We Got The Power Q&A XIV

“The beautiful thing about fiber art is so many of us learn through community–a close friend, a parent, a relative, or a local class. Craft is a unifier, and it is a practice that is now core to what I do.“— Kristina Reinis
December 3, 2024
We Got The Power Q&A XIV

We are nearing the end of this year’s Women Pulling at the Threads of Social Discourse interview series, which is running alongside our gallery exhibition until December 20th. We asked the eighty (yes, eighty) artists participating in the sixth-annual edition of our textile exhibition, We Got the Power, to reflect on the themes present in our main source material (Aristophanes' Lysistrata), as well as their own relationships with the medium. 

Our Fourteenth Q&A roundup features CAMP artists Amy Putman and Joan Wheeler , alongside artists Kristina Reinis and Ainaz Alipour.

Amy Putman. No Peace, No Piece 1, 2024. Canvas, metal fence, paper, bullet shells, nylon, metal screen, acrylic paint, acrylic medium. 12 x 24 inches. Available via Artsy. No Peace, No Piece 2, 2024. Mesh, nylon, safety pins, metal. 12 x 24 inches. Available via Artsy. She’s Got The Power, 2024. Cotton, Metal, Boning, Acrylic Paint. 12 x 24 inches. Available via Artsy. Three Friends, 2024. Linen, cotton, rayon, safety pins, brass, bullet shells, acrylic paint, acrylic medium. 12 x 24 inches. Available via Artsy.

Why is fiber your medium of choice?

Amy Putman: Working with fiber and found objects expands my visual vocabulary allowing me to express myself in ways that other materials cannot. These materials, each of which brings its own history and associations, give a deeper and multi-dimensional reading to the work, work I hope will ignite and even change the conversation.

Joan Wheeler: I love the textural element.

Kristina Reinis: I work primarily with repurposed materials and second hand art supplies such as pre-owned yarn, unfinished crochet projects I thrifted, and cardboard I found in the trash. I am deeply invested in creating sustainable art, stretching the possibilities of what we can do with what we already have, and creating a second life for objects that are discarded and left behind.  Even as I pursued painting, I always felt drawn to the tactility and versatility of fiber art. I reached this limit with painting where it just didn’t feel tangible enough on its own–I craved to feel, wear, and embody my art. With embroidery, crochet, cardboard (I count this as a fiber), and sewing, the doors to what I could do opened in this whole new way. You are part of this beautiful community driven tradition through craft, but its possibilities to drive the medium forward are unlimited as well. Now, I bring my visual and studio art training combined with my self-taught love of fibers, and it is the perfect combination of what I love to do.

Ainaz Alipour: Fiber is my medium of choice because it carries both personal and cultural significance for me. Growing up in a family of tailors and fabric merchants, textiles have always been a part of my life. They hold stories, histories, and emotions that I feel connected to on a deep level. As an Iranian woman, fabric also embodies complex themes of control, censorship, and empowerment. In my culture, textiles have been used both to oppress and to express, particularly when it comes to the female body, and I find it powerful to work within that medium to challenge those narratives.

Fiber art allows me to explore these tensions in a tactile and intimate way, bridging the gap between personal experience and collective history. The texture, weight, and flexibility of fabric offer a unique ability to communicate themes of care, community, and the body. It’s a medium that’s both physically and symbolically rich, allowing for layers of meaning to unfold through the process of making.
 
Additionally, working with fiber gives me the freedom to experiment with combining traditional craftsmanship, like embroidery and sewing, with more contemporary digital media. This intersection of the handmade and the technological is a central part of my practice, and fiber provides a versatile foundation to explore those connections. Ultimately, fiber art allows me to create work that is deeply personal, culturally resonant, and visually dynamic.
“The corset’s practical function as a garment serves to bring together and support the person wearing it, which also serves as a powerful metaphor for uniting our country.”

— Amy Putman

What was your introduction to fiber art?

AP: My mother, Eileen Goldman has been weaving for over 60 years.  I grew up with a magical place in my house called the “loom room” filled with looms of various sizes and shelves overflowing with wool, silk, cotton, and other fibers. Now, at 90, she is still weaving, and I continue to love visiting the loom room to see her latest gorgeous  creations.

JW: I took a Master's level course in teaching Fiber Art to students. The course explored many different materials and methods and I was hooked!

