Fiber artist reception at BSC set for April 1

Post Date: Mar 16 2015
fiber art
                               "Hibiscus"
A contemporary fiber and mixed media exhibit has opened at Bismarck State College and can be viewed through April 11 in the BSC Library's Gannon Gallery.

Artist reception for the "Land, Sky, Water" exhibit is 4 to 6 p.m., Wednesday, April 1, with an artist talk starting at 5 p.m. in the gallery.

Collaborative artists Vicki Kessler and Donna Kjonaas create pieces that express the universal elements, patterns and rhythms of nature and the human relationship to such elements.  

They reclaim historic, vintage and practical fiber through a variety of processes such as discharge, monoprint, dye, paint and collage to develop a complex background. Rich embellishments of stitching, beads, buttons, wool felting and found objects complete each composition. Tactile and multi-layered, the art invites viewers to visually move toward the inside of the each piece.

Kessler said working with old fabric, linens, quilts, yarn and clothing balances consumptive patterns and habits.

"My art offers an opportunity to reflect on values of connection and relationship and helps me feel that with each stitch, I am mending a little portion of the world."

Kessler, a founding member of the Women's Fiber Art Collective in Madison, Wis., grew up in Wisconsin and lives in West Fargo, N.D., while Kjonaas was raised in North Dakota and spends winters in Florida. Both were fascinated by textiles and objects as children and became ordained ministers. They began working as collaborative artists in the mid-1980s with liturgical installation art. The past five years, their combined efforts have produced a significant body of work that has been featured in five solo exhibits and in group shows across the country.

The "Land, Sky, Water" exhibit is sponsored by the North Dakota Art Gallery Association with support from the North Dakota Council on the Arts.
 

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Bismarck State College, an innovative community college in Bismarck, N.D., offers high quality education, workforce training, and enrichment programs reaching local and global communities.