Cheryl Kamera

Artist’s Statement: 2011

I create wearable accessories that transform cloth into art. I start with pure white cloth – a blank canvas.  The finished pieces feature three elements: unusual color combinations, intricate patterns and/or sculptural elements.  To achieve the colors, I apply dyes in layers, alternating with dye removal.  To make the patterns and textures, I use surface design techniques such as shibori (Japanese resist dyeing), dye painting, and screen printing

My inspiration for this show is the changing season from summer to autumn.  Thinking ahead to cooler days and longer nights I included wool and velvet – a shift from working mostly in silk.  Many of the color combinations I used foreshadow the coming autumn.  With the addition of wool and velvet comes an element of experimentation and risk.  Each fiber (plant or animal) requires a different type of dye and each weave of cloth reacts differently to these dyes.  The desire to experiment with these variables is compelling in spite of the potential for failure.  It is what we dyers do.  There are endless opportunities for experimentation with the promise of results ranging from understated elegance to simply stunning!

Biography
I began working with dyes and textiles during the tie-dye era of the late sixties. At first I used dyes from the grocery store, the same ones used by my mother to change the color of the curtains or bedspread to get a fresh new look. Soon I learned about the professional dyes used by batik artists. A life changing moment came when I saw the musical “Hair”. The stage sets, designed and made by artist Marian Clayden, were the size of a room and featured complex colors and designs. At that moment, I began to grasp the potential of what one could do with dyes and cloth. But how did she get such intricate colors and patterns? I found some of the answers in” Jack Lenor Larson’s “The Dyers Art, Ikat, Batik, Plangi”. This book introduced me to worldwide textile and dye traditions. Thus my journey began.
Always curious about the natural world, I pursued a science education that led to a professional career in environmental chemistry. This fit well with my interest in dyes and gave me a deeper understanding of dye processes. Over the years I have been privileged to study with many artists, among them world-renowned dyers and textile designers including Ana Lisa Hedstrom, Joan Morris, Elin Noble, Polly Stirling, Yoshiko, Wada, and Michele Wipplinger.
I draw from a lifetime of color memories for inspiration. From early childhood, I was immersed in the fields of flowers at my family’s Dutch bulb farm. It must have been there in the tulip and gladiola fields where I first learned to distinguish and recall color nuances. Today, I spend many hours tending to the garden my husband and I have built as a labor of love. I continue to refine my color acuity and memory by auditioning color compositions in the borders and cutting gardens. The garden follows me into the studio where my fascination with the creative process remains as strong as when the journey began decades ago.

Exhibitions

2011             Museum of NW Art MoNA Style Wearable Art Show and Sale, La Conner, WA

2010             Brackenwood Gallery Color for the Eye and Hand, Langley, WA

Brackenwood Gallery Small Pleasures, Langley, WA

2009            Museo Gallery Holiday Show, Langley, WA

Museum of NW Art MoNA Style Wearable Art Show and Sale, La Conner, WA

RAGS Wearable Art Gallery Show, Tacoma, WA

Penn Cove Pottery Surface Design Association Exhibit, Coupeville, WA

Whidbey Island Open Studio Tour Artist Exhibition, Bayview Cash Store, Langley, WA

2008             Museo Gallery Holiday Show, Langley, WA

RAGS Wearable Art Gallery Show, Tacoma, WA

Whidbey Island Open Studio Tour Artist Exhibition, Bayview Cash Store, Langley, WA

2007             Museo Gallery Holiday Show, Langley, WA

RAGS Wearable Art Gallery Show, Tacoma, WA

 Sum of the Parts H & R Block ArtSpace, Kansas City, MO

Whidbey Island Open Studio Tour Artist Exhibition, Bayview Cash Store, Langley, WA

2006             Freeland Hall Art Show Get to the Hall, Freeland, WA

Museo Gallery Holiday Show, Langley, WA

Gray Galley, East Carolina University School of Art, Showcase: an Exhibition by Surface Design     

Association Representatives, Greenville, NC

RAGS Wearable Art Gallery Show, Tacoma, WA

2005             Freeland Hall Art Show Get to the Hall, Freeland, WA

Museo Gallery Holiday Show, Langley, WA

RAGS Wearable Art Gallery Show, Tacoma, WA

2004             Freeland Hall Art Show Get to the Hall, Freeland, WA