Native Wichita Falls fiber artist Yeager Edwards, an Art and Design major at the University of Michigan, was set to study in Italy this summer and complete his Senior year in 2020-21.
The first part of that plan unraveled for Edwards when COVID-19 hit, and instead, he returned to Wichita Falls not sure what the summer had in store for him.
When Kemp Center for the Arts CEO Carol Sales heard of his misfortune, she contacted Edwards – who had interned for the Kemp two years ago - and offered him a position as Artist in Residence for the summer.
Edwards set up his studio in the NorthLight Gallery consisting of a high-quality sewing machine and a variety of fiber materials, and he cut, measured and sewed a series of collage-like fiber-based designs. Edwards worked five days a week beginning in the end of May and recently set back to Michigan to begin his senior year.
“The gallery is a great place to work and it’s great to have a space to come and feel like I can work whenever,” said Edwards.
The artist worked this summer on what he called a “patchwork series body of work.”
“Last semester, I took a fiber sculpture class and got more into making fiber pieces that are more 3-D, more interactive, more engaging with the audience, because I mostly work in fibers and ceramics in a craft based-medium,” said the artist.
By fiber, Edwards said, that he means that he spins yarn, weaves and works with anything that has to do with fiber like the fabrics that people sew for clothes or table cloths.
Edwards' mother, Elizabeth, taught him how to knit when he was a Wichita Falls High School sophomore, and that ultimately led him to his love of fiber arts.
The majority of the materials Edwards worked with this summer came from things the downtown Fashion Garage shop gave him and also items from his childhood such as bedding and picnic sheets.
“My art is basically collage,” he said. “That’s what I am thinking of it as right now - just collage through old materials. I am really into materials and the context that old materials and pre-used materials have and what they carry with them.”
Edwards is hoping to have a show of his work at some point at the Kemp Center. The biggest piece that completed was six feet-by-four feet as well as a sculpture that is eight feet tall. He takes his fiber-based collages and puts them on stretchers and fills them with Poly-fil for a three-dimensional effect that may be hung on walls.
“What is so cool and interesting about using old materials and fabrics,” he said, “is there are stories that people have of knowing a certain pattern or a certain type of shirt and it having an important connection to them or their childhood growing up. Seeing that in a piece allows people to access it more easily and to have some relation to it in a way that they wouldn’t otherwise.”
Edwards explained that while much of his material fabrics comes from the Fashion Garage, a lot also came from his childhood.
“A picnic blanket from when we went to Colorado for summers. There are yellow and green pieces that are from bedding from my childhood. There are also things that are random but are important to me. There are patterns that will suggest other things to a viewer, but that will mean something different to me,” Edwards said.
The art is more than just a collage of the obvious designs of the fiber fabrics, there is also the different textures and sheens the artist “waves” together and their look.
“I think one of the interesting things about fabric – and fibers in general – is that the material(s) matters so much and it has its own mind (and look and feel),” he said.
“People in the art world and the general public don’t think about those kinds of (fiber) artworks as traditional fine art. They think more of photography and painting and all the things you see in museums. But more and more in the art scene, the craft people, the craft workers – the people working in more traditional art mediums - are starting to show more and have more important roles, and that’s something I am also trying to like engage with, like that conversation – almost like collaging and painting with the fabric and thinking about it in that way.”
Edwards draws inspiration from a number of modern and contemporary artists, including Anni Albers (Bauhaus).
“She was so incredible in how she pushed fibers and pushed the norms in how they were viewed. She was an incredible weaver,” he said.
Edwards also draws inspiration from American artist Sheila Hicks, living in Paris, who does large-scale installations with fibers and accumulations of yarns. Hicks began as a painter who got into weaving and experimental forms of weaving.
Following his graduation, Edwards plans to move to Detroit and work for about two years in the art world where he has already met people. Then he would like to continue his studies in graduate school in either Michigan, San Francisco or New York City.
Fiber art is a big thing right now, he said, and people continue to re-discover the art form, even though it dates back to the beginning of “human making - in terms of weaving,” he said.
“Right now, especially, there is a surge in popularity in fabric and craft-based materials in popular culture – partially because of the quarantine and the need to find and create materials at home – with more of a domestic feeling,” he said.
Edwards was always interested in art growing up in the area, but it wasn’t until he learned how to knit that he became serious.
“I really fell in love with it and realized I was good enough to pursue it pretty seriously. It became my favorite thing to do – a hobby that turns hopefully into a profession,” he said.
He acknowledges the influence of his family that has long been involved in the arts in Wichita Falls (Edwards' grandmother is Kay Yeager).
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