Art Cloth Mastery Program 2012: Sofia Selden

Reflection - Study 1, 35" x 72", 2014

silk Habotoi

Reflection - Study 1, detail

Artist Statement
I am fascinated by the nuances and vibrancy of color.

By exploring the ebb and flow of fluid dynamics in water, air and nature, and by combining this exploration with the subtle and vibrant techniques of shibori dyeing, I discover my spirit.

Biography

Sofia Selden is a mixed-media fiber artist whose concentration is shibori silk dyeing.

Introduced to dyeing fabric in 2009, Sofia has studied with Jeannette deNicholas Myer, Jan Myers Newbury, and Carter Smith. She has recently completed the Art Cloth Mastery Program, and the Twelve Voices from One 2012 is the culmination of that Program.

Sofia is a member of Surface Design Association, Art Beyond the Surface, Friends of the Textile/Fiber Group/Museum of Fine Arts, and a number of surface design associations in New England. Her work is currently in boutiques located in Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Texas.

The Mastery Program

This exhibition represents three years of intense and dedicated study on the part of the participants. The Art Cloth Mastery Program 2012, in which they were enrolled, required five week long sessions in the San Antonio studio, in addition to demanding assignments which were addressed during the interim periods.

Artists interested in surface design processes are at a disadvantage in this country. Most opportunities for study require either enrollment on site at a university or college, or are offered as week-long workshops through adult education summer programming. The inability to relocate to a program venue inhibits artistic mastery, as does the limited experience of a week’s class without a systematic follow-up.

The Mastery Program was developed to address this reality. The selected participants study surface design techniques on cloth, and also color, design and the articulation of a personal visual language. Each artist is required to develop a research project related to the dyes, chemicals or paints used as part of the patterning palette. Assembled together, these projects will eventually become a catalogue of research to contribute to the surface design field at large.

Professional behavior is also a topic of discourse. Artists prepared a resume, visual documentation, an artist’s statement and a biography as part of the requirement for completion of the program.

This exhibition is a sampling of the finest work being presented by serious students of surface design today. I expect each of these artists will continue to generate studio work for exhibition after the program is completed. Initially, the work of these artists will be a featured exhibition at the international Houston Quilt festival in the Fall of 2014. Later, these artists may choose to extend their circle of influence by teaching. Others may decide to write a book or produce some other lasting contribution to the field. The future is rich with possibility. It has been my great pleasure to accompany them on this exciting path. I congratulate each on the efforts of the past two and a half years.

Art Cloth Mastery Program 2012

Click for details on each artist.

Pages

Sofia Selden

No comments:

Post a Comment