CRAFT IN AMERICA visits America’s premier craft artists in their studios to witness the creation of handmade objects and into homes, businesses and public spaces where functional art is employed and celebrated. Using archival footage and interviews with some of the top artists in the country, the three-part series showcases the breadth and beauty of handmade objects in our culture.
“Threads” explores work by Faith Ringgold, Randall Darwall, Consuelo Jimenez Underwood, and Terese Agnew, – nationally acclaimed fiber artists who through story quilts, fiber collages and woven textiles, go beyond pure technique.
For as long as mankind has lived together in groups, interlacing, weaving, sewing and all manner of work that starts with the humble thread have brought physical comfort and served as a means of expression. From the beginning, craft has been a combination of function, ornamentation and message. THREADS investigates all of these aspects of the fiber arts with storytelling through textiles that speak to the creativity of the human spirit.
Randall Darwall (1948-2017) was a master colorist and weaver whose hallmark is an extraordinarily refined aesthetic, and one of contemporary craft’s finest weavers, bringing an intelligence and liveliness to his work. He saw his goal as “not just making patterns, but giving people something to think about.” For Darwall, dyeing and weaving was a way to set up a conversation between colors; when the cloth is worn, it becomes kinetic sculpture. Darwall celebrated more than 25 years together with life‐partner and designer, Brian Murphy, a testament to a joyous, enduring relationship to work and living that colored his work.
He attended Harvard College and Rhode Island School of Design. Darwall also established a weaving studio in Cambridge while serving as Arts Division Head at The Cambridge School.
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