Once-upon-a-time last summer I was lucky enough to be one of ten artists to visit Matfield Green for 10 days of discovery and solitude. Coming from the Front Range in Colorado, my time in Matfield Green was a bit of a shock from my local scenery and culture. It was my first time in Kansas and while I did grow up on a dairy farm in the Midwest, the Northwoods of Minnesota couldn’t be more different from the wide-open prairies of the Flint Hills. At first it was hard for me to adjust from my busy life of being a mother, partner and teacher to the laid back contentment of the prairie, but the time to explore a new place and new techniques jumpstarted a summer of development and art making which I am so grateful for.
During the residency I had a lot of nostalgic moments that reminded me of my rural childhood. Lightening bugs, absolute quiet and absolute darkness were a few of my favorite moments from the residency. I spent my days alternating between exploring the landscape and towns and drawing on handwoven fabric in my room.
While I am no photographer, I took a lot of reference images that became my inspiration after I went back home. I was obsessed with the visual relationship between the prairie grass and the fences and power lines that cut it into sections. After visiting the Cottonwood Falls museum and Courthouse, I was enchanted with the black and white photographs. I converted my simple images to black and white as well and used these as my inspiration for drawing with graphite.
Weaving has been a part of my art practice for 10 years, and I knew going into this residency that I wanted to explore drawing on a yardage of my handwoven silk/linen fabric. After testing methods and motifs during my time in Matfield Green, I found I loved working with graphite and this can be seen in my final piece. The rigid lines of the fence intersecting the neverending grass became a central theme that I explored this summer. After creating woven metal samples, I was drawn to the effects of light on its surface and the contrast it created with the soft fabric. I continued to explore this technique throughout the summer and ended up weaving panels of it for my final piece.
A highlight of my experience at the Tallgrass residency was putting on a public program. I had the absolute pleasure of teaching 35 awesome participants to dye with indigo at the National Tallgrass Preserve. The sense of community and love of learning that this group brought was truly energizing. I made new friends and connections that I hope to keep in touch with for years to come.
Carrie is a textile artist and an Adjunct Faculty at Rocky Mountain College of Art + Design. Her working process and material curiosity are the products of an untamed childhood. Growing up on a farm, Carrie was exposed to birth, death and whatever could be accomplished in between. Her time was split between backwoods archaeology, and days hunkered down behind her sewing machine. The rhythm of this lifestyle fuels Carrie’s enthusiasm to learn new techniques and manifest a plan.
In 2018, Carrie received her MFA in Fibers from Colorado State University. Her work has been featured on the cover of Shuttle, Spindle & Dyepot magazine and is on permanent display in the Lory Student Center at CSU. She was honored to be a part of, Scythia, the 12th Biennial International Textile Exhibition in Ukraine and regularly shows her work throughout the US.