"Liquid Pink", Stitched Fabric.
Erin McAllister
2:30 p.m.-1:30 a.m.
JP Wine Bar
1526 Walnut
Kansas City, MO
816.842.2660
Hours: 2:30 p.m.-1:30 a.m. Monday-Saturday
Runs through: Dec. 5
Artist’s site: http://www.ekmcallistertextiles.com
Gallery site: http://www.jpwinebar.com
As anyone knows who has ever tried to “throw together” the perfect outfit, arrange an “impromptu” dinner party or maneuver a “chance” meeting with an intriguing stranger, it can be a lot of work to make something look uncontrived.
Erin McAllister’s fiber art, on display through early December at the East Crossroads location of JP Wine Bar, appears organic and spontaneous at first look — and second, and third. It’s the product, however, of an incisive vision and a painstaking process.
I obsessively layer and organize multicolored fabric circles systematically in relation to one another, McAllister writes, then add deep lines of thread to generate a feeling of organic movement; this movement is often influenced by biology, maps, social relationships, lines and spaces. By combining materials in my work I create a unique environment where the individual pieces are important to the success of the end product. Every piece has its intended relation to another and together they are united.
The finished result shows all of McAllister’s influences, but without overtly shouting This represents (fill in the blank). Take, for example, Liquid Pink, today’s featured piece.
All sorts of associations come to mind — everything from neural pathways to reproductive biology (all those little tails, you see) to highways and bedroom towns feeding into a city. Taking the blue circles as male and the pink as female, according to the common associations for those colors, the piece could be seen as a commentary on tangled interpersonal relationships.
It isn’t merely the composition, though, that makes McAllister’s art work. Her use of color, texture and small details — a tiny skull and crossbones here, a repeating weave or pattern there, a sudden flash of light hitting lamé at just the right angle – draw the eye in and give it plenty of reasons to stay and look around for a while.
The characteristics and possibilities inherent in fabric were among the things that drew McAllister along her artistic path.
I work with fabrics as my medium because of the rich colors, textures and patterns they embody, she writes, and also because of the undeniable textural familiarity and emotional connection that textiles convey.
Something else is undeniable: that McAllister’s art can’t be mistaken for anyone else’s. Even from a distance — say, across a crowded wine bar immediately recognizable as hers.
She’s worked hard for that, too. After all, a signature style – especially one this compelling — isn’t something you can just throw together.
2 Comments
November 9, 2009 at 1:20 pm
I’ve seen Erin’s work before and really love it.
November 9, 2009 at 8:35 pm
Yeah, I first ran across her work at Leedy-Voulkos. Grabbed me from the outset. And yes, that’s a Rainmakers reference in the title.