Saturday I drove to the Bellevue Arts Museum to view their current fiber exhibit, on view until June 26, 2011.

After stepping off the elevator, the first work I saw was by Angela Ellsworth. Seer Bonnets: A Continuing Offense looked at first like bead work. I was surprised by the shiny innocent looking prairie bonnets. A closer view of the bonnets revealed that the beads were really the pearl-tips of corsage pins, thousands of them intricately placed and pointing towards the skin porcupine-like and threatening. At that moment, I knew I was going to love this show.

James Gobel Someday You Will Find Me, 2007 Felt, yarn and acrylic on canvas 60 x 37 in. Photo: Courtesy of the artist

James Gobel combines felt, acrylic yarn, beads and buttons to create large paintings of “bears” shown in daily activity. Using what are considered feminine materials in these “paintings” contrasts beautifully with the stereotype of heavyset men in the gay community.

I thought Angela Hennessy’s statement of her work, that she transforms the materials beyond recognition, was richly evident in her Victorian “slide mounts.” She has used black velvet (a slang term for black women), unraveled and positioned between glass, resembling diseased cell structure.

Lauren DiCioccio Still, Life, 2010 Hand-embroidery on cotton Photo: Team Photogenic

Lauren DiCioccio’s hand and machine embroidered works used everyday, common items as subject matter. Hefty-style zip-bags created out of organza with hand-stitched text elements held found objects inside. A central display featured many mundane items such as playing cards, drawing pads, newspapers and more. All were re-defined using intricate thread techniques to represent these throw-away objects as something more.

I highly recommend this exhibit. One of the docents mentioned the show might be traveling to another museum. If anyone knows where that might be, please let me know.