{"id":12363,"date":"2020-07-03T01:00:09","date_gmt":"2020-07-03T05:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/?p=12363"},"modified":"2025-09-15T15:37:05","modified_gmt":"2025-09-15T19:37:05","slug":"swell-things-no-53-black-women-in-fiber-arts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/2020\/07\/03\/swell-things-no-53-black-women-in-fiber-arts\/","title":{"rendered":"Swell Things No. 53 \/\/ Black Women in Fiber Arts"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

1. Sarah Branch<\/a> is a Brooklyn-based artist creating work inspired by artists who have pioneered black arts across all platforms. This embroidered portrait of Shirley Chisholm<\/span> is powerful and amplifies her position as the first black women to be elected to the US Congress (she was elected for a total of 7 terms from 1969 – 1983). Chisholm also became the first woman and first black person to run for the Presidential Democratic nomination in 1972. You can learn more about this untold historical moment in Shola Lynch’s documentary Shirley Chisholm ’72: Unbought and Unbossed<\/i> (watch on PBS).
\n2. I love seeing the process behind Raven Kianna D.<\/a>‘s delicately cross-stitched pieces on her instagram. The use of tiny stitches makes her work incredibly detailed and realistic. <\/span>Just Like Life, Nothing Is Just Black And White <\/em>is one of my favorite pieces. Raven often focuses the view on the subject’s eye or alters their portrait to obstruct their eyes. <\/span>
\n3. The punch needle work of @_dweba<\/a> is gorgeous and captures the strength and beauty of women in Cape Town, South Africa.
\n4. I’m not a knitter, but love to fantasize about knitting beautiful garments for myself. I love this cardigan from Bayron Handmade<\/a>. Denise Bayron is the brains behind this amazing line of knit and sewing patterns. I appreciate that she includes videos about her pieces to speak about the construction and the best way to wear the garments. Maybe it’s time to pick up a new skill!
\n5. For many, fiber art can be a therapeutic form of expression. This is how Adele Deloris Riley<\/span><\/a> describes her work, especially turning the lockdown. Much of the fabric used in Adele’s work is reclaimed from vintage and secondhand shops. In a feature in The Sunday Times Home, she states, “During the uncertain times of the lockdown I found solace in my work. The laborious deconstruction and reconstruction of fabrics provided a therapeutic and joyous release.”<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

6. Pretty Strange<\/a> is run by Ciara LeRoy<\/a> in Lexington, Kentucky. Her embroidered lettering is so gorgeous and precisely stitched. Ciara works through self care in her work as a practice-what-you-preach-kind-of-way (which I greatly appreciate). She is making work that is playful, inspiring and beautiful.
\n7. Self care is very important right now and Lauren Singleton of Yes Stitch Yes<\/a> is boosting my mood with her beautiful monochromatic and floral embroidered expressions. I particularly love this tribute to everyone’s favorite personal massager ;)
\n8. The unique silhouettes of Niki Dionne<\/a>‘s subjects are rendered in a wide range of media, including oil pastels, illustrations, rugs and knitted portraits. Even though her subjects are often crafted without faces, Niki builds so much expression into the body language, texture and color palette of her work.
\n9. Charlotte Edey<\/a> is an amazing artist working in print, textile and embroidery. The surrealist quality of her work stems from pulling together symbols and myths that explore an intersectionality between identity and spirituality in addition to experiences of women of color. Each tapestry begins as an illustration that is then translated into a Jacquard woven piece created in a limited edition. The softness of her work contrasts beautifully with the heaviness of her themes.
\n10. Simone Elizabeth<\/a>‘s tufted tapestries are part of a long history of using fiber art to highlight and investigate political, social and cultural moments. Simone’s tapestries are incredible. She transforms each portrait with bright color palettes and bold outlines. The subject in her pieces have the ability to confront the viewer, creating a moment of pause and reflection. Absolutely stunning work.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

