Fiber art exhibit opens Friday at Bellevue Arts Museum

The Bellevue Arts Museum will present contemporary fiber art, "The Mysterious Content of Softness," from Friday through June 26. Eleven national and international artists will participate in the exhibit.

Consisting of sculptures, installations and crafts, "the artists were selected for their emotional response to, and understanding of fiber's potential for capturing the fluidity of life," said Stefano Catalani, curator of the exhibition. Exploiting the durability and fragility of the medium, a number of artists address issues of gender identity, "by repositioning and humorously challenging the expectations from a medium so stereotypically feminine," Catalani added.

Featured artists include: Diem Chau, Lauren DiCioccio, Angela Ellsworth, James Gobel, Angela Hennessy, Rock Hushka, Lisa Kellner, Miller & Shellabarger, Lacey Jane Roberts, Jeremy Sanders and Nathan Vincent.

The exhibition title is inspired by a statement made by Polish sculptor Magdalena Abakanowicz, whose enormous fiber sculptures made her one of the most celebrated artists of our time. Regarding the fragility of life, Abakanowicz observed the "destruction of soft life and the boundless mystery of the content of softness" leading the artist to embrace "that which was soft with a complex tissue" as materials in her work.

The exhibit is organized by the Bellevue Arts Museum, curated by Stefano Catalani and made possible by 4Culture and city of Bellevue Arts Program.

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