Art League of Rhode Island presents this eight week art exhibit on fiber arts at Gallery 175 and the Blackstone Valley Visitor Center Gallery

Twisting Fibers into string is as old as humanity and has contributed to the survival of our species in similarly important ways as food itself. Using our hands in the creation of fiber products is akin of early mark making. Industrialization and its inexpensive mass production have nearly eradicated these fundamental expressions of human evolution. Handwork together with hand writing arelosing their relevance as our hands are trapped at keyboards and on screens. Nevertheless, fiber art has gained renewed interest, and as much as it is a remnant of the past it is claiming its place in the future as a mindful creative process practiced by most diverse communities and individuals all over the world.

As time itself has become one of the hottest commodities of the 21st century, the labor intense and time consuming nature of handwork stands in stark contrast to the increasing rush that consumes so many of today’s industrialized societies. This imbues handwork with a new value. We can see in a handmade object that time slowed down, which in turn creates a sense of restorative pause. We enter a world where the process cannot be rushed or forced but where the maker had to submit to the inherent nature of handwork, a meditative creative process integrating body, soul and spirit.