CARTER SMITH SHIBORI INSTALLATION AT FULLER CRAFT MUSEUM

Thursday, 09 November 2006 08:11

Brockton, MA – This winter Fuller Craft Museum will be filled with fabric.  Textile artist Carter Smith will drape the Museum’s Merton and Alma Tarlow Gallery with yards and yards of his hand dyed silk fabrics in a solo installation of his work.  On exhibit January 20 – May 6, 2007, the installation will feature new designs made using the Japanese method of shibori—techniques for dyeing cloth by binding, stitching, folding, twisting, and compressing the fabric in order to create unique patterns and imagery.

Carter Smith is best known for his making his dyed shibori fabrics into beautiful and daring fashions.  His clothing has been featured in numerous magazines and worn by famous women such as Aretha Franklin and Elizabeth Taylor.  His work is carried by numerous boutiques and designers such as Halston and Christian Dior, and has been exhibited in galleries and museums in the United States and Japan.  The installation at Fuller Craft Museum is a chance for Carter to make an entirely new creation, one that reflects the importance of material for the maker.

Smith says, “Over the past twenty years I have put aside pieces that were too powerful to cut and make into anything.  These pieces have survived intact and this exhibition is made up of such treasures.  Too amazing and powerful to make into any garments, they can only be expressed as they are. They needed the big space with tall ceilings that Fuller Craft Museum provides.  This will be the first time these pieces are shown in this type of environment.  The theme for me of this exhibition is how textiles transform into feelings or better yet how feelings transform into textiles.”