After 6 months in COVID-19-induced mothballs, our local Bainbridge Island art museum opened its doors again. It was like walking in the front door of a good friend you haven’t seen for an age.

The exhibition Fiber 2020 which has been in suspended animation for half-a-year is finally open to the public and what a crazy, wild diverse exhibition it is.

Margaret Chodos-Irvine stitches together beautiful ideas at Fiber 2020.

I love that so many artists are really pushing the boundaries of what you can do with fiber. Probably my favorite work is by Margaret Chodos-Irvine who has interwined dresses and sweaters, showing our unbreakable bonds with family. In essence, it’s a very simple idea, beautifully executed.

As a paper artist, I particularly liked the little pockets in Correspondence, each with a letter from mother to daughter or daughter to mother.

Suzanne Tidwell turns the familiar into the twisted.

Socks are adventurous. They secretly go off into the world, separating themselves from their twin, never to be seen again. Now we know where some of them go. They are transformed into a wall of vibrant tongues. Another seriously sharp insight into an everyday familiar object and transforming it into something wondrous.

Paper art popping up in the Sherry Grover Gallery.

Upstairs in the jewel-box Sherry Grover Gallery is a fantastic collection of paper art. There’s a beautiful reinterpretation of the Danse Macabre from the 14th Century. The totentanz (Dance of Death) by Hans Holbein in 1526 depicted people of all walks of life dancing to the grave. This piece by Dirk Hagner is richly executed; “Death Kills the Cop, Who Strikes Us With Blows. A particularly poignant piece with Black Lives Matter still championing change for African-Americans.

Just look at this work by Susan Lowdermilk!

With brushfires tearing through California, Oregon and Washington State, this piece is striking, especially relevant for me as we come up to the one year anniversary of bushfires around Braidwood. Keep an eye out for my shows coming up in December at Art on Fire and After the Fire at Purple Noon Gallery.