Social Fabric explores the material and philosophical influences of 20^th century craft on seven contemporary American artists using fabric as a visual or performance art medium. Fabric is rich with associations of labor, global commerce, and sustainability, as well as cultural and personal identifications. Material functions in these works as a vehicle for dialogue on the body, labor, community, and systems of power and information. The artists in this exhibition assert making as an act of self-sufficiency and as a rejection of mass commerce. This empowerment extends to all those who actively engage with the art. In our encounters with these works, we are encouraged to question the boundaries between craft and contemporary art, artist and viewer, and maker and consumer.

Craft and Folk Art Museum, Los Angeles, CA. January 26-May 5, 2013. Participating artists: Rachel Bernstein, Combat Paper/Drew Cameron, Bean Gilsdorf, Donna Huanca, Carole Frances Lung, Allison Smith, Stephanie Syjuco.