KR: Craft has been at the core of my identity from a young age. As an autistic person, while traditional schooling presented challenges, I both excelled and found solace in unconventional modes of craft. Crafting became a means of exerting agency over my environment, allowing me to construct immersive worlds. Whether creating large-scale paper sculptures or crafting intricate clay sculptures, I could carve out an environment I understood. This affinity for making led me to pursue formal training in oil painting, but it wasn’t until my 20s when a dear close friend re-introduced me to my childhood love of craft. They learned fiber arts through family craft traditions that inspired me to explore it within my own family traditions as well. Even as I pursued painting, I always felt drawn to the tactility and versatility of fiber art. They inspired me to teach myself embroidery, then I moved on to crochet, and finally landing with machine sewing. The beautiful thing about fiber art is so many of us learn through community–a close friend, a parent, a relative, or a local class. Craft is a unifier, and it is a practice that is now core to what I do.

AA: My introduction to fiber art is deeply tied to my family and cultural background. I come from a long tradition of tailors and fabric merchants, and growing up, I was surrounded by textiles. The women in my family used fabric not just for practical purposes, but as a means of self-expression, care, and community. Watching them work with textiles, I became fascinated by the potential of fabric as a medium that carries both personal and cultural significance.

As I began my own artistic journey, I naturally gravitated toward fiber art, seeing it as a way to explore my relationship with my body and my identity as an Iranian woman. In my culture, fabric has long been a tool of both oppression and empowerment, particularly in the context of women’s bodies and the politics surrounding the hijab. This tension between control and expression in the use of textiles resonated with me on a deep level, and I saw fiber art as a medium that could embody those complexities.
 
Over time, I’ve blended these traditional practices with digital media, exploring the intersections of craft and technology to create works that reflect both my heritage and contemporary issues. Fiber art, for me, has become a powerful vehicle for telling personal and collective stories, connecting the past with the present, and challenging societal narratives.


Joan Wheeler
. The Grimke Sisters, 2024. Sheep’s wool and dryer lint for needle-felting. Sustainably sourced sewn materials- thrifted velvet textured denim jeans, vintage doilies and lace, thrifted chintz, batik scraps. 12 x 24 inches. Available via Artsy.

Who inspires you?

AP: I'm inspired by a variety of artists both well known and unknown including Ruth Asawa,  Wangechi Mutu, Barbara Kruger, Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg and Louise Bourgeois. I'm inspired by the women in my @nycollageensemble collage group, my studio community at Manufacturers Village Artists, by my mother who is 90 and still weaving, and by my dad who is 94 and still drawing.

JW: I take my inspiration from the world around me - literature, nature, people, and events

KR: Ariel, Raquel, Atéha, Houses, Chairs, Lamps.

AA: I find inspiration from a blend of personal, cultural, and artistic influences. The women in my family, especially those involved in textile work as tailors and fabric merchants, have had a profound impact on me. Their creativity, care, and strength in using textiles to express themselves and foster community have shaped my own artistic practice in meaningful ways.
 
Culturally, I’m inspired by the rich history of Iranian textiles, particularly the intricate embroidery techniques from Northern Khorasan. Iranian women have long used textiles as a form of expression, even in the face of societal restrictions, and that resilience deeply resonates with me.
 
Artistically, I’m inspired by figures like Do Ho Suh, who push the boundaries of textile and installation art, blending physical spaces with cultural memory. I also draw inspiration from artists who challenge representations of marginalized bodies and identities, as my own work aims to assert authentic narratives, particularly when it comes to the misrepresentation of Middle Eastern individuals in Western media.
 
Overall, my inspiration comes from the intimate world of my family heritage and the broader global conversations around identity, representation, and the power of art to challenge societal norms.
When women had almost no say over the world outside their household, there were women who formed beliefs independent of those around them and were brave enough to speak out and take action.”

Joan Wheeler

What was your reaction to this year’s call for submissions? Can you elaborate on why?


AP:
Women’s empowerment is a theme that resonates deeply with me. I was excited to create work that captures the strength, courage, intelligence and humor of women who unite to drive social and political change, and show how their collaboration can spark transformative movements.

JW: I was excited. I enjoy learning about the achievements of women who have made a difference.

