Artistic Fiber: Textiles to Get Focus at Guild

A new exhibition series opening Sunday at the in Clayton aims in part to spotlight fiber and textile artwork, its gallery and education director said.

"The idea of fiber and textiles is largely affiliated with craft and oftentimes not perceived as a high art," Gina Alvarez said. "It's slightly controversial." Now, she said, fiber arts are becoming "more and more current."

The series, titled Intertwined, is being presented in two parts, a news release from the Artists' Guild states. Its two fiber-art exhibits are Convergence: New Works by Carlie Trosclair, which offers a series of fabric-based works exploring the body's interactions in spaces, and Quilted Equations, a solo exhibition by Dawn Ottensmeier. That exhibit offers textile creations focusing on themes of memory, time and the agricultural landscape the artist experienced as a child.

The fiber arts are being presented as part of Innovations in Textiles 2011, a St. Louis-area series of exhibitions, workshops and presentations highlighting textile-based art. Alvarez, who manages the event's website for the event, said about 20 organizations throughout the area collaborate on the biennial event, which will be held for the ninth time this year.

Two years ago, the Artists' Guild chose to include fiber work throughout its building as part of Innovations in Textiles, Alvarez said. Because , Alvarez said, it chose this year to pair fiber work with pieces by its members.

While Innovations in Textiles is kind of a little-known secret, Alvarez said, that's changing.

"I think we're trying more and more to scream that this is happening from the tops of buildings," she said.

Also opening Sunday at the Artists' Guild will be Hand Crafted, which includes sculpture, ceramics and other works by the Artists' Guild's Artisans Section, and Among Friends, a salon-style exhibition that is not juried.