World Shibori Network

Contact Info

Barbara Shapiro
web site: Barbara-Shapiro.com
email: Barbara@Barbara-Shapiro.com

ARTIST STATEMENT

As a Textile Artist, I use many techniques including shibori to achieve the image I want. I have often used the garment shape in my work. In the Power Garment series I deal with clothing that identifies the wearer and gives him protection and power. Shibori techniques are used in this series to age the garments. “Memory Dance” is based on the Plains Indians’ war shirts. “Ainu” is my interpretation of that Japanese minority people’s elegant traditional garment. In their animistic view of life, appliqué and embroidered motifs on the open edges of the garment protect the wearer against evil spirits.
“Young Hunter” is inspired by the shirt worn by hunters in Mali who create them over a lifetime of exploits in the jungle. The shirts are worn by only one man and grow as he gains knowledge and overcomes adversity.

The Mantles and Scrolls series are my post 9/11 work. “Mantle of Dignity”, the first in this series, was inspired by Hamid Karsai, the new Prime Minister of Afghanistan. I was especially thinking of the elegant green mantle he wears for state events and how he seems to grow in dignity when he puts it on. Garments make the man, it has been said, but it is just as true that the human body lends its own dignity to the humble cloth. The physical qualities of cloth are a part of my personal exploration. I am attracted to sensuality of velvet and its expressive depth of color. I use stitched shibori techniques to color the velvet. “Mantle of Dignity” was followed by other pieces that embodied for me what we most needed in the world we awoke to on 9/11. “Mantle of Dignity”, “Mantle of Peace”, and “Mantle of Hope” were followed by “Mantle of Light”. “Mantle of Joshua” is the most recent in this series. It speaks of the walls that must fall to enable peace.

The Scroll series was influenced by my travels in Japan and the Zen exhibit at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco. My hand woven silk Scrolls are meant to be meditative. It seemed appropriate to me to continue this series after 9/11 when everyone I knew was searching for some stability and solace in a world suddenly mad. I incorporate elements of fire and water and seek to express the harmony and balance found in nature. In some of these pieces the shibori orb is the focal point. For me the ikat lines represent written script, man’s desire to give form and sense to the world around him. In some cases contemplation reduces this desire to a single set of parallel lines.

Resume

Education

University of California, Berkeley- B.A.
University of Lausanne, Switzerland- M.A.
University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee- M.A.
Ecole Migro, Lausanne, Switzerland- Couture Sewing
University of California, Berkeley Extension- Interior Design, CCIDC
California State University, San Francisco, Post Masters Studies in Textiles

Selected Exhibitions

FIBER 2004: Alameda Art Center, Alameda, Ca. 2004
INNOVATIONS IN FIBERART: Sebastopol Center for the Arts, Sebastopol, Ca. 2004 and 2002
ESSENCE OF FIBER: Two artist exhibit. Lakewood Cultural Center, Lakewood, Co. 2004
QUEEN OF THE PLAINS, MOUNT. MAJESTY, SPIRIT OF THE WEST: Convergence 2004, Denver, Co.
CRAFT SHOWCASE: Museum of Craft and Folk Art, San Francisco, Ca. 2002 and 2003
TEA POT REDEFINED: Mobilia Gallery at SOFA-Chicago, 2003
BRAIDS AND BEYOND: The Braid Society, Knit/Stitch, London, Harrogate, UK, 2003
TACTILE DIMENSIONS: NEW SHIBORI: Knit/Stitch, London, Dublin, Harrogate, UK, 2002
SHIBORI NOW: Gallery Renga-kan, Yokohama, Japan. 2002
DEPARTURE: Three artist show, Michael Martin Gallery, San Francisco, Ca. 2002
TREASURE TROVE: An Invitational Fiber Exhibit, Convergence, Vancouver, Canada 2002
KIMONO KINSHIP: San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles, San Jose, Ca. 2001
REMEMBERING: FIBER ART SALUTES THE PAST: University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, MN. 2001
FIBER 2000: INDIGO BRIDGING CULTURES: Textile Arts Centre, Chicago, Il. 2000
TABLET WEAVING - A RENEWED TRADITION,: French Cultural Center, Haifa, Israel, 2000
JUBILATION: William Mallory, Sr. Gallery, Art Consortium’s African Am. Museum, Cincinnati, Oh. 2000
JUBILATION: Convergence 2000, Cincinnati, Oh. 2000
FIBER ARTISTS OF CHCH 2000: Aegis Gallery, Saratoga, Ca. 2000
FIBER CELEBRATED ’99: Albuquerque Museum, Albuquerque, N. M. 1999
FIBER 98: Textile Arts Center, Chicago, IL. 1998
SMALL EXPRESSIONS: HGA, Atlanta International Museum, Atlanta, Ga., 1998
CONTEMPORARY RELIGIOUS TEXTILES: Friends of Fiber International, SOFA 1998 NYC, N. Y.
29TH and 30th ANNUAL TEXTILE EXHIBIT: Olive Hyde Gallery, Fremont, Ca. 1997and 1998
THE CONTINUOUS THREAD, THREE GENERATIONS: College of Marin, Marin, Ca. 1997
STILLWELL SHOW: Awarded Best Textile, California State University, San Francisco, Ca. 1997
KIMONO: A NEW LOOK AT AN OLD FORM: Cabrillo College Gallery, Soquel, Ca. 1996
TIMELESS EXPRESSIONS: Convergence, Portland, Or. 1996
THE LAYERED SURFACE: Cesar Chavez Center Art Gallery, San Francisco, Ca. 1995
TINY TEXTILES: Acme Gallery, San Francisco, Ca. 1995
CUSTOM HANDWEAVER ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION: Allied Arts, Menlo Park, Ca. 1992
NEW THREADS & IN THE PARK: Convergence, San Jose, Ca. 1990
ANNUAL JURIED SHOWS: Conference of Northern California Handweavers, 1981- 200

