Trees as Fiber Art – Christina Fairley Erickson

“Forest” by Leslie Richmond
Mixed fiber fabric, heat reactive base, metal patinas, acrylic paint, dyes

“Forest” detail by Leslie Richmond

Lesley Richmond of Vancouver B.C. created this fantastic piece of mixed fiber fabric, a heat reactive base, metal patinas, acrylic paint, and dyes. She starts with taking photos of trees, focusing on the branch structure. From there, she uses the images to make a silk screen and prints the trees on a silk-cotton fabric with a heat-reactive base. When heated, the heat-reactive base both expands and becomes dimensional.

“Forest” detail by Leslie Richmond

She then removes the remaining cellulose/cotton fibers with a mild acid. What remains is the image and the silk-threads in the background. The final processes are stiffening the structures of the trees and painting them with acrylic paints and metallic patinas.

I think this piece may have been my favorite in the whole exhibition. I really recommend looking at Lesley’s website. Her work is exceptional!

“Forest” detail by Leslie Richmonds

“Untitled” by Scott Fife
Archival cardboard, drywall screws, and glue

I had the pleasure of sitting next to one of the artists during the BAM High Fiber Diet Symposium, Scott Fife. Scott’s sculpture is large… life sized. Loving our Northwest beaches, it’s amazing to encounter a humongous piece of driftwood leaning up against the wall of a formal art museum.

Actually, this sculpture is probably 12-15 feet in height. It’s made from archival cardboard, drywall screws and glue. He chose to use cardboard as a way to honor and reclaim the product that originally came from a tree. Scott’s recent work is particularly interested in the mortality of trees.

For the last year, I’ve been learning to make driftwood sculpture. The type of sculpture I’m making is based of the Luron method… a way to take an interesting piece of driftwood (you need to choose a piece with interesting lines, curves, and grain) and the remove the outer dead layers of wood to find the inner heartwood.

Below the detailed images of Scott’s driftwood log are a few of the beautiful pieces made by members of the the Northwest Driftwood Artists (and two of my teachers).