A glorious display of texture, color and pattern that transforms ancient fabric into a new art form, “The Textile and the Grid” by contemporary mixed media textile artist Catherine Kirsch will be the next Artist in Residence exhibit of the Lamar Soutter Library at UMass Medical School.
“This exhibit is a celebration of what happens when a two-yard length of silk broadcloth or linen is transformed from a useful cloth to something new, unexpected and beautiful,” said Kirsch. A lifelong seamstress and quilter, Kirsch was inspired by and trained with Jane Dunnewold, whose book Complex Cloth presented new ideas about altering the surface of cloth with paint, dye and discharge paste to create yet another medium she called ArtCloth.
This exhibit displays works Kirsch has created with narrow panels from vintage kimono remnants. With the woven grid as the primary motif, Kirsch explores its negative and positive spaces with dye, paint, embroidery and appliqué to create an elegant whole that continues this beautiful clothʼs existence.
When she is not in her studio, Kirsch, who is married to Daniel Kirsch, MD, assistant professor of psychiatry, is in private practice as a clinical social worker specializing in marriage therapy.
“The Textile & The Grid” will be on display from May 4 to June 14. An artist’s reception will be held at the library on Thursday, May 9 at 5 p.m., with a talk “The Textile & the Grid: The Artist Process” by Kirsch beginning at 6 p.m.
