Threaded Through History

Do the artworks shown here have anything in common? Although each work is an example of contemporary fiber art, they look quite different from one another. One is figurative, and two are abstract. The materials include linen, canvas, silk, rope, jewelry, wire, and more. 

From their subjects and materials to the techniques the artists use, these works are unique. Yet they share a common purpose: to examine history and heritage. The fiber arts’ flexibility offers endless ways to explore cultural identity.

Each artwork here is an example of contemporary fiber art. One is figurative—it depicts people. Two are abstract. The materials include canvas, silk, rope, jewelry, and more.

Despite their differences, the artists share a common goal. They all use fiber arts to examine history and culture.

For Igshaan (EGH-shaun) Adams, weaving isn’t a solo activity. “I have a whole community of people in my studio,” says the South African artist, who works with up to 15 people at a time. “It’s my responsibility to bring my family and my local community with me as I grow.”

For his 2023 Al-Hayy, above, Adams uses color and texture to create the illusion of depth. He weaves beads and thread with shells, bone, jewelry, and fibers, creating a surface that appears random up close. But take a step back and the highlights and shadows form a rose.

Adams recalls a difficult relationship with his father when he was young. To him, the rose is a symbol for pain as well as protection. Why might it be significant that he works closely with members of his community to create a work like this?

South African artist Igshaan (EGH-shaun) Adams is a weaver. “I have a whole community of people in my studio,” says Adams. Up to 15 people at a time help him make his work. “It’s my responsibility to bring my family and my local community with me as I grow,” he explains.

The 2023 work, above, is called Al-Hayy. Adams uses color and texture to create the illusion of depth. He uses beads, thread, shells, and jewelry. The highlights and shadows form a rose.

Adams had a difficult relationship with his father. He says the rose is a symbol of pain but also protection.

Adams works closely with family and friends to make art. Why is that important for this work?

Suchitra Mattai (su-CHEE-tra mah-TIE) uses perspective to create a sense of longing in her 2024 The Sea Wall, above. Figures with embroidered pink halos look away from the viewer toward the horizon. Domes and other architectural features outlined in pearls adorn the foreground.

Mattai draws on European and South Asian symbols to explore colonialism, including her family’s history as indentured servants brought from India to labor in Guyana. For works like this, Mattai repurposes found materials such as tablecloths from her wedding and saris (Indian garments). Mattai’s mother collects used saris from friends and family in her New Jersey town and then mails them to the artist in Los Angeles. Mattai weaves these materials into artworks, which she believes is a way to “tell stories through the materials that [make] sense for those stories.”

Suchitra Mattai (su-CHEEtra mah-TIE) was born in Guyana. She now lives in Los Angeles and explores her heritage in her work.

Mattai’s 2024 work The Sea Wall is above. It’s made of repurposed materials like tablecloths and saris (Indian garments). Mattai’s mother collects saris from friends and family. Then she mails them to Mattai, who weaves them into artworks.

In The Sea Wall, Mattai uses perspective. Figures with embroidered pink halos look toward the horizon. The domes in the foreground have pearls stitched around them. Mattai wants to “tell stories through the materials that [make] sense for those stories.”

Julia Bland’s labor-intensive mixed media work often defies categorization. She braids, sews, tie-dyes, knots, burns, and paints upcycled fabric like pants and bedsheets. The results are part painting, part sculpture, and part tapestry.

Growing up in California, Bland practiced quilting and embroidery with a neighbor. A family friend later gave her a loom, which she uses to make art that explores spirituality and the American counterculture movement. Her 2024 Helper, above, features multicolored arrows, circles, triangles, and lines. The colors and shapes create a kaleidoscope-like image, reflecting the groovy aesthetic of the 1960s and ’70s.

Julia Bland makes mixed media art. She works with upcycled, or reused, fabric. She braids it, sews it, paints it, and more. The results are a combination of painting, sculpture, and tapestry.

Bland grew up in California. She practiced quilting and embroidery. She now makes art that explores American culture of the 1960s and ’70s. Her 2024 work Helper above has colored arrows, circles, triangles, and lines. The colors and shapes look like the view through a kaleidoscope. This bright, wavy style was common in the ’60s and ’70s.

Indigenous artist Claudia Alarcón (ah-lahr-KOHN) weaves plant fibers into delicate tapestries. In works like the 2025 example above, she arranges geometric, earth-toned shapes in patterns that form a dreamlike visual language.

Along with using textiles to strengthen cultural ties, Alarcón preserves art-making techniques developed by Argentina’s Wichí (wih-CHEE) people. Community elders taught her to dye plant fibers with seeds and to use a tightly woven stitch, known as yica.

Unlike her ancestors, Alarcón shows her works—and those created in collaboration with other Indigenous weavers—in contemporary art galleries. “Before, [our weaving] was always seen as crafts, not as art,” she explains. The artist says her goal in exhibiting the weavings in galleries is to “show people the meaning that it has for us.”

Claudia Alarcón (ahlahr-KOHN) is an Indigenous artist in Argentina. She made the tapestry above in 2025. In it, colored fibers form geometric shapes and patterns.

Using traditional textiles preserves the techniques of her people, the Wichí (wih-KEE). Community elders taught her to use seeds to dye plant fibers. They taught her to use a tight stitch, known as yica.

Alarcón shows her works in art galleries. “Before, [our weaving] was always seen as crafts, not as art,” she says. Sharing art lets her “show people the meaning that it has.”