Exhibition: Soft Bones – February 3-March 9, 2024
June Covington
Cloud Study Series:
Dusting of Snow, Oak Cliff
Alto Cumulus, stormy weather
Evening Fog
Wool, silk, cotton thread, indigo
These little works are sketches based on my impressions of the ever-changing Southwestern sky. I love
the beauty of the sky which belongs to no one and everyone. Weather has become a constant
conversation as all the world experiences extreme fluctuations in temperature, flooding, drought and
other events. I weave from memory without a preliminary drawing, holding a moment or a glimpse in my
mind as I work.
I use techniques which are rooted in traditional tapestry techniques but break into free-form
interpretations in the manner of Sheila Hick’s Minimes. For the most part, my work is flat but not quite
two dimensional. Both sides of the fabric bear marks of the time and process that turns the loose threads
into panels of texture and color. I weave slowly and deliberately, I tidy up the loose threads.
Before I weave, the fleece is washed and combed then spun into yarn. I leave the wool in its original
colors: grey, white, brown, moorit, and black. For cotton I seek out the browns, greens and tans of
heritage crops. If I decide I need another color in the work, I use earth sources dyes found in minerals,
wood shavings, bark, leaves, pollen. I also will include found threads from dead stock, thrifted, and
scrounged spools to add bright flecks of color.
I have taught beginning spinning and weaving workshops for many years. I enjoy connecting other
people to their common roots as makers. Spinning and weaving are two skills deeply connected to who
we are as humans and to our place in the community. Both skills require coordination between the left
and right hands, which contributes to a sense of centeredness and balance.
Email: jcovington2@mac.com
Textile Studio Newsletter: JuneCovington.substack.com
Niki Dionne
Action
Wool roving, burlap
Ijeoma
Simone
Wool roving
Niki Dionne, the creative behind Actual Footage of Me, is an Illustrator and Fiber Artist rooted in Dallas, TX. With a unique blend of illustration oil pastel and needle felting techniques, Niki brings to life faceless representations of Black women. Her art delves into the intricate interplay between self-perceived identity and how it influences the self-perception of Black women. Having grappled with her own identity, each creation bears a part of Niki, extending an open invitation to viewers to discover echoes of themselves within these relatable figures.
Website: https://www.actualfootageofme.com/
Instagram: @actualfootageofme
Beronica Gonzales
Bathtub
Thread, found bed sheets, fiber fill
February
March
May
Summer
December
Sticky notes, thread
My work engages with the passage of time and the ways in which both found and
created objects can preserve moments in time. Objects can serve as vessels for
ever-evolving personal sentiments. Found materials are used to draw out and lay bare
the personal yet often unknown histories of both their previous owner and the journey
of the item itself. By repurposing found items and reproducing my own everyday
personal effects in my work, I preserve my subjects and create memorials to the
mundane. Through their transformation, the memorialized objects are given a new life
to exist as an artwork. By doing so, I express and resist the erosion of time on the objects
and my connections to them. The inclusion of found and created possessions connects
the individual narrative at play in my work with the anonymized pasts of my working
materials.
Email: beronicamg1@gmail.com
Instagram: @beronicamg
Website: www.beronicagonzales.com
Sam Lao
Wonder, Wander
Acrylic fibers, cotton, wood
Courtesy of the Artist and Turner Carroll Gallery, Santa Fe
Ponder, Play
Acrylic fibers, cotton, wood
Courtesy of the Artist and Turner Carroll Gallery, Santa Fe
With much of my early work centered solely on the outcome I found myself spending much of my time in the concept stage, chasing the ever elusive magnificence of the perfect idea. As I’ve grown in my practice I have become more as ease with the vulnerability of this liminal space between the initial idea and it’s final form both as it relates to the the creative process and to myself as a person moving through life and all it’s stages. My work is a visual representation of this lifelong creative process and considers the constantly shifting nature of inspiration from its inception to its ultimate consumption. Through color and texture I illustrate how these thoughts and ideas are ever changing and ultimately how individual pieces may influence and compete with one another to be the sole focus of our actions. The interactive nature of my tufted works refers back to the vulnerability of creating as a reminder that once our work as artists has left our hands we have little control over how it is interpreted and experienced by others.
