December Issue 2000
Folk Arts Center's Focus Gallery Features Exhibit of Wearable Art in Asheville, NC
In the upcoming exhibition in the Folk Art Center's Focus Gallery in Asheville, NC, two Southern Highland Craft Guild artists converge on a common theme, expressed in colors, forms and textures found in nature. In Texture on Texture: Collaborations in Nature, jeweler Nancy Fleming (Weaverville, NC) and fiber artist Judi Gaston (Knoxville, TN) present several collaborative pieces made to be worn together, and others that stand alone, in an exhibition of richly diverse textures and materials. On display through Jan.11, 2001, this Focus Gallery show is timely for finding one-of-a-kind wearables for holiday gift-giving.
Nancy Fleming joined the Guild in 1996, but had begun developing her jewelry much earlier, studying at craft schools such as Penland and Arrowmont, and marketing through galleries in the Southeast. The variety of metals she uses, often combining them in a single jewelry piece, are what she calls the "language" from which she relates her story. From these metals she casts faces and figures, creating whimsical characters, some that are adorned with textured or cast metal, others with gemstones, clay shards, beads, and found objects. Using metalsmithing techniques that are centuries old, such as hand forging and milling, Fleming expresses contemporary images of life that can evoke joy, pain, courage, nostalgia, and sometimes simply fun and whimsy.
Fleming also collects objects that help to tell her story. Twigs or leaves are often cast in metal, and pieces of tusk or bone may be used directly in a mixed-media, wearable collage. She prefers to " start from scratch" on each piece. For example, to create clay faces, she hand carves and kiln fires them; if she wants something cast in gold, she makes molds and pours her own ingots. To wear one of Fleming's pieces is to be adorned with a personal symbol, relating a story that resonates with one's life. Each of her pieces are one-of-a-kind, and the visual message is fresh with each piece.
Judi Gaston's clothing has a style that's easily recognized by its textural woven patterns and an echo of ancient or far away cultures. There is an ethnicity inherent in her use of color, pattern and design, which comes from a lifelong interest in foreign civilizations, and their contributions to the wearable arts. A recent trip to Peru, for example, has offered her tremendous inspiration from both the textiles and the beauty of the natural surroundings there. The pieces in this show use a lot of layering in greens and rusts, not unlike images found in nature. She may start with her own weaving in cottons and rayon, and then attach other fabrics on top. She has even used an antique Peruvian tapestry as part of the layering in some pieces in "Texture on Texture".
Some of Fleming's jewelry has been incorporated into Gaston's wearables, adding new dimension to this group of work. Beads, buttons and pins from Fleming's collection have been attached to Gaston's work as closures on coats and ornamental pins. New innovations for this show include Gaston's clever " purse pillows", handwoven purses made for special occasions. When the purse is not being worn, it doesn't have to be stored unseen in a closet; it can be stuffed and buttoned to become a throw pillow to enhance a room. The work in this show addresses the season upon us. There will be thicker, warmer dresses in deeper colors, and coats that are lined and quilted to protect against the winter chill. Designed to be flattering on the wearer, yet not bound to any current fashion, her wearables, " attract someone who is very sure of herself; someone who knows what she likes and is not afraid to be unique," Gaston says.
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