See Field Notes: an art survey at browngrotta arts is published in partnership with browngrotta arts. Started nearly 40 years ago, by Tom Grotta and Rhonda Brown of Wilton, the gallery is known internationally for its promotion of contemporary art textiles and fiber sculpture and production of art catalogs and books. The couple opens their barn/gallery/home to the public two times a year to exhibit the work it promotes. The rest of the year, collectors and curators can find information on art on the browngrotta website.
Periodically, browngrotta arts of Wilton conducts a wide-ranging survey of the contemporary fiber art field. The gallery reconnects with the international artists it represents to learn what’s on their minds, on their looms and in their studios. It also explores what other artists are creating. Owners Tom Grotta and Rhonda Brown then select works by trailblazers who shaped the medium to present an exhibition that offers context on where fiber art has been and where it’s headed.
The public is invited from Saturday, May 3, through Sunday, May 11, when browngrotta arts (276 Ridgefield Rd.) will present Field Notes: an art survey, its latest state-of-the-art snapshot of contemporary fiber art.
Spring 2025 is an ideal moment for the gallery to take stock, as fiber art is “having a moment,” according to Artnet. It’s “the new painting,” in the view of Art in America and a trend poised to “take hold across the contemporary art world in 2025,” in Artsy’s assessment. The artists in Field Notes illustrate the themes that make this dynamic medium so attractive: its potential for personal narrative, emphasis on material exploration, and powerful blend of tradition and innovation.
Anxiety and Aesthetics
Evident in the works in Field Notes are potent stories of where these artists find themselves now. Many mix current concern with visions of a hopeful future. Ecological anxiety stokes the weavings of American artist Laura Foster Nicholson, for example. The images in her work, Sheds, spring from concern about the environment in the Midwest U.S. where she lives. “The farms, which seem so evocatively beautiful,” Foster Nicholson said, “are contributing radically to climate change.”
Norma Minkowitz from Westport grapples with the weight of global tragedy. “For some time now, I have been haunted by the horrors and cruelty of the mass murders of civilians,” she said. “These feelings began on 9/11 — I am still dwelling on the images of falling bodies — to the recent Oct. 7 massacre in Israel, where innocent women, children, and even babies enjoying a normal day in their homeland were slaughtered, beaten, and kidnapped.” Despite her dismay, Minkowitz incorporates a flicker of hope into her work — a figure that floats toward the surface, symbolizing the possibility of escape.
Exploring Material and Methods
Many of these artists are consumed by the seemingly infinite ways textile materials can be employed. Yong Joo Kim of Korea experiments with hook-and-loop fasteners — a unique and unconventional material — cutting them into pieces and assembling them into a fabric. She applies pressure to the fabric manually to create dimensional sculptures, marked by chasms and eruptions, evoking the beauty and force found in natural phenomena like oceans, volcanoes and canyons. “I hope this work is seen not merely as a sculptural object,” Kim says, “but as a symbol of resilience, beauty, and the transformation of struggle into creation.”
Creative Through-lines
Artists from different generations and geographies share influences and approaches. Sheila Hicks studied painting with Josef Albers at Yale University in the 50s. His book, The Interaction of Color, heralded new approaches to the study of color. Eduardo Portillo and Mária Dávila of Venezuela, born 30 years after Hicks, completed a residency at the Josef and Anni Albers Foundation in Connecticut in 2018. They, too, cite the Alberses as artistic influences.
In 2025, Californian James Bassler, who is 92, returned to Josef Albers’ teachings, which have informed his practice for decades. Bassler was first introduced to them in a “Color” class at UCLA in the 1960s. He would later go on to teach Albers’ Color Theories to students at UCLA for 25 years. His recent work, The Yarns I’ve Carried, draws attention to the complexity of color mixing and the vibrancy of the complementary color pairings.
Insights from Fiber’s Early Days
Field Notes includes work by other pioneering artists whose contributions were crucial to the evolution of contemporary art textiles including Canadian artist Mariette Rousseau-Vermette (born 1926) who worked with renowned designer Dorothy Liebes in her California studio during the 1950s. The two artists shared a passion for vivid and unexpected color combinations — a quality that resonates in Rousseau-Vermette’s Reflets de Montréal, woven in 1968.
This love of color is also reflected in the work of American artist Polly Barton (born 1956) and Indian artist Neha Puri Dhir (born 1982). In No Strings Attached, Barton explores color through a variety of media — dye, pigment, pastel, and ink. In her piece Shifting Horizons, Dhir said: “I have painted the silk with earthy colors — gentle teals for my quiet unease, warm yellows for a flicker of hope, and soft pinks for the tender ache in my heart — capturing a shift I feel but cannot see, like a storm brewing beyond the horizon.”
Past into Present
Textile traditions — deeply researched, skillfully mastered and serving as a foundation for innovation — are often featured. Aby Mackie, who lives in Spain, blends what she describes as the “tactile intimacy of textile techniques” with the boldness of fine art materials. In Mackie’s series All Is Not Lost, she unravels the fibers of an old Hessian carpet to create a dialogue between destruction and regeneration, transforming a humble material into a symbol of endurance.
Jiro Yonezawa of Japan has continually adapted fundamental weaving techniques to design and create work that enhances the unique qualities of bamboo. His Chat series expresses conversation, communication and the acts of conveying feelings, his response to his sense that genuine communication between people is becoming less frequent.
See these works and more in Field Notes at browngrotta arts from May 3–11. Weekend hours 11 a.m.-6 p.m.; weekday hours are 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Learn more on the browngrotta website or by calling 203.834.0623.
