BARBARA M. BERK

Art Ventures Gallery, “in the center of Silicon Valley, California, the crucible of tech, finance and invention, and having roots in Germany … [sought artists who would] …  create fiber art Bauhaus style, taking technology and contemporary aspects into consideration.”  According to Dr. Katharina Powers, owner of the gallery and juror of the exhibition, “Fibers, textiles, and the language of textile patterning have achieved wide attention in contemporary art practice, often as a means of evoking an experience that is both historical and contemporary… [The exhibition]  expose[s] and explore[s] the tensions between and among works by artists using fiber media whose work employs diverse artistic disciplines: architecture, fashion, fiber art, installation art, interior design, new media, painting, and sculpture.”

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My work relates to the Bauhaus in many ways:

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The pattern of my Bobbin Lace stitch echoes the geometry of the Bauhaus grid.

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The line created by the outside edge of the lace – and the plane created by the width of the lace  – suggest a 3-dimensional manifestation of Paul Klee’s “walking line”.

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Quite serendipitously, the form of Lace Twelve, with its implied and actual movement through space, evokes the choreography and costumes of Oskar Schlemmer.

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But perhaps the fundamental resonance of my work with the Bauhaus is that, like its weavers, I combine traditional fiber techniques with unusual materials to create work that is not only contemporary, but unexpected.  The Dieppe Torchon Ground stitch I use dates to the 16th century.  The modern metals I use are not typically worked with fiber techniques.  With this interplay of Process and Material, I have blended the historical and the contemporary, creating a 3-dimensional form “Bauhaus style” for this exhibition.

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About the work in the Exhibition: