Artist:
Laurie Carlson Steger
Bio:
Laurie Carlson Steger explores the nuances of atmospheric phenomenon in metaphorical companionship with spiritual investigations between heavenly and earthly presence. Using texture, pattern and reflective materials, she tries to relay the experience of combined senses. She began weaving in the 1960’s and studied at The Worcester Center for Crafts in the 1970’s and the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, earning a BFA and MFA in Artisanry/Fibers. She is a Master Weaver who explored weaving with fiber optic materials and consulted in the field of smart textile applications. She earned the Handweavers Guild of America Certificate of Excellence in weaving. Steger is the current Associate Dean of the Weavers’ Guild of Boston. Her work has been included in Fiberart International, FAN:Excellence in Fibers, and London Hat Week, among others. She taught Textile Science at Boston area colleges, and has led workshops/lectures at many weaving guilds and other textile organizations.
Artist Statement:
The Last Wish imagines the moments before the end of life as the senses reflect and pulse into the unknown with episodes of brilliant light and grounded perpetuation. It is the final adventure, a transition, enshrouded with mystery, and a glimmer of hope before separation from the body. As souls seek and recover their mates in twilight or on a comet’s tail, we all go alone and hope to be together again. The fabrics laced with holes extending through the plane can only capture a small essence of the near-death experience. They were woven with grief.
The Covid year witnessed many lives passing with minimal contact with loved ones during the transition. The sudden tragedy for the families who were not allowed to hold a hand or say goodbye added to the strain of loss during the pandemic.
This work is dedicated to my parents, Stanley and Evelyn Carlson, who lived an extraordinary life together and will mingle as stardust. All of a sudden, somehow, I have transformed into the elder generation. This work began as a blank, minimal paralysis, that required a forced attention to begin again, and again to remind myself that life goes on, keep going on, keep moving the threads that hold it all together.
Techniques Used: simple loom, plain weave, for the most part, linen warp, metal wefts, eccentric looping of metal, bruising the warp by separating to expose holes, reflective steel bends and conforms to a shape memorized by the material position.
Materials: linen, stainless steel, coated copper wire, brass wire
Measurements: 36" x 45" x 6"
