VPA fiber arts students create textile responses to environmentally concerned prints in new ArtRage exhibition

Fiber arts students in the College of Visual and Performing Arts’ Department of Design will show textiles created in response to environmentally concerned prints by the Justseeds Artists’ Cooperative in the exhibition “RESOURCED/response,” which will be on view March 31-May 19 at ArtRage Gallery, 505 Hawley Ave., Syracuse.

On Saturday, March 31, patrons can meet the artists at 6 p.m. An opening reception will be held from 7-9 p.m.

“RESOURCED/response” looks into the environmental devastation that plagues the earth and its beings, as well as the environmental justice movement that works to correct and heal the destruction. “RESOURCED” is a portfolio of hand-produced prints focused on resource extraction and climate issues that was organized and created in 2010 by the Justseeds Artists’ Cooperative, a decentralized network of artists committed to making work that reflects a radical social, environmental and political stance.

At the beginning of the spring semester, students from the “Introduction to Fibers” course viewed images from “RESOURCED” and selected the poster of most significance to them, either for the visual content of the work or the environmental issue it addressed. Each student then created a hand-dyed textile in response to the original work, using a variety of dye techniques, relief printing techniques and methods of stitching. These techniques were both applied traditionally and adapted to suit the students’ intentions and individual visual language.

Regular exhibition hours are Wed.-Fri., 2-7 p.m. and Sat., noon-4 p.m. For more information, contact 315-218-5711 or visit http://artragegallery.org/.