Why is fiber your medium of choice?
Camille Eskell: I work in the mediums that best suit my vision, which has included drawing to sculptural materials. Over the past decade, I have increasingly integrated fiber and textiles to explore the patriarchal influences of my cultural heritage, as well as the long-term societal and psychological effects of these systems from a feminist perspective.
Marcia Manconi: Fiber allows me to explore texture and the creation of texture. I love experimenting with different techniques to create my own texture by using natural and manmade materials. Fiber allows me the flexibility to incorporate my fiber work into other mediums I enjoy working in.
Alieh Rezaei: Fiber is an integral part of everyone's life, and this closeness gives it an intimate, almost personal quality. Because of this, I’m not exactly sure how it became a material I started to work with; it feels like a natural progression in my artistic journey.
Alexis Oliva: Fiber is one of the mediums I use to create art and express myself. Fiber has an organic feel that complements the work I create while using this medium.
We stand on the brink of a possible new world.
- Camille Eskell
What was your introduction to fiber art?
CE: Growing up in a family of French lace importers, fabrics have always been an integral part of my life. This deep connection to textiles has shaped my art, where I’ve woven them into several series, particularly my current work. My interest in fashion and historical costume further informs this body of work, adding layers of narrative and texture.
MM: My introduction to fiber arts was my pot holder loom, my sew-o-matic sewing machine and my grandmother who taught me to knit and crochet.
AR: My introduction to fiber art: I began engaging with fiber through my fascination with Persian carpets and by working with leftover yarns that I collected from carpet repair workshops in Iran, while having day-long conversations with the repairers. The natural process of dyeing and processing the wool introduced me to textures and a color palette I had never experienced before.
AO: I discovered the work of modernist women like Anni Albers, Evelyn Ackerman, etc. that applied and innovated on traditional techniques to create art pieces that happen to be in a fiber medium. Their work is as relevant as those of their male counterparts who used other mediums.
Marcia Manconi. ENOUGH, 2024. Jute, cotton, felt, ribbon, metal zipper, lock and acrylic paint. 12 x 24 inches. Available via Artsy.
Who inspires you?
CE: Favorite artists include Louise Bourgeois for her uncompromising vision, Sheila Hicks, Nick Cave, Suchitra Mattai, Faig Ahmed, and many others.
MM: My biggest creative inspiration comes from nature and other artists in all mediums. Observing composition, color, texture, line, shape, value in nature and others art triggers a response that I translate into my own fiber work.
AR: Carpet-weaving women in Iran have long been a source of inspiration for me. Throughout history, they have woven not only to achieve financial independence but also to intricately embed art and design into their carpets, which have been admired around the world for generations.
AO: I am fortunate to share my life and work with a fellow artist, Yanira López. She is my inspiration not just for art creation, but also for striving to always be a better human.
As long as there is an outlet for women's voices to be heard, women must speak.
- Marcia Manconi
What was your reaction to this year’s call for submissions? Can you elaborate on why?
CE: I saw it as a powerful metaphor for the current state of women's rights in this country, affirming women's strength and wisdom—especially with the possibility of electing our first female president.
MM: Another outlet for women's voices to be heard through art. Women across the globe are still facing and fighting discrimination on the basis of sex and gender. Women are still fighting to live free from violence, to be educated and to earn equal wages.
Women are still fighting to be treated as individuals, not be dependent on men and still fighting to protect our reproductive rights. As long as there is an outlet for women's voices to be heard, women must speak.
AR: My first thought was about the revolutionary power of women through the sense of connectedness they create around them. I’ve witnessed this in women, from small, everyday acts to large-scale movements for social change.
AO: I was excited to participate and confirm my alliance to women's rights.We Got the Power explores the ever relevant topic of human rights, especially gender equality and the rights of women to take control of their lives without interference or fear.
"Lysistrata" was written by a man and the play is characterized as a comedy. Two issues that translate to present times to illustrate how some men in power write off and continue to make light of women's rights despite the many centuries since the play was written.
Alieh Rezaei. We Are Our Stories, 2024. Felt, wool. 12 x 24 inches. Available via Artsy.
Tell us about your piece for We Got the Power, and what it means to you.