KR: I was excited to engage with the themes of gender and power–especially using two pieces of media that center women in their narratives to reflect on how women can and do hold power when united together. As an academic, I especially loved returning to culturally impactful texts and inviting others to reflect and engage with them in the present day. However, I felt called to investigate the interpretative lens in this prompt. Lysistrata and Chiraq were positioned as empowering to the women centered in their narrative, celebrating their unified influence. However, Lysistrata was written as a comedy to mock women, and Chiraq itself has been received with mixed reviews with concerns that the film perpetuated harmful stereotypes of Black women. I think pairing these works together is a worthy and important conversation–but I wanted to explore the complexities of the power these women held in both works. Was it empowerment, or the only power they were allowed? I think if we investigate and complicate the ways women can hold power and what it can mean, it doesn’t lessen the empowerment or importance, but can actually help to take it more seriously.

AA: My reaction to this year’s call for We Got The Power was one of immediate resonance and excitement. The call’s focus on Aristophanes' *Lysistrata* and Spike Lee’s *Chiraq*, and their shared theme of women harnessing their collective power to stop violence, felt particularly relevant given the current social and political climate. I was inspired by how the exhibition draws parallels between ancient narratives and modern societal issues, emphasizing the role of women as agents of change.
 
What really drew me in was the emphasis on uniting women across time and place—whether in the public sphere, at home, or in imaginative spaces—and how fiber art, a historically significant medium often associated with women, could be used to tell these stories. I also found the requirement of creating a horizontal piece that reads like an ancient frieze to be a powerful and poetic way of connecting the past to the present, reinforcing the idea of continuity and unity among women throughout history.
 
The invitation to explore the sections of *Lysistrata*—such as the *Divided Chorus* and *The Agon*—through textiles and text felt like an exciting challenge. It allowed me to engage not only with the cultural power of women, but also with the literary and performative aspects of the play, which I found compelling as a fiber artist working with narrative and cultural identity. This call inspired me to reflect on the women I admire in my own life and to think about how collective action and storytelling can inspire social change.
Kristina Reinis. It´s So Hard Being Hot, 2024. Second-hand linen, Oil Paint, embroidery. 12 x 24 inches. Available via Artsy.

Tell us about your piece for We Got the Power, and what it means to you.

AP:  I've created a body of work for this exhibit that includes four pieces. "She’s Got The Power" is a tribute to Kamala Harris, who, like a superhero, is fighting to unite our divided country, protect our democracy, win this election and become the first female President of the United States of America. The corset is used in this piece as a symbol of female empowerment. It is often seen on superheroes in movies, television shows, digital games, and comic books.The corset also appears in Lysistrata’s wardrobe in Chiraq. The corset’s practical function as a garment serves to bring together and support the person wearing it, which also serves as a powerful metaphor for uniting our country. 
 
"Three Friends" is inspired by Lysistrata and the women she unites to achieve peace. This piece highlights the collective power women possess when they come together to create change. My use of safety pins draws from the safety pin movement that emerged after the 2016 election, amid fears of violence and discrimination against minorities, immigrants, women, and the LGBTQ+ community. As a symbol of solidarity, people across America began wearing safety pins to signify their commitment to standing up for the vulnerable and supporting one another. 
 
 "No Peace No Piece 1" is inspired by the movie Chiraq and its under-resourced community ridden with gun violence between gangs. The fence serves as a barrier over the lingerie and symbolizes the collective agreement women of that community made to withhold sex until peace is achieved. 
 
"No Peace No Piece 2" draws inspiration from Lysistrata’s wardrobe in Chiraq.The hyper- sexualization of women has long been used to undermine their integrity. By putting the lingerie behind chains, this piece transforms it into a symbol of resistance and the reclamation of women's power. 

JW: The Grimke Sisters were inspiring to me because they came from a privileged Southern background, yet they became outspoken proponents of abolition in the early 1800s. They suffered censure and ridicule for their beliefs but they were not afraid to stand up and speak out against the evils of slavery.

KR: Best summed up in questions 6, 7, 8, this work is representative of the themes, traditions, and modes of expression I work with most often. I am interested in playfulness and softness as a mode to have more serious discourse. I am passionate about combining my studio art training with my love of craft. I am dedicated to complicating gendered power structures and continuing my work I started at Harvard Divinity School. All of these elements are central to this piece and my practice.

