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Susan Moran
Statement
My goal is to study and master the traditional techniques of dyeing and
printing on fabric, and to adapt them to my own purposes. Equally important,
I realize that traditional and historical textiles served many functions,
among them pure decoration, narrative documentation, and as markers of significant
events and life passages. I try to acknowledge these roles in my own textiles
in personal, contemporary ways.
All the steps of making an image on cloth – from concept to hanging – fascinate
me, and I find it enhances my fabrics to take my concept along the path of process,
connecting my thoughts through my hands to the cloth.
My work presents images of the natural world and the human experience in it,
and I feel that the
traditional textile techniques I use enhance the imagery. Shibori, Japanese stitch-resist
dyeing, has a particularly exciting combination of technical challenge and variability,
which results in richly evocative surfaces that seem akin to certain natural
phenomena. The artist can control the pattern and its placement, but within the
pattern there is a great range in the character of the individual mark. In addition,
the craftsmanship required for shibori as well as other surface design techniques
helps me to define my work as specifically fiber art, and to differentiate it
from painting.
Resume
Education
1983 M.F.A in Textiles, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI.
1977 B.A, magna cun laude, Studio Art, Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, MA.
Professional Experience
1986-present Instructor, Fiber design, College for Creative Studies, Detroit,
MI
1992-present Instructor, Surface design, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI
1994,1999 Visiting Assistant Professor, Fibers and 3D design, University of
Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
Solo Exhibitions
2008 LeAvventure di Pinocchio and a Year of Walks, River Gallery, Chelsea
MI
2004 Haven, River Gallery, Chelsea, MI
2001 Textile Constructions, Michigan Guild Gallery, Ann Arbor, MI
1998 Como Public Library, Como, MS and touring state libraries
1996 Sixteen Hands Gallery, Ann Arbor, MI.
1994 Gifts of Art, University of Michigan Hospitals, Ann Arbor, MI.
Selected Group Exhibition
2005 College for Creative Studies Faculty Exhibition, Downriver Council for
the Arts, Taylor, MI
2003 Rivers and Other Bodies of Water, River Gallery, Chelsea, MI
Fiber International 2003, Scarab Club, Detroit, MI
2002 Material Witness, University Art Gallery, Central Michigan University,
Mt. Pleasant, MI
Fiber x 3, Au Courant Gallery, Ferndale, MI
2000 Great Lakes Regional, Midland Center for the Arts, Midland, MI
Holiday Exhibition, River Gallery, Chelsea, MI
Fantasy, Myth and Legend, Convergence 2000, Cincinnati, OH
1999 Impromptu Fibers, Warren M. Robbins Gallery, University of Michigan ,
Ann Arbor, MI
1998 Seeing Through Surfaces, Marian Gallery, Milwaukee, WI
1997 Faculty Exhibit, Wayne State University, MI
The Clothes Show, Center Galleries, Detroit, MI
Carving the Forces of Change: Celebrating Women in the Arts, Artemisia Gallery,
Chicago, IL
1996 Textiles ‘96: View Views, Ford Gallery, Ypsilanti, MI.
1995 Michigan Surface Design, Buckham Gallery, Flint, MI.
Creative Harvest, Frog Hollow Crafts Center, Manchester, VT.
Two-person Exhibition, Art Reach Gallery, Mt. Pleasant, MI.
Michigan Artists Design for the Home, Ann Arbor Art Association with Salliotte
Builders.
1994 A Courtyard Collection, Contemporary Crafts Gallery, Portland, OR.
Artful Gardens VL, Sixteen Hands Gallery, Ann Arbor, MI.
Michigan Surface Design, Full Moon Gallery, Jackson, MI.
1993 Summer Exhibition, Sybaris Gallery, Royal Oak, MI.
Sixteen Hands Gallery, Ann Arbor, MI.
Pattern: New Form, New Function, Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts.
1991 It Figures, invitational, Foster Gallery, Eau Claire, WI.
Michigan Surface Design, Midland Art Center, Midland, MI.
The Great Outdoors, Sybaris Gallery, Royal Oak, MI.
It Figures, Foster Gallery, Eau Clare, WI
1990 Michigan Fiber Invitational, Siena Heights College, Adrian, MI