At Vogue Knitting LIVE, artists are personally invited to join the other vendors, teachers, and attendees to show knitters yet another creative outlet where the medium is yarn, or the inspiration is interlocking stitches. This year, ten artists were invited to display their pieces throughout the sixth floor of the Marriott New York Marquis, which also houses half of the Marketplace.
People exiting the Marketplace are first greeted by porcelain artist Alyssa Ettinger, who crafts bowls, vases, and jewelry with cable motifs. Her Brooklyn studio is a point of inspiration for her, and her original "knitware" line was created out of a need for holiday gifts. Her line has expanded to include espresso cups, coasters, and glasses as well.
Artist Kelly Fleek sits across from Ettinger, with her colorful and extravagant knitted hats and wedding outfit made almost exclusively by free-form knitting. Her media include sculpture, music, installations, painting, and textiles, and her knitted art is inspired by nature.
Artist Adrian Kershaw uses knit and crochet to highlight the amount of resources both consumed and wasted, using discarded VHS and cassette tape instead of yarn. Based in Boise, Idaho, Kershaw was featured in Modern Art 2012 with a piece and wrapped the entire courtyard of the Modern Hotel in Boise; her use of materials which have become obsolete is a call-out to our cultural habit of discarding without consideration for where it is going.
Two artists at the exhibit, Laura Berman and Edwina Sutherland, create their art by felting the yarn with two different methods. Berman's art is wet-felted, meaning items are created and then washed and agitated either by hand or machine to cause the wool fibers to connect with each other. Sutherland's felting method, where she creates everything from teddy bears to sixteen-inch human figures, involves needles and plucking and poking fibers where hey need to be placed.
Bonnie Burton, co-owner of Colorful Stitches, brought with her a full buffet of knitted food including a bottle of Pinot Noir, a pizza slice, and a sushi plate. The Massachusetts-based artist and knitter displays her art in the window of her store. Her work has been featured on the popular show Knitting Daily.
A display of several art students taught by Rhonda Fargnoli entitled "Knitting for the Runway" can be found near the escalators of the sixth floor. The course is from the Rhode Island School of Design, and pieces on display include colorful creations in Koigu Yarn, inspired by Bojagi, an ancient Korean art form.
Anna Hrachovec has brought her Mochimochi Land displays, kits, and demonstrations with her to Vogue Knitting LIVE, including two new kits and an animated demonstration on a tablet. She explores Japanese characters in her design to create knitted toys, with kits holding less than twenty yards of yarn. Her popular kits can be found in yarn stores and online.
Carol E.S. MacDonald creates prints inspired by fabric that she knits, making images both large and small which show the detail of knitted knots and stitches. The Vermont-based artist sells her prints online, and her work is exhibited throughout the United States in addition to international public collections.
Jo Hamilton crochets portraits based on photographs, using the basic techniques her grandmother taught her. Her work goes from photograph to crochet, choosing colors based on what she sees in the photograph. The portraits on display are approximately 21 inches from top to bottom, and they can be seen near the escalators on the sixth floor.
Other art can be found throughout the Marketplace at Vogue Knitting LIVE, but the gallery is not only a place to see art in one place. It is also a chance to meet the artists behind the work, ask questions of their inspirations and thought processes, and in some cases, actually feel the pieces in your hands and experience what the artists themselves may experience. The art gallery is open to all attendees at Vogue Knitting LIVE and is free of charge.
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