Textile can be an expansive and expressive material that can be used to create works of art that are unclassifiable within the categories used by most art critics. Just imagine an entire exhibition of such works, created by some of the most gifted fiber artists from around the world.
The Franklin G. Burroughs-Simeon B. Chapin Art Museum in Myrtle Beach presents just such a stunning array of works in FiberArt International 2013: An International Juried Exhibition organized by The Fiber Arts Guild of Pittsburgh, to be displayed Sunday, Jan. 19, through Apr. 24. Gallery hours are from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, and 1 to 4 p.m. on Sundays. 
This exhibition, produced by the Fiber Arts Guild of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Inc. is the 21st juried exhibition of the best of contemporary fiber art. The exhibition on display at the Myrtle Beach Museum will feature 37 of the original 73 works by artists from all over the world. Countries represented include Canada, Japan, Sweden and Wales as well as the United States.
The fiber artists’ works combine a dazzling variety of techniques, often in a single work. Many combine traditional methods like beading, embroidery, weaving or felting with fusing, layering, digital printing and encaustic. Materials used range from hemp, lace and velvet to cast glass, copper wire and steel tape measures.
Shapes and subjects are also wide-ranging. Among the pieces in the exhibition are an afghan, a beaded collar, tapestries, a Captain America suit made of lottery tickets, a 2D portrait in denim by Coastal Carolina University professor Jim Arendt, a lace veil and more.
“For a number of the artists, fiber is a time machine with references to a past when nearly every woman spent part of her day working with thread and cloth to create the fabric of domestic life,” wrote FiberArt International directors Jay van Wagenen and Desha Jaramaz. “For others, the slow, complex techniques they choose require lengthy periods of meditative solitude in which the work reveals and reflects their most profound thoughts.”
Works selected for the Pittsburgh exhibit were chosen from more than 1,200 entries from 36 countries.
Fiber Arts Guild of Pittsburgh, Inc. is a nonprofit, all volunteer organization that promotes the appreciation and advancement of contemporary fiber art. The Guild has been affiliated with the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts since 1963.
Admission to the Art Museum is free at all times, but donations are encouraged and appreciated.