Publications

“Above All”, Illustrated in Fiberarts Design Book 7, 2004, Lark Books, 2004
Essence of Fiber, Exhibit Catalogue, Lakewood Cultural Center, 2004
“Composure” Illustrated in Gallery Guide, Denver, Summer 2004
Le Tissage aux Cartons dans l’Egypte Ancienne, translation serialized in Twist, 2001-2004
“Healing Cloth” Indigo Bridging Cultures, Textile Arts Center and Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art, 2000
Juror’s statement, Clay and Fiber 2000 Santa Cruz Arts League, 2000
“Celebration Band” Twist, Fall 2000, Volume VII Issue 3, Color insert.
“Memory Dance” Illustrated in Fiber Celebrated “99, IWC and Albuquerque Museum, 1999
“Fragments II” Illustrated in Surface Design, Vol. 23 No. 2 Winter 1999. P. 40
“Shawl We Dance” Small Expressions 1998, Postcard Catalogue, HGA, 1998
“African Ikat Strip Weaving”, Illustrated in Ikat II, L.Van Gelder

Public Collections

California State University, San Francisco, Art Department Chairman’s Office, “Harmonious Dissonance”, Collaboration with E.Sakimura, 1997
California State University, San Francisco, Art Gallery Foyer: Ruth Asawa Collaborative Installation, 1997

Teaching Experience

Panel speaker on Sculptural Textile Art, Alameda Art Center: Art Matters, 2004
Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, Textile Arts Council lecture series, 2003
San Francisco State University, Art Department, Textile Classes, Teaching Assistant 1997 to present
Convergence 2002
CNCH 2000, 2002, 2005 and Numerous California Guilds
Docent, Museum of Craft and Folk Art, San Francisco 2001- present
Docent lectures for Shibori: Tradition and Innovation, Museum of Craft and Folk Art San Francisco, Ca. 2001
Docent lectures for THE FABRIC OF LIFE, 150 YEARS OF NO. CALIFORNIA FIBER ART, 1997

Awards and Juror Experience

INNOVATIONS IN FIBERART: Sebastopol Center for the Arts, Sebastopol, Ca. 2004 Coordinator’s Award
CONVERGENCE 2004 Queen of the Plains: Award for Hand-Dyed and Mountain Majesty, Third Place
CNCH: annual awards for excellence 1981 to 2004
STILLWELL SHOW: Award for Best Textile, California State University, San Francisco, Ca. 1997
CLAY/FIBER 2000 juror: Santa Cruz Art League, 2000
CHAIR’S AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE: juror, CNCH 2000 Santa Clara, Ca. 2000
TEXTILE ART 2000, CNCH 2000 juror: Santa Clara, Ca. 2000

Affiliations

Textile Arts Council Board Fine Arts Museums of S. F., Black Sheep Guild, Docent Museum of Craft and Folk Art, Surface Design Assoc., H. G. A., Marin Arts Council, Friends of Fiber Art Int., TSA

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