Fiberscapes
a solo exhibition by Maris Van Vlack
past exhibition
on view
November 9–December 9, 2023
virtual tour
reception
Saturday, November 18, 5–7 pm
artist talk
Friday, December 1, 5:30 pm
Fiberscapes is the first-ever solo exhibition by Massachusetts-born Maris Van Vlack. In Fiberscapes, Van Vlack presents wall tapestries and woven studies that contain surfaces and patterns inspired by topography to investigate the changing geological landscape of New England and other spaces around the world with which she has personal or cultural connections.
Van Vlack’s process begins with weaving panels of fabric, which are then stitched together and layered with knitting, embroidery, and paint. Each step layers, obscures, and buries the one that came before, mirroring the way that history is hidden with the passing of time. Inspired by the way that the land holds a record of history and change, Van Vlack references a variety of landscapes: places that the artist is familiar with, such as New England; places that the artist feels connected to through family history and generational memory, such as Germany and Poland; and spaces the artist has visited where the topography strongly shows the effects from the earth’s geology, such as Hawai’i and Iceland.
Some of these works utilize the essential elements of weaving—such as pattern, color, and woven structure—to explore the rich history of textile development in New England and to connect those practices to the topography of the region. In these specific weavings, forms of crumbling stone and brick architecture are portrayed to reference how the old New England brick mill buildings still hold the history of the craft despite most of them being abandoned or repurposed. Even Van Vlack’s primary tool for creating these works shares this history; the artist uses a hand-operated floor loom, and many of these looms are manufactured in New England to this day.
In Fiberscapes, Van Vlack uses the movement and slow process of building up a fabric surface as a metaphor for change and memory as it is held in the details of a physical space. Having these pieces together in one exhibition opens a dialogue between the varying techniques used—such as gestural stitches and digitized textile methods—and the different narratives represented through each of the works. Collectively, this body of work weaves together the artist’s personal connection with geology, history, and the landscape.
preview
About the Artist
Maris Van Vlack (b. 2002) grew up in Massachusetts, surrounded by the historical textile practices in the Boston area and the quiet beauty of the New England forested habitats. Her time studying at the Rhode Island School of Design in the Textile Department’s BFA program with a Drawing minor has taught her to intertwine ways of making and thinking critically about what inspires her textiles work. She is primarily a fiber artist, constructing surfaces using weaving techniques that are then layered with drawn marks and coats of pigment. Viewers are encouraged to look at her tapestries as if they were looking at a painting, with emphasis on the deep and spatial compositions imitating the landscape that comes through the layering processes. Maris has exhibited in the USA and Europe. She is a recipient of the St. Botolph Club Foundation Emerging Artist Award.
“Fiberscapes” is a Gallery 263 Exhibition Proposal Series show, a program in which exhibitions are selected as part of a competitive jury process.