| March 2022 AAP Featured Artist:Louise Silk |
 Tree of Life 21 | 2021 | knit t-shirt remnants, perle cotton, machine pieced and hand quilted | 64 x 58 in. |
 Louise SilkLouise Silk began her career as a fiber artist by way of a 1972 article in MS Magazine. The gist of the article was that because men had no interest in quilt making, women were left on their own to explore, create and thrive within an open, sharing community of women. Reading the article activated her exploration of fiber arts as her form of feminist artistic expression. Years later, after perfecting her skills creating many, many, many quilts, Louise came to understand and incorporate the spiritual component of co-creating with The Divine, as it occurs moment by moment, in every thought and action, and for her, particularly within her stitching. These skills and practice continued for many more years with many more quilts until the death of her parents. To absorb this inevitability, she incorporated every piece of their clothing and textiles into a series of art quilts. This process exposed the inherent deeper layers of meaning embedded in personal clothing and textiles. Today, Louise’s art practice incorporates the above understandings with the transformation of ordinary repurposed textiles. As part of that practice, she operates a zero-waste studio where she reuses every discarded thread, yarn, and scrap.Today, Louise’s art practice incorporates the above understandings with the transformation of ordinary repurposed textiles. As part of that practice, she operates a zero-waste studio where she reuses every discarded thread, yarn, and scrap. |
“Living during these difficult times, hope continually peeks through with my elevated awareness of the sacred within the mundane exposed while exploring the transformational stitching of ordinary repurposed clothing and textiles.“
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| Additional information on Louise: During the pandemic she published an autobiography A Patchwork Life: The Hands On Guide To Living Piece By Piece. It can be purchased in book form or read in segments on her blog.SilkDenim is a collaboration project with her daughter, Sarah Silk. Together, we re-make 100% recycled materials into individually crafted objects. We’re particularly attracted to denim because of its rugged practicality and its unique ability to improve with age. Using recycled materials requires us to work with authentic details & create every piece anew, providing a unique one-of-a-kind object that emphasizes the craft & beauty of re-using over discarding. Louise is in the second year of Ten Year Plan to bring together the totality of her work by her eightieth birthday. Two of her goals:To gather, organize and enter my paper and slide archives into the Heinz History Center.To create 14 new pieces for a one-woman exhibition, along with a book of accompanying essays. |
| Video catalog of Louise Silk’s one-person exhibition: ReNew which was on view from January 28, 2020 – February 15, 2021, in the BNY Mellon Satellite Gallery of Contemporary Craft. |
| About the Featured Artist ProgramEvery month the Associated Artists of Pittsburgh Featured Artist will be chosen by the Exhibition Committee. The Committee pulls nominees from the most recent exhibition applications. The Featured Artist will be highlighted in an email newsletter, announced on our social media, and posted to aapgh.org! |
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