AA: My piece for We Got The Power is centered on the Iranian journalists Niloofar Hamedi and Elahe Mohammadi, who symbolize bravery, resilience, and the power of truth. Their reporting on Mahsa Amini's death ignited a movement in Iran, drawing global attention to the oppressive regime and the role of women in fighting for justice. For me, this piece represents not only their courage but the collective strength of Iranian women who have been leading the charge for freedom despite facing tremendous risks.
 
Using textile as the medium allows me to connect with my cultural heritage, as fabric and embroidery are both deeply personal and politically charged in Iranian society. The intricate embroidery and fabric collage techniques I’ve employed reflect the careful, deliberate nature of their work as journalists, while the floral motifs surrounding their portraits symbolize hope and the potential for growth and change. The use of traditional Iranian patterns ties their contemporary struggle for justice to the rich cultural history of Iran, bridging the past and present.
 
Personally, this piece is a tribute to Hamedi and Mohammadi’s bravery, but it’s also about honoring the countless women in Iran who are part of this movement, standing up for their rights despite the very real threat of violence and imprisonment. It serves as a reminder of the power of unified voices and the profound impact women can have when they come together to challenge oppressive systems. Creating this piece allowed me to process my own emotions around the events in Iran and to use art as a form of activism, contributing to the larger conversation on women’s power and resilience.
I think if we investigate and complicate the ways women can hold power and what it can mean, it doesn’t lessen the empowerment or importance, but can actually help to take it more seriously.

Kristina Reinis

What does your piece respond to, both in the context of the play and in society?

AP: My work responds to the humor, and wit that Aristophanes wrote Lysistrata with 2500 years ago, with contemporary political and social references such as the 2024 election and gun violence that plagues our society today.

JW: I feel that it is important to realize that all of us have some agency over our lives and the events around us. It is important to develop inner strength and to speak out and take action when it is needed.

KR: In recent years, Lysistrata has been interpreted as a feminist narrative, emphasizing the power in women’s unity and their influence over men through the body. Despite this reclamation, Aristophanes wrote Lysistrata as a comedy and the play ends with women returning to their traditional roles. My piece acknowledges and uses the play’s original comedic tone to examine what it means to hold power through the body in a patriarchal state. In Lysistrata, sex as a source of power is closely tied to desirability. Throughout the play, the body gains power over men not autonomously but through adornment to meet men’s sexual ideals and patriarchal norms. My work highlights the labor and materiality required for a body to wield power in a patriarchal state. Recognizing and imitating Aristophanes’s intended comedic tone, the center of the work features hand-embroidered text: “It’s So Hard Being Hot” on second-hand linen, reminiscent of traditional women’s craft. The linen is decorated with realistic paintings of modern maintenance and beauty tools, overlaid with hand embroidered details. The depicted tools, from makeup to an iPhone, represent the physical, financial, and mental labor of desirability today. Red embroidery lines weave throughout the piece, symbolizing blood trails and bodily modification involved in meeting Western beauty standards, as well as echoing the violence present in Lysistrata. By illustrating the burden of “hotness,” this work reflects on the notion of body power in a patriarchal state. What does it take for the sexual body as a consumptive body to serve as a means to gain power?

AA: My piece responds to both *Lysistrata* and contemporary society by focusing on the power of women to bring about change through unity, courage, and resistance. In Aristophanes’ play, women unite to stop a war by asserting their influence over men, demonstrating how ollective action can disrupt cycles of violence and bring about peace. Similarly, my work highlights Niloofar Hamedi and Elahe Mohammadi, two Iranian journalists whose courageous reporting on the death of Mahsa Amini played a critical role in sparking the protests in Iran, drawing attention to the oppression faced by women under the current regime.
 
In both Lysistrata and the present-day context, women are not only participants in societal change but leaders. The divided chorus of old men and women in the play mirrors the generational and societal divides present in Iran, where the younger generation—led largely by women—has been at the forefront of calls for justice and reform. My piece responds to these dual narratives by emphasizing the role of women as catalysts for hope and societal transformation, both in the ancient text and in today’s world.
 
In today’s society, especially within the context of the Iranian uprisings, this theme of female solidarity and activism resonates deeply. Women in Iran, much like in Lysistrata, are uniting to challenge structures of power and advocating for a more just and humane society. My work captures this spirit of unity, resilience, and the powerful impact women can have when they stand together to resist oppression and demand change.


Ainaz Alipour. Hope Embodied, 2024. Fabric, thread, polyfill. 12 x 24 inches. Available via Artsy.

