Layered Affinities: Quilts and Hand-dyed Cloth by Elin Noble

March 6, 2009 - May 2, 2009
Reception: March 8, 2009 at 1236520800
Elin Noble
http://www.elinnoble.com

Elin Noble plays with space. More specifically, she explores the billowing, breathing, and transformative qualities of cloth in space.

Inspiration comes from observing the world around her: shadows, clouds, plants, trees, insects, tidal pools, fog, and rock formations. She enjoys visual ambiguity, the reading of things that appear to float and defy gravity, engaging the viewer in a visual dance. Like an archeologist, Elin Noble builds layers of stratification. Her work on cloth involves layering pattern by adding and subtracting color repeatedly leaving hints and marks of what was there before.

This exhibition includes her most recent work from the Illuminated Pages, Vox Stellarum, and Windows series. Much of the work in the exhibition is Itajime, or clamp-resist dyeing. This method of dyeing allows her to juxtapose the soft and hard edges she likes. In the dyeing process, shapes and shadows are left on the fabric creating an overall pattern and symmetry.

Elin’s work has been described as being ‘almost dreamlike explorations of the blurring of edges, of the disappearance of pattern with lines fading away to create vague, uncertain space.’

Elin Noble received her BFA from the University of Washington in 1982. She studied art history in Florence, Italy and has traveled and studied extensively abroad. Travel is an important influence and she travels regularly to experience the culture and landscape, and teach dye classes. She is the author of Dyes & Paints: A Hands-on Guide to Coloring Fabric. Elin lives and works in New Bedford.

Layered Affinities: Quilts and Hand-dyed Cloth by Elin Noble will be on exhibition in the Narrows Gallery March 6 ‘ April 30, 2009
The Opening Reception was held on March 8, 2009 2-5 pm.

The Narrows Gallery is located in the Narrows Center for the Arts, 16 Anawan Street, Fall River, MA. Gallery Hours are Wednesday ‘ Saturday, Noon ‘ 5:00 and by appointment. Admission is free during regular Gallery Hours. All concert ticket-holders are welcome to view the exhibition on performance night. For more information: Website: www.ncfta.org / Email: publicrelations@ncfta.org / Phone: 508.324.1926

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