1. Sarah Branch is a Brooklyn-based artist creating work inspired by artists who have pioneered black arts across all platforms. This embroidered portrait of Shirley Chisholm is powerful and amplifies her position as the first black women to be elected to the US Congress (she was elected for a total of 7 terms from 1969 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[633],"tags":[2405,2403,2411,2407,2404,2408,2410,2406,2402,2399,2400,2401,2412,2409],"class_list":["post-12363","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-swell-things","tag-adele-deloris-riley","tag-bayron-handmade","tag-charlotte-edey","tag-ciara-leroy","tag-denise-bayron","tag-lauren-singleton","tag-niki-dionne","tag-pretty-strange","tag-raven-kianna-d","tag-sarah-branch","tag-shirley-chisholm","tag-shola-lynch","tag-simone-elizabeth","tag-yes-stitch-yes"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2Btis-3dp","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3986,"url":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/2013\/01\/31\/swell-things-no-1\/","url_meta":{"origin":12363,"position":0},"title":"Swell Things No. 1","author":"Erin Fletcher","date":"January 31, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"1.\u00a0SuperNatural necklace made from beech wood :: Lina Lindbergh2. a study in ceramic chemistry:\u00a0\u00a0Jar in Blueberry Yogurt\u00a0:: Ben Fiess\u00a03. Mark Rice-Ko ::\u00a0Henry Hargreaves4.\u00a0a rocking chair that knits5.\u00a0Broken Flowers\u00a0:: Jon Shireman, who cleverly uses liquid nitrogen to freeze flowers before smashing them to pieces 6.\u00a0Letterheady: a tumblr blog featuring the letterhead\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "swell things"","block_context":{"text":"swell things","link":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/category\/swell-things\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/stno1c.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/stno1c.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/stno1c.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5496,"url":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/2013\/04\/30\/swell-things-no-4\/","url_meta":{"origin":12363,"position":1},"title":"Swell Things No. 4","author":"Erin Fletcher","date":"April 30, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"1. These brilliant and mystifying jellyfish are captured by artist Alexander Semenov, who studied Zoology from Moscow State University and specialized in invertebrate animals.2. Indigo: The Color that Changed the World\u00a0by Catherine Legrand follows her search to reveal the few remaining communities that continue to harvest and produce indigo, tracking\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "swell things"","block_context":{"text":"swell things","link":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/category\/swell-things\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/stno4b.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/stno4b.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/stno4b.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":9574,"url":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/2015\/04\/30\/swell-things-no-22\/","url_meta":{"origin":12363,"position":2},"title":"Swell Things No. 22","author":"Erin Fletcher","date":"April 30, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"1. These delicately, detailed\u00a0paintings from Brian Roberston are other-wordly and quite enjoyable. 2. A couple of delightful flip books by Scott Blake using just a hole punch. 3. Success with watercolor is such\u00a0a mystery to me, but Lorraine Loots has masterfully condensed entire nebulae and planets into miniature paintings in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "swell things"","block_context":{"text":"swell things","link":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/category\/swell-things\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/stno22b.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/stno22b.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/stno22b.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":10934,"url":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/2017\/02\/28\/swell-things-no-40-jason-fletcher\/","url_meta":{"origin":12363,"position":3},"title":"Swell Things No. 40 \/\/ Jason Fletcher","author":"Erin Fletcher","date":"February 28, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Another year of\u00a0Swell Things\u00a0guest post are back\u00a0and I\u2019m excited to present this collection of bookmarks\u00a0from my husband\u00a0Jason Fletcher. As a Science Visualizer for the Charles Hayden Planetarium at the Museum of Science, Jason has been focusing on the growth of VR and 360\u00ba video. Check out his blog,\u00a0The Fulldome Blog,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "swell things"","block_context":{"text":"swell things","link":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/category\/swell-things\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/stno40b.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/stno40b.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/stno40b.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":11287,"url":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/2017\/09\/30\/swell-things-no-45-jeanne-goodman\/","url_meta":{"origin":12363,"position":4},"title":"Swell Things No. 45 \/\/ Jeanne Goodman","author":"Erin Fletcher","date":"September 30, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Jeanne is a close friend and colleague. We overlapped at the North Bennet Street School before Jeanne made her way back to Texas to help renovate the conservation lab at Texas A&M. She has appeared on the blog before writing posts for Conservation Conversations. But this time around she's sharing\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "swell things"","block_context":{"text":"swell things","link":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/category\/swell-things\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/stno45b.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/stno45b.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/stno45b.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":12402,"url":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/2020\/07\/31\/swell-things-no-54\/","url_meta":{"origin":12363,"position":5},"title":"Swell Things No. 54","author":"Erin Fletcher","date":"July 31, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"1. The subjects in Andrew Gray's artwork have this an unmistakable gravitational pull. His keen eye for design and color are most unique and part of the allure. Gray is a Baltimore-based artist creating work influenced by his diverse upbringing and studies within African-American history, Russian propaganda, contemporary realism and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "swell things"","block_context":{"text":"swell things","link":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/category\/swell-things\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/stno54b.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/stno54b.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/stno54b.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12363","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12363"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12363\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12368,"href":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12363\/revisions\/12368"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12363"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12363"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12363"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}