Bangor area artists part of exhibition Rockport venue to display Maine fiber arts

BANGOR – The work of four Bangor area artists will be included in “Contemporary Maine Fiber Art,” an exhibition sponsored by Maine Fiberarts, which features 43 Maine fiber artists from 33 communities statewide.

Elizabeth Busch of Glenburn will exhibit art quilts, “Requiem” and “Pilgrimage”; Deborah Rustin Cyr of Bangor will exhibit “My Michel,” an original digital print on various cottons, pieced and painted; Jeannie Mooney of Veazie will exhibit “Becoming 40,” made from cloth and dirt; and Mary Ann Schwarcz of Orrington will exhibit “Chicken Mask,” three-dimensional sculpture.

The exhibition at the Center for Maine Contemporary Art in Rockport is open April 10-May 30. Admission is $3.

In conjunction with “Contemporary Maine Fiber Art,” a second exhibit, “For Better or for Worse,” uncommon wedding photographs by five photographers, also will be on display. A public reception honoring the artists of both exhibitions is set for 2-4 p.m. Saturday, April 10, at the center.

“Contemporary Maine Fiber Art” offers a range of media including knitted work, embroidery, art quilts, apparel, sculpture, felted work, hooked rugs, weavings and handmade paper.

Christine Macchi, Maine Fiberarts’ executive director, said, “This exhibition includes pieces by artists with national reputations as well as emerging artists who together represent the cutting-edge of fiber art. Many of the artists, who live from York to Rangeley and Portland to Deer Isle, will be present at the opening reception.”

The show, which drew 300 submissions by 103 Maine artists, was juried by Peggy Whitney Hobbs, the adjunct curator of exhibitions at Lehigh University Art Galleries in Pennsylvania.

“Although the submissions were limited to Maine fiber artists,” Hobbs said, “the work reflects a level of excellence equal to many national venues. The works I chose present a comprehensive mix of various techniques used by Maine fiber artists.”

“Visitors to the exhibition will see wonderfully diverse work,” Macchi said. “Some pieces evoke Maine landscapes, others incorporate a grandmother’s antique buttons or African mud cloth, use layers of fabric to symbolize a person’s individuality or respond to events surroundingthe terrorist attacks of 9-11. Handmade paper is used by one artist to paint scenes of Tuscany, by another to combine the image of a site with the image of a building. Other artists incorporate digital prints in fabric collage, use hand-dyed silk fibers to create a sculptural vessel, or create a mixed media book to tell the story of a millworker.”

The exhibition is part of Maine Fiberarts’ “State of Fiber 2004” yearlong, statewide celebration including 115 events funded by the National Endowment for the Arts, Maine Arts Commission, the Belvedere Fund of the Maine Community Foundation, Artists’ Resource Trust, and the NLT Foundation. For more information on “Contemporary Maine Fiber Art” and other State of Fiber events, call Maine Fiberarts, 721-0678, or visit www.mainefiberarts.org for a complete list of events.