Email: sam@sammadethat.com
Instagram: @thesamlao
Website: www.sammadethat.com
Antonio Lechuga
Flowers for the Living #2
Applique textile, Cobija (fleece blanket), thread
Currently represented by Daisha Board Gallery, Dallas
Antonio’s practice focuses on the intersection of art, design, architecture and social change. He uses a varied visual language of materials and processes to discuss and investigate his culture and existence; both his existence and experiences as a Tejano living in the 21st century and it’s constant battle with the erasure of that history. Antonio uses the current condition of today’s political climate to inform and guide his work. Through investigations, research and new technologies, Antonio begins to piece together new narratives of a future for the Mexican-American of the Texas region while emphasizing and highlighting it’s rich, deep and turbulent past.
Email: lettuce@lettucelook.com
Instagram: @lettucelook
Website: www.lettucecook.com
Daryl Celeste Meador
Labor Study #2
Labor Study #3
Cotton, natural dyes, thread
Quilting is capacious and full of contradictions; it holds within it histories of resistance, labor, sustainability, survival, oppression, and colonialism, all at once. Quilts are tender but resilient, soft but sturdy. Working through the fruitful tensions of quilting, my work stitches found materials together into political messages, subverting our normal expectations of the domestic craft. The labor inherent to creating a quilt positions it as a potent site through which to think about labor itself — who owns it, and what might be created when it’s untethered from ownership?
Email: dcm395@nyu.edu
X: Daryl M (@darylmeador) / X (twitter.com)
Website: www.darylmeador.com
Soft Surprise
America the Beautiful
Acrylic, wool, cotton, polyester, glue
Why Buy This Scarf When You Could Just Wear Actual Toilet Paper Around Your Neck
Polyester, cotton, foam
Here at Soft Surprise, we navigate the void through making “products” (AKA novelty garbage). Our goods proudly reflect a timeless grandma aesthetic and D.I.WHY ethos. You may remember us from products such as sausage sweaters, Mr. Pee P. Nut Nut, hairy tubes, Dongles Gone Wild sexy dongle calendar, 80085 calculator sweater vest, toilet paper scarf, and sock tie.
Instagram: @softsurprise
Website: https://softsurprise.com/
Sarita Westrup
infinity and loop
loop & loop
Reed, mortar, paint, cochineal ink
umbilical cord
Reed, mortar, wire, paint, cochineal ink
carrying & gate
Cutch, cochineal and iron with commercial black dye
My sculptural basketry and textile based work is an intuitive expression rooted in my memories of growing up in the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas. Using reed, mortar, paints, and natural dyes, I use the language of basketry to communicate a tender appreciation for home within the complex dynamics of the borderlands. I transform these materials into forms, representing movement, plants, and the imposing walls and fencing found along the border region.
Email: SGWESTRUP@GMAIL.COM
Instagram: @saritawestrup
Website: https://www.saritawestrup.art/
VET
Between Here and There
Mixed media: discarded book on canvas
Tribal Crown
Mixed media: book, wood, cord, beads
Five Pear Pods
Second Gear
Ribbon in the Sky
Coffee Break
Color Squared
Encaustic with found objects on wood
VET is a native Texas artist who incorporates environmental recycling awareness through her artwork, commissions, and workshops. Her murals and art installations combine the aesthetics of fine art with an inventive application of found and re-purposed objects. In addition to her wide variety of cultural-based and educational arts programs, she always shares innovative ways to re-think, re-purpose and re-design discarded items. VET
Email: artcycleclub@gmail.com
Instagram: @artcycleclubtx
Website: www.artcycleclubtx.com
