ART AS A REFLECTION OF THE WORLD: SPEAKING WITH ARTIST BARBARA BRYN KLARE WOUB Digital · ‘Art as Reflection of the World’: Speaking with Artist Barbara Bryn Klare On November 12, I sat down with Emily Votaw, arts and culture producer for National Public Radio/Public Broadcasting affiliate station WOUB Public Media in Athens, OH. By “sat down,” I mean spoke on the phone, COVID-style. We discussed my roots
WHERE Were You Harassed? showing at KENSINGTON + CHELSEA Art Week, 1 – 11 October 2020 LITTLE VOICES Little Voices is an art piece comprising sculpture, performance, spoken word and visual art. Both emerging and established artists will address the topic: transforming society to solve the climate crisis and the greatest inequalities of our time. The project includes local and international artists from a range of backgrounds and will be
INTERVIEW with LET LOOSE SKATEBOARDING MAGAZINE (Release date: 1 October 2020) SNEAK PEEK: 3. What’s the best dessert to try in the Bay Area? I have a huge sweet tooth. Oyatsuya (@oyatsuya on Instagram),an omakase snack/dessert pop-up in SF. It is THE bomb. They literally sell out in a few minutes. They are temporarily closed right now, which is too bad. Also great: Uji Time in Berkeley and S Bay (ice
SHREDDED FLAG (Charlottesville) in online group show at Touchstone Gallery, Washington DC (touchstonegallery.com) Awarded BEST IN SHOW Go HERE to view virtual gallery 18 Sept – 3 Nov 2020 TITLE: SHREDDED FLAG (Charlottesville) MEDIUM: Ink and thread on paper DIMENSIONS: 9 x 11 inches Although I created this piece in response to the divisive Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville in 2017, it sadly continues to be relevant. The
NATURE + 1 IN DIALOGUE WITH THE UNKNOWN @DIE KUNSTSCHAFFENDEN Linz AUSTRIA 6 Oct through 28 Oct 2020 NATURE: Twigs, dried grass, wood chips, aloe leaves, sea oats, palm fronds +1: Rescued textiles, modern boro textiles, embroidery and sashiko thread, horsehair, paint, twine, and ephemera 2-9 inches high To see all 200 pieces, go here. A group show of international artists: Kirsty Lamont . Barbara Bryn Klare . Rachel Macmanus . Marten Tollin
STALKING ARTIST SHELVES Who knew that stalking other artists’ bookshelves was a thing? I did. And do. And so does, the New York Times–or at least celebrity writers, actors, and others’ bookshelves (here and again here). My friend Jenny’s bookshelf was designed and made by her architect husband. The books are ordered by color. Note that there is room for art within and below the shelves. @TheArtistShelf on Instagram Book |
LA POETICA (Nostro Novecento) Ink and gouache drawings, pencil, rescued boro textiles, thread, remnants, and other ephemera sewn on poetry anthology pages Author: Franco Mollia 5 x 7 inches A Textile Sketchbook with drawing, poetry criticism in Italian and modern boro textiles. Reminiscent of so many well-observed altered book shows in the Bay Area, a feeling of who-drew-in-this-book?, with a hint of sandalwood. To see more pages, go here.
OFF TO MONTREAL WITH YOU As part of the research study at Concordia University Socially Engaged Art and Public Pedagogies, Montreal, QUEBEC To be turned into: Visual Essay Textile Tapestry TEXT [excerpt] For the first part of the Lockdown, I was in a 590 sq ft condo downtown. I couldn’t create; I couldn’t think. I think I held my breath for a month while we all watched and waited. Sirens,
A GRACEFUL ARC TOWARD A CAR-LESS WORLD Next to my downtown condo is a large parking lot for the city workers. Overnight, when COVID hit and everyone started working from home, it went from being filled with cars to nearly empty. Instead of seeing drivers circling to find a space to park, I looked out one morning to see a lone roller skater circling the concrete lot: each round a
POST PROJECT 2020: Birds of a Feather Don’t Always Flock Together is a collection of anonymous narratives, some long, some short spoken, read or thought during the COVID lockdown from mid April 2020 to end of June 2020. My piece was about being in lockdown in a small downtown condo. There were 45 contributors from UK and around the world.
TEXTILE SKETCHBOOK II (Quiet Jenny) Pencil, indigo-dyed textiles, paint, thread, colored pencil, old book pages Textile sketchbooks are my way of reasoning. Of working through, and of accepting and embracing randomness and pushing forward. If a part lands a certain way, I try not to move it. I have dozens of these pages; if I am lucky one of them works and shows me the way. The yellowing and brittleness
I fell hard for San Francisco the first time I saw it. I vowed to come back and did—40 years ago. Friends joke it is my longest relationship (OK, true). Like a real lover, it has thrilled and frustrated me. I threatened to leave many times, but always stayed. How could I leave my true love? Now in my 60s, substandard housing and the threat of disasters has me worn
MAD et LEN is a Parisian artisanal scent company with a quote from Marcel Proust’s “Swann’s Way” at the core of their work. They recently chose one of my IMPACT drawings on Instagram as graphite inspiration for their Monochrome Graphite parfum: scent of grey, of cropped Japanese hinoki wood. THE SMELL AND TASTE OF THINGS REMAIN POISED A LONG TIME, LIKE SOULS, READY TO REMIND US, WAITING AND HOPING FOR
PACK YOUR BAGS SOMETHING SMALL I sit in the middle of the intersection (of art, design + craft). It is safe to be here as an artist. Some doubt that–but is it art? If the artist is showing… it is. Is it forward looking? Yes. Poetic? Very. “I have a portable home that I always carry with me which is literature and memories.” — Writer Azar Nafisi about her life
We Move Lightly… Un/Common Threads A solo exhibition by Bay Area artist Barbara Bryn Klare exploring art and sustainability through a rich and complex practice weaving together rescued textiles, objects and natural elements. Through June 6th. of the day: We Move Lightly by Dustin O’Halloran
IN PURSUIT OF ERROR This image is a blurred lower right section of a John Gossage (b. New York, 1946) collage from the series “Hey, Fuckface” showing at Casemore Kirkeby in San Francisco. John Gossage is a photographer noted for exploring under-recognized elements of the urban environment, abandoned tracts of land, debris and garbage. The series consists of collages made from silver gelatin prints and torn-up, used craft paper with
I was lucky to be part of Cambridge (UK) Sustainability Residency 2016 back when it was still active. CSRes is/was an artist-led project for artists working in the field of sustainability. The theme was Growth and Insulation. Using the analogy of the endangered species, I explored current challenges to sustaining Pashmina textile tradition, including growing political, economic, environmental and aesthetic pressures, the dilution and mis-marking of the Pashmina label, and the growth of fast fashion/imitation Pashmina
ragged tattered patched wrecked beauty + decaying form . things fragile, handmade or in need of repair boro inspired
Huffington Post contributor Bill Lichtenstein reviews WHERE Were You Harassed? and other art pieces in the light of current events and mounting claims of sexual harassment in all realms of American culture and politics. Read the review.
Awarded a 2017 Research Grant from The Center for Craft Creativity and Design, Asheville, NC I will be researching the cultural, sociological and aesthetic relevance of traditional Japanese boro textiles to contemporary craft, art and design. Topics to explore include: Repair, Visible Mending and Slow Stitching Respect for Materials, Time, Labor and Resources The Decaying Form Elevating the Commonplace or Discarded: the Found Object The Human Touch, Seeing the Hand at