How do you hope viewers will respond to your piece?

AP: I hope that my work will ignite conversation about the power women have when they unite to effect change in our society.

JW: I hope that they will see that even long ago when women had almost no say over the world outside their household, there were women who formed beliefs independent of those around them and were brave enough to speak out and take action.

KR: In my work, I often toe the line between playfulness and a deep seriousness, as I do in this piece. I always say that if the viewer leaves with just the playfulness, that is still getting a strong part of my artistic intention. I feel good if they leave getting a laugh out of “It’s So Hard Being Hot” acknowledging the truth and silliness. However, I hope those that stay longer, to see the objects surrounded the embroidered lines of blood, that someone may be prompted to reflect seriously on the burden of “hotness.” To consider how empowerment through the body as shown in Lysistrata and Chiraq is often not all it’s cracked up to be. I hope viewers think about that complexity, after a laugh and pause. What does it take for the sexual body as a consumptive body to serve as a means to gain power?

AA: I hope viewers respond to my piece by feeling a deep connection to the strength and resilience of the women it portrays, particularly Niloofar Hamedi and Elahe Mohammadi. I want them to see beyond the surface of the textile work and recognize the layers of history, culture, and activism embedded within it. The intricate details, traditional Iranian motifs, and floral elements are designed to evoke a sense of beauty and heritage, but also to provoke thought about the ongoing struggles for justice and equality, especially for women in Iran.

I hope viewers are moved by the power of unity represented in the piece—how women, through solidarity, can challenge oppressive systems and spark change, just as we see in both *Lysistrata* and in modern-day Iran. I want them to feel inspired by the bravery of the women who stand up for truth and justice, and to reflect on how this collective courage is universal, transcending borders and time.
 
Ultimately, I hope my piece sparks conversations about the role of women in shaping society, the importance of resistance against injustice, and the potential for hope and growth even in the face of oppression. I want viewers to leave with a sense of empowerment, recognizing the impact of unified voices in creating a more compassionate and just world.

Even under the threat of violence, imprisonment, or death, women continue to organize, speak out, and fight for systemic change, proving that they are central to the ongoing struggle for human rights and justice.” 

— 
Ainaz Alipour 

Do you believe that women do have the power to effect change? How?


AP:
Absolutely. Without a doubt women have the power to effect change which is likely one of the reasons we have been suppressed throughout history.

JW: Yes, I believe that all people have the power to effect change. The ability to promote change is something all individuals are born with. Never give up the belief in your own potential.

KR: Absolutely. I believe that women have the power to effect change, both in boundary breaking revolutionary ways, and in dangerous ways that reinforce the status quo of violent power structures. While there is a bond that is shared through the experience of womanhood across race, class, sexuality, these intersectional identities play an undeniable role in the level of societal power one possesses as women and how it can be utilized or weaponized. When examining the relationship between power and women, it is important to acknowledge that it is not always a beneficial one. In my work at Harvard centered around gender specifically in evangelical communities in North America, it is this nuance I find myself most interested in.

AA: Yes, I wholeheartedly believe that women have the power to affect change, and we see countless examples of this throughout history and in present-day society. Women have been at the forefront of many significant social, political, and cultural movements, often uniting to challenge oppressive systems and advocate for justice and equality. 

In my own cultural context, the recent protests in Iran, led largely by women, have demonstrated the immense power of collective action. The bravery of women like Niloofar Hamedi, Elahe Mohammadi, and many others has inspired a nationwide movement, demanding freedom and rights that have long been suppressed. Even under the threat of violence, imprisonment, or death, women continue to organize, speak out, and fight for systemic change, proving that they are central to the ongoing struggle for human rights and justice.
 
Historically, women have been pivotal in movements such as the civil rights movement, the suffragette movement, and more recently, movements like #MeToo, where women have exposed systemic abuses and demanded accountability. These movements have led to legal reforms, shifts in public consciousness, and real, lasting changes in how societies operate.
 
Women affect change by bringing unique perspectives, fostering community, and using their voices to challenge the status quo. They often operate at the intersection of multiple identities, understanding how oppression affects people differently, which makes their advocacy powerful and nuanced. When united, as seen in movements across the world, women have the ability to disrupt entrenched power structures and build more inclusive, just societies
 


About the author

Amy Arechavaleta

Add a comment