Duy Lam
Intro to Art 110
Professor Zucman
November 15, 2020
Artist: Heather Anacker & Krista Feld
Media: Weaving, Dyeing, Crafting
Website: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QD1O6jUMXlY&feature=emb_title
“Dwelling”
Heather Anacker and Krista Feld are both fiber artists that graduated at Cal State Long Beach and even created an art exhibition at Long Beach with the theme of dwelling. Although I was confused about the meaning of fiber artist, a common theme I saw in the video was organic and self-made. Through weaving their own cloth and furniture to dyeing them with self-made dye out of vegetables and scraps. In the exhibition, with dwelling being the main theme, they showed things that they would keep in their homes.
Although many household appliances were shown, the one that stuck out most to me was the portable room that Krista Feld built out of wood to have her own safe space. Feld removed a bed and instead used a mat to lay down instead in the space. In addition, she kept her necessities and inspirations in the shelves inside the room to remind her of her family. In Heather Anacker’s case, I think that the portable chair was also interesting to see and understand. Anacker believed that a chair was one of the most important pieces of furniture just for the reason of sitting down. The chair is hung onto a support beam on the ceiling connected by the same material as the chair. Anacker’s chair looked more like a pod and is used to sit but also snuggle inside. Anacker believes that the chair is comfortable and feels like you are being hugged. Both Anacker and Feld’s pieces display portable furniture which Anacker later explains is the way they are living as nomads and moving from place to place.
The main theme of the exhibition was dwelling, which means living in a home or a place. I find it interesting that, as fiber artists, they created portable furniture and household appliances out of organic materials like vegetables and wood shavings for dyeing and handmade woven cloths and furniture. Like how Feld’s room reminded her of her family and is her own comfort room and Anacker’s chair provided warmth and comfort, being made of organic nature materials is interesting to connect the two together. Being nomadic, the exhibit only portrays that the pieces they make are what define as home. Wherever they take their things, they are still living in their home because they give them comfort.
This whole exhibition gave me a new perspective on how I look at a home. Though I called my house a home before because I believe I lived in it and that there is a roof over my head. However, now my house is called a home because of the little things that are inside it that makes me comfortable. It might be my pairs of socks, blanket, or alarm clock, because they all contribute to making me feel comfortable.
