Carrie Sieh
The history of textiles is complex and fascinating. For thousands of years, the production and decoration of cloth has been the foundation of empires, a motivation for espionage, and a reflection of technological progress. So are textiles ever-present in trivial daily life-- as in the forms of containers, clothing, and bedding. And as the supports for paintings and in the art of embroidery, they are foundations of artistic expression and evidence of technical skill. Because they wind through every aspect of our lives, I view textile practices as symbolic of the human experience-- from the mundane through the contentious and the benevolent to the sublime.
Carrying this symbolism into my work, my hybrid landscapes are both real and imagined-- beginning with actual spaces in which the human hand has intervened, and trailing off into potential futures absent of human presence. As if in a dream or a premonition, certain elements fade while others stand in strong relief, and multiple interpretations are possible. Are these scenes absent of life after some self-imposed disaster or collapse? A place where nature is reclaiming its long-lost power? Or simply day breaking over a place that still has time to consider, adapt, and survive?
Carrie Sieh