CE: It draws on the parable of Lysistrata. Multiple images of an ancient Roman statue of a female torso, modeled after the Greek form, overlap to represent the central group of women in the story. Their rigid, stone arms gradually transform into human limbs, with hand gestures that reflect their actions in the play. The first torso is adorned with a lock, resembling armor, symbolizing their refusal to engage in sex with their male partners. The figures are set against a backdrop of water, their symbol, to extinguish the weakening fire—representing the war-driven men.
MM: Women must use their voice, break down barriers, stand their ground and push forward. Despite progress made, women still face challenges. These challenges must be faced with strength and conviction. Women did not get the freedoms had today by being silent and passive.
AR: My piece adds a narrative layer to the figure of Acephale, a headless symbol of resistance and rebellion, representing bravery and a new kind of heroism—irrational, raw, and deeply emotional. This figure challenges the concept of the Vitruvian Man by Leonardo da Vinci, which stands as a symbol of the ideal, 'perfect' man, defined by rationality, symmetry, and control. In contrast, my female figure holds her severed hair in one hand and her burning heart in the other, standing among mountains formed from the same fibers as her hair.
AO: The inspiration for these pieces stems from the scene and dialogues depicting Lysistrata and the women discussing a "Greece saved by Woman", sealing a pact by spilling wine on a bowl and taking an oath of unity. A woman saved by a woman’s oath.
Like in "Lysistrata", these pieces intend to challenge the male-dominated and outdated notions of gender roles and the impact of said notions on gender equality.
The triptych was created using 12”x24” stretched canvases as looms, weaving the pieces in place in raw linen and red colored cords. A single pattern, allegoric to the Greek Key, will be used throughout each piece in growing numbers from piece to piece. The pattern was inspired by cross stitch embroidery.
The human body serves as a field where ideology operates upon it and change unfolds.
- Alieh Rezaei
What does your piece respond to, both in the context of the play and in society?
CE: The power that women harbor in response to patriarchal societies.
MM: My piece responds to the exchange between Lystrada and the Magistrate. Lystrada and her army of women make an extraordinary move to reach peace and in doing so showing women have power and making themselves the ones in charge of political discussions. Lystrada invited the women of Athens and gave them the feeling of purpose and power.
AR: My piece responds to the historical act of cutting hair, which has traditionally symbolized mourning and loss in Iranian literature and culture. In contemporary contexts, this act transforms from a gesture of grief into a powerful emblem of resilience, reclaiming identity and advocating for social justice through a communal act. I find this relevant to Aristophanes’ Lysistrata because, as Barbara Kruger puts it, 'Your body is the battleground.' The human body serves as a field where ideology operates upon it and change unfolds.
AO: Typically, Greek depictions of war and militancy are reliefs of male figures fighting where the victor dominates the scene. I created pieces that are reminiscent of the Greek key, an adorning aspect in those war depictions only in this case, it is the Greek key that takes center stage and the power and right to be militant. I find it valid to reiterate my previous answer:
"Lysistrata" was written by a man and the play is characterized as a comedy. Two issues that translate to present times to illustrate how some men in power write off and continue to make light of women's rights despite the many centuries since the play was written.
Alexis Oliva. Slippery Rogues I,II & III, 2024. Cotton cord and linen cord on canvas. Available via Artsy.
How do you hope viewers will respond to your piece?
MM: I hope they are humored by the battle of the sexes and the extreme women must go to be heard.
AR: I would like to invite people to reflect on our shared experiences by viewing my piece in juxtaposition and dialogue with the other works on the walls.
AO: I hope the audience sees that the message is not at all hidden in plain sight.
…Men in power write off and continue to make light of women's rights despite the many centuries since the play was written.
- Alexis Oliva
Do you believe that women do have the power to effect change? How?
CE: Yes, but it has been a hard-fought battle. We stand on the brink of a possible new world. If the female majority in this nation votes for change, we could very well reclaim our rights and move toward restoration.
MM: We commemorate International Women's Day victories for women's rights. Victories do come slowly and sometimes backslide but there are advances. When we can speak freely, we can advocate for our rights. When our rights are violated, we can call for justice.
Women around the world face barriers making equality difficult to become a reality. Our job as women is to continue to push for our freedom of speech, our rights in laws, policies and practices and participate in political and public life.
AR: I believe that the power of interconnectedness and inclusion can lead to reconstruction and reshaping.
AO: I do! Self agency is within us all.
