Textile Art in the Garden State

Demarest gallery features stitched works of six women
Friday, March 14, 2008Last Updated Friday March 14, 2008, EDT 5:46 AM
BY EVELYN SHIH

This weekend at the Mikhail Zakin Art Gallery in Demarest, six artists show that art isn't a competition -- it's a sisterhood.

Joanie San Chirico, Rachel Cochran, Rayna Gillman, Judy Langille, Joan Dreyer and Diane Savona are textile artists who work together and do mutual critiques twice a month. They call themselves the Studio Six, and their art ranges from quilt-based textile to historical representation to the stitching of X-rays and newspaper clippings.

We spoke to Savona about the magic of fabric art.

Q. Where did you learn to sew?
My grandmother was born in a thatched hut in Poland. She was illiterate. She came to this country as a young woman. She taught my mother to sew; my mother taught me to sew.

Q. How did you come to textile art?
It's funny, because my art when I started out in art college, I did stone carving and I did woodcarving. When my son was born, it was like, you know, you really can't do stone carving around a baby. But you can sew. And I started doing it, and I loved it. I never thought to do sewing as art. But it's just wonderful. There are things you can do with cloth that you can't do with paint. There are layers, there are reflections. It's a marvelous art form, and I'm addicted to it.

Q. What happens at Studio Six working sessions?
When we get together at Newark Museum, we have one person in charge of thickening the dyes, which you need if you're printing on cloth. Somebody else will be bringing the wax, and someone else will be bringing the silk screens. ... You get this wonderful sharing. Yet when you see the work in the show, there's no question everyone has their own individual voice.

Q. What is something you've personally taken from the group critique sessions?
If you look at the work in "Domestic Archaeology" [series to be shown at Mikhail Zakin Gallery], you might notice that there's not a lot of bright colors. I tend to be, not monochromatic, but certainly subdued. One thing the group has helped me with is to say, "You need more contrast. You need more depth of color."

Q. One of your newest works, "Fossil Garment #2" from the upcoming "Fossil Garments" series, shows a shockingly white garment against a deep red. [See www.di anesavona.com for images.]
I'm really happy with that, and the group was like, "Yeah, Diane! Now you have some contrast."

Q. Do you think of textile art as a woman's art?
It used to be that I'd be kind of bothered by men in this field. It's like, "Wait a minute: sculpture, painting -- you've dominated those fields for a long time. This is our field!" But I've gotten over that. Whoever wants to work in this field, more power to you.

Q. Do you feel that it is a feminist art?
There is some element of feminism in doing textile art. But it's kind of gotten past that. If you look at my work, there is certainly an element of women's history in it. If you look at other members' works, there might be none of that at all. There are those very interested in technique and style and how you can put 20 different colors on one piece of cloth.

It's a complex issue.

E-mail: shih@northjersey.com