Today, a critical mass of artists are reinventing lace not only in delicate thread, but also in materials like heavy rope and wire. Many appreciate the irony of shifting the public perception of lace as a fragile construction to one capable of architectural scale.
– Patricia Malarcher (from her editorial “A Sense of Lace“)

Love Lace! Seeking Lace’s Outer Limits by Lindie Ward

Lace Study Centre at the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney, Australia, offers a new exhibit of contemporary lacemaking that “pulls one into a quiet, calming, unhurried zone that feels allied to the pace of cellular development. Like living tissue, the lace fabric grows as one gesture follows another.”

Visit the exhibit at www.powerhousemuseum.com
Lauran Sundin: lauransundin.com
Lenka Suchanek: www.lenkas.com
Anniebell Marringamarrnga: no website
Ann Mondro: www.annemondro.com
Ingrid Morley: morleysculptor.com
Bethany Linton: no website
Pauline Verbeek-Cowart: paulineverbeek.com
Kim Lieberman: kimlieberman.com
Nava Lubelski: www.navalubelski.com
Nathan Howe: no website
Pat Hickman: www.pathickman.com
See Pat Hickman’s Constellation in
Surface Design Journal, Winter 2011, 35/2, p. 6
Lindie Ward (author): www.powerhousemuseum.com/collection

Lace as Structural Solution by Jessica Hemmings (page 16)

Contemporary lace work “challenges design conventions through unexpected combinations of material and labor value,” reducing its negative associations to delicacy and the handmade.” Hemmings concludes that “the structural adaptability of lace has proven well-suited to the ambitions of these large-scale projects.”

Tord Boontje: tordboontje.com

Sheila Pepe: www.sheilapepe.com

Demakersvan: www.demakersvan.com

Jessica Hemmings (author): www.jessicahemmings.com

Gut Responses: A Conversation with Jill Nordfors Clark by Barbara Lee Smith (page 22)

In her new book Needle Lace: Techniques and Inspiration, Jill Nordfors Clark explores 3-dimensional lace works and redefines lace-making materials with her use of hog gut and twigs.

Jill Nordfors Clark: no website

Barbara Lee Smith (author): www.barbaraleesmith.com

Dorie Millerson: The Ties That Bind by Gil McElroy (page 26)

Dorie Millerson’s contemporary needle lace explorations drawn attention to the importance of absence and subtraction as integral elements of her forms.

Dorie Millerson: www.doriemillerson.com

Gil McElroy (author): no website

Diane Prekup’s Wearable Webs by Patricia Malarcher (page 30)

“The scribbly gestural patterns of yarn on Diane Prekup’s jackets invite comparisons with Jackson Pollock’s paintings. In fact, these layered linear swirls are both surface and structure, fabric and shape. Prekup refers to them them as “free-form web constructions,” and describes her process as “a unique assemblage of yarns, thread, ribbons, and fabrics—not knit, crocheted, or woven.”

Diane Prekup: www.dianeprekupfiber.com

Patricia Malarcher (Author): no website

Allison Cooke Brown: Stitching Her Way Out by Britta Konau (page 36)

Across vintage gloves, towels, and napkins, Allison Cooke Brown literally spells out with stitches conflicted ideas of womanhood.

Allison Cooke Brown: www.allisoncookebrown.com

Britta Konau (author): no website

Janet Stoyel’s Technological Adventures by Ian Wilson (page 38)

In a “workshop housing the sophisticated technology of the Photon laser and ultrasound equipment built to Stoyel’s specifications, the founder of the Cloth Clinic “for the design and making of decorative eco-materials” is one of Britain’s most innovative textile practitioners and is committed to working in “an environmentally responsible manner.”

Janet Stoyal: no website

Ian Wilson (Author): no website

Silvia Fedorová and Iveta Miháliková: Reawakening Traditions by Jacqueline Ruyak (page 42)

Time and patience are disciplines required by two artists who are dedicated to preserving traditional Slovakian bobbin and needlace techniques.

Silvia Fedorová: no website

Iveta Miháliková: www.ivetamihalikova.eu

Jacqueline Ruyak (author): no website

Anna Hepler: Material Transformations by Patricia Malarcher (page 48)

“Visitors entering the Great Hall at the Portland Museum of Art in Portland, Maine, are surprised to find a monumental vessel-shaped net suspended from the atrium ceiling”. Made from blue tarps used to cover woodpiles and shrink-wrap that protects boats, Anna Hepler’s works echo seaside themes with recovered and recycled materials.

Ana Hepler: www.annahepler.com

Patricia Malarcher (author): no website

For information on the Roswell Artist In Residence Program, visit www.rair.org

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Thanks to SDA volunteer editorial assistant Cherie Porter Blackwell for researching and compiling these links for publication in the NewsBlog.