06/15/2024 Saturday, 10 am PST
Presented by Barbara Shapiro
Presented In-Person *and* via Zoom
Koret Auditorium, de Young museum, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco
In-Person Tickets: $5, sold at the door only \ free for TAC members
Virtual Tickets (Zoom): $5 Members of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco and Students. $10 General Admission \ free for TAC members.
A recording will be available for two weeks following the talk.
Barbara Shapiro will share her long career in textiles and the burst of artistic output inspired by moving her studio to San Francisco in January 2020.
Drawing on her well-honed craft, Barbara Shapiro has created artwork that has moved us for decades. She relies upon a deep understanding of her materials, mastery of her techniques, and the spirit of exploration that leads from one series to another. Her artwork makes visual what inspires her in her quiet and personal textile voice. Convinced that “a rising tide lifts all ships,” Barbara is generous with her colleagues and many students, also in her time to devoted textile organizations, including TAC. Join us for a look at the evolution of her artwork and other textile undertakings through the years, and especially the burst of creativity that came with the isolation of Covid.
Barbara Shapiro has created textile art for decades. She combines rich knowledge of historic and ethnic textiles with broad technical experience in weaving, dyeing and basketry. Indigo has colored her materials through the decades. She had a small handwoven clothing business inspired by the SF Artwear movement in the '70s and '80s, then shifted focus to handwoven textile art, often woven silk scrolls with surface design. For much of the past 20 years, much of her art practice has been devoted to coiled and plaited basketry, often with indigo dyed elements. She teaches frequent workshops and has taught at San Francisco State University and Osher Lifelong Learning through SFSU. A past Board Member of the Textile Society of America, she served on the TAC board for years and is now a TAC Advisory Board member and a board member of the World Shibori Network Foundation. She was a docent at the Museum of Craft and Folk Art, a guest curator of Three Left Coast Artists: Linda Gass, Gyongy Laky and Linda McDonald at the San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles and has juried many exhibitions. She has written numerous articles for textile publications and her award-winning wall pieces and baskets have been widely published and exhibited throughout the USA and in many other countries. Barbara translated the early 20th century French book Card Weaving in Ancient Egypt and teaching materials for French indigo expert Michel Garcia. Barbara looks forward to sharing her story and artwork with you.
The annual Sinton Lecture is made possible with the generous support of The Carol Walter Sinton Fund for Fiber Arts Studies.
Image Credits
Top Knot V, Barbara Shapiro, 2020, photo by Mike Watson, 7.5 x 7.5 x 8”, Japanese flower knot plaited indigo dyed sedori cane.
Barbara Shapiro with recent baskets, 2023, photo Senja Larsen.
Tikkun Olam: Repair the World, Barbara Shapiro, 2020, photo by the artist, 14 x 14 x 14”, Hexagonal woven Sedori cane, repurposed tea bag papers, Persimmon dye, indigo dye, sumi ink, raw kozo fiber, gold leaf.