WWCC in Rock Springs

Kolodzey's "Floating Insects" 42" x 38"

“Needle Trade” presenting the works of Carmen Hay Kolodzey and Miriam Schaer will open at the Western Wyoming Community College Art Gallery October 6. The shows name was chosen in reference to the labor intensive histories of the thread medium in the US, prior to the design simplification which came about with the use of the computer.

“Needle Trade” includes pieces using altered fabrics and mixed mediums. These artists achieve lyrical results from their nontraditional materials of fabric backing and items of clothing that are reconstructed. Both artists deconstruct and then reinvented to create their art.

As Kolodzey states, she “deconstructs before I construct.” She uses colorful patterned fabrics which she deconstructs into “fringes which are then hand-sewn in hundreds of layers onto canvas, Lutrador, or paper.”

Born in Germany, Kolodzey has a Bachelor’s of Fine Arts and Textile and a Master’s in Fine Arts and Textile Education for Secondary Schools, both from German Universities. She taught fine arts and textile in Germany for 11 years before moving to New York in 1990 to work as a professional artist.

Since 1990 she has shown her work at many shows in such places as New Mexico, Colorado, New York, California, Germany and Argentina, to name a few.

“My body of work encompasses abstract work as well as work addressing socio-political issues,” she explains. “I consider it an achievement if the viewer of my work is attracted by its beauty and at the same time is inspired by its social message.” Schaer often relates the works to literary sources both appropriating and expanding for today’s time and place.

Schaer uses everyday objects in her art. “My work is often about transformation,” she explains. “For example, I often use garments — especially bustiers, bras, girdles, kitchen aprons, children’s clothing and gloves — as both means and vehicles of containment.” Included in Western’s show is an object which began as found objects — gloves lost on the streets of New York City. They take on a new life as a woven snake.

Schaer earned Bachelor’s of Fine Arts degrees from Philadelphia College of Art and from the School of Visual Arts in New York City. She has been a visiting artist at several institutes including the Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha in Spain, University of Belgrade in Serbia and Montenegro at most recently at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York. Her works have been show worldwide including such places as New York, Canada, Egypt and Estonia.

The WWCC Art Gallery is open Monday through Thursday 9:00 a.m. until 10:00 p.m. and Friday from 9:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m. “Needle Threads” is free and open to the public.

Lower left: Kolodzey's "AiryDay"