Kruger’s Work at Contemporary Fiber Biennale in Italy
Thanks to curator Barbara Pavan, who I met in Milan last year, I now have an enthusiastic advocate for my environmental artwork in Italy.
I currently have two pieces included in textile Biennale titled RADICI, METAMORFOSI, MESCOLANZE, which is La II Biennale Internazionale di Fiber Art Contemporanea at the Museo del Ricamo e del Tessile, in Valtopina, Umbria, Italy. This is my second exhibition in Italy this year, the first one was in LOGOS, an exhibition in Perugia (see info in Resources below)
In addition to including me in exhibitions, Barbara has also written extensively about my work in ArteMorbida, the premier textile magazine of Italy.
The curator has assembled an international exhibition of 34 fiber artists who are exploring concepts of time through the media of contemporary fiber, textiles and embroidery art.
My pieces are titled Ropa Blanca and Homeland and both feature my signature recycled plastic feathers that are hand screened with images of endangered birds and endangered languages. In keeping with the theme of time, we are losing so many species on an annual basis due to the relentless pressures we are putting on our environment.
Homeland is the second piece in my Cambodia series. The shape of all the pieces in this series are based on the map of Cambodia, which is the last remaining habitat of the nearly extinct Bengal Florican. The title refers to the increasing numbers of missing birds, victims of habitat fragmentation.
Ropa Blanca is part of my ongoing series of artwork that is primarily white (read more about that series in the Resource section below). The form of this piece is inspired by Huipil, the handwoven garments worn by women in Chiapas, Mexico and Guatemala.
I create the feathers from recycled plastic, hand screen-printed with images of endangered birds and overprinted with text in endangered languages such as Yiddish, Shorthand, numerous indigenous languages and excerpts of Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring translated into Spanish.
Since I couldn’t get to Italy to see the show, Barbara Pavan was kind enough to send me some pictures of the exhibition in the gallery. I love the image of her offering the gallery talk in front of both of my pieces!
This biennale runs through December 8th, 2024, so if you’re planning to visit the Umbria region of Italy, please stop in to see this show (and take pictures to send to me!).
