Stitched Up

Yarn, thread, cloth. Needles, looms, pins. These objects evoke fabrics, clothing, and craft projects. But did you know that many artists make genre-defying works with these materials and tools?

Textiles have always been important in cultures around the world. The 1960s and ’70s gave rise to the fiber arts movement. Today artists experiment with techniques historically associated with domestic women’s work, like knitting, sewing, weaving, and quilting.

For years, art critics didn’t consider fiber arts a form of fine art, like painting or sculpture. Instead, they were thought to be craft—more for practical use than conceptual or artistic value. The artists featured here confront this history, preserving and expanding traditions.

Yarn. Thread. Cloth. These words may make you think of clothing or objects around your house. But famous artists work with these materials too!

Textiles have always been important. Making them into clothing and household items was historically women’s work. They used techniques like knitting, sewing, weaving, and quilting. These were considered crafts, not fine art like painting or sculpture.

The fiber arts movement began in the 1960s when artists used textiles to create fine art. At first, critics did not take them seriously.

Ai Kijima (aye KEE-jee-ma) has immersed herself in many cultures during her life, which has shaped her artistic practice. She was born and raised in Japan, and she now splits her time between New York City and Istanbul, Türkiye. She searches local shops for secondhand fabrics that hold meaning, especially women’s garments and kilim, a type of woven Turkish rug.

For her 2016 Protect, above, the artist creates a textile collage that is layered with symbols. She embellishes the surface with beads, rhinestones, embroidery, and traditional Turkish lace.

“Across many cultures, women have created textiles not only for utility, but as powerful forms of expression,” Kijima says. Her work “Protect honors their quiet yet enduring voices and also recognizes the labor and love embedded in these objects.”

Ai Kijima (ay KEE-jee-ma) was born and raised in Japan. Kijima works with fabrics like women’s clothing and woven Turkish rugs.

Kijima’s 2016 work above is called Protect. The artist creates a collage of textiles. There are many meaningful symbols among the layers. She decorates the surface with beads, embroidery, and traditional Turkish lace.

Kijima believes that women have always used textiles to express themselves. Protect “recognizes the labor and love embedded in these objects,” she says.

Polish artist Agata Oleksiak (ah-GAH-tah oh-LEHK-see-ak), known as Olek, crochets colorful coverings for everything from people to monuments, including New York City’s iconic Charging Bull sculpture, above. 

The bull is a 7,100-pound bronze statue by Arturo Di Modica. It represents a strong financial market. Di Modica illegally placed the bull outside the New York Stock Exchange one night in 1989. It was soon given a permanent home in the city’s Financial District.

Olek echoes Di Modica’s act with Project B (Wall Street Bull). In the middle of the night on December 25, 2010, the artist wrapped Charging Bull in a handmade sweater. City officials removed the colorful garment just hours later because Olek did not obtain a permit for the work. Planning ahead, Olek put a video of the installation on YouTube so people could view the guerrilla work after it was taken down.

Polish artist Agata Oleksiak (ah-GAH-tah oh-LEHK-see-ak) is also known as Olek. The artist crochets coverings. The 2010 work above covers a famous sculpture: New York City’s Charging Bull.

The bull is a 7,100-pound bronze statue. Artist Arturo Di Modica completed the sculpture in 1989. He placed it in the Financial District without permission. Officials later gave it a permanent home.

Olek’s work is called Project B (Wall Street Bull). It echoes Di Modica’s act of guerilla art. One night, Olek wrapped Charging Bull in a sweater—but didn’t get permission first. City officials removed the sweater hours later. Olek put a video of the installation online so everyone could see it.

Brazilian artist Maria Nepomuceno (neh-poh-muh-SEH-noh) explores the idea that textiles are familiar. She combines Indigenous rope weaving and straw braiding with her own method of sewing coils into spirals. Her sculptures evoke familiar natural forms, from the shape of the Milky Way galaxy to a strand of DNA.

For her 2013 Redemagma, above, Nepomuceno stitches spirals in the form of a hammock—a bed that moves while fixed in place. Beads, ceramics, a plant, and found materials add unexpected associations to the work. What does this sculpture conjure up in your imagination?

Maria Nepomuceno (neh-pohmuh-SEH-noh) is a Brazilian artist. She believes that textiles are familiar to everyone. She sews coiled rope into spirals and uses traditional Indigenous weaving techniques like braiding.

Nepomuceno’s 2013 work Redemagma is above. She stitches spirals into a hammock. Beads, plants, ceramics, and other found materials add unexpected shapes.