Art & Art History Distinguished Professor Beth Krensky’s piece, “Robe of Remembrance and Return” has been selected as one of 42 pieces for the International Art Textile Biennale that will travel throughout Australia for 20 months. The biennale curators selected 39 artists (19 from Australia and 20 international artists from 10 different countries), and Krensky is one of only two US artists whose work was selected.
Fibre Arts Australia says about the biennale: “Contemporary art textiles have become increasingly popular as an art form, with artists exploring various techniques and materials to create unique and innovative pieces using many different methods to push the extended boundaries to include innovative work rooted primarily in textile as well as art. The works in this Biennale will explore unexpected relationships between textile and other artistic disciplines. Contemporary art textiles continue to evolve of what is possible with the medium, offering a rich and diverse landscape for artists and viewers alike to explore and engage with.”
Krensky’s piece “Robe of Remembrance and Return” is 122 x 142 x 15cm and is made of mixed textiles using linen, pieces of her mother’s and her clothing, shells, embroidery thread, cinnamon bark and vetiver.
“This piece consists of fabric from my life (a velvet skirt I wore in Chile, linen for paintings, my mother’s night gown), shells gathered with loved ones, cinnamon, and vetiver,” Krensky said. “It is both hand- and machine- sewn. The act of sewing was a ritual to remember what was lost and yearn for return.”
The text on her piece reads:
“I used to be a pelican
gliding at the edge
of the ocean
as the sun dropped
from the sky.
I smell like
vetiver and cinnamon
eating banana cream pie.
Yellow circle of light
Laughing
Wailing
Twirling with the sun.
A return to flight.”