Margaret Thierry
Life is but a dream
I had a dream, and in this dream I was part of a river of flowing color.
When I began to awake, the river called to me, "stay with us, stay with us"
Since that dream I have been trying to get back to that river.
While I am weaving, creating the intermingling of colors, for an instant I feel I've made it back to that river.
Margaret Thierry's Work at RiverSea Gallery
Click on the following thumbnails to see bigger pictures.
The Silk River
Margaret Thierry’s extraordinary mastery of an ancient art
By Peter Huhtala (as published in Hipfish Monthly)
For 5000 years, and perhaps much longer, the Chinese have practiced sericulture – rearing silkworms to produce raw silk. For millennia the secrets of the silkworm were zealously guarded to protect a monopoly on the exotic fabrics woven of silk.
So well were these secrets protected that sericulture didn’t even reach the Korean peninsula until 200 BC, about the time when the fabrics began moving west on the Silk Road trade routes. Indians, Persians and Romans were all entranced by the strong, light cloth with intricately beautiful designs. At times silk commanded its weight or more in gold.
Eventually the secrets spread, first to lands like Indonesia, Malaysia and parts of India. Finally, in 552 AD, two monks hid silkworm eggs in their walking sticks and smuggled them, and the knowledge of their cultivation, back to Byzantium. This significant act of industrial espionage opened up silk production within the Roman Empire.
Not all who coveted the silk were driven by greed. Fabric artists worked the material and experimented with techniques of expression in texture and color. One technique, richly developed in Indonesia and in central Asia, involved weaving with pre-died silk yarns calculated to reveal designs of color and form as the weaving progressed. The technique is known as ikat, and variations have appeared from Japan to Guatemala and Peru.
On looms ancient and modern the threads that are fixed to the loom are known as the warp. The yarn shuttled back and forth across the warp is called the weft. In ikat weaving sections of the weft are bunched or tied and dyed with different colors. The experienced fiber artist can visualize the end result of weaving with this yarn – sometimes with outstanding precision. To add to the complexity the warp might be pre-dyed as well.
In recent years Astoria, Oregon, artist Margaret Thierry has embraced and mastered the art of the ikat. Accomplished in a broad range of weaving styles, Thierry discovered that working with the ikat techniques fed her love of color.
To say that Thierry loves color understates the reality. She insists that she “sees the world as color, a variegated pallet of colors – some well-defined, some subtle, shaded or elusive.”
Emerging as an artist during the psychedelic-drenched 1960s, Thierry freely credits the entheogens she ingested as a source of her inspiration. During the late 60s and early 70s she created a line of candles in which the main element was color. Blocks of color mixed and flowed and blended. Amazing mindscapes appeared as the molds were removed.
Although her unique candles fueled a successful career, Thierry was strongly drawn to fiber art in the mid-70s. She was enthralled by the effect of color as the dyed threads mixed in weaving. Recognizing silk’s affinity to dyes, she began building a provocative body of work in woven silk. The color-driven abstracts earned her entrée to juried shows, competitive awards, and recognition through inclusion in the Portland Art Museum’s Oregon Biennial traveling exhibition. She was also sought as a teacher and lecturer.
Thierry’s innovative use of ikat has clearly defined her style. While she connects with the visualization and instinct of the ancient masters, her unique approach propels the fiber technique into the realm of modern art. Perhaps nowhere is this more evident than in a series inspired by the Columbia River.
From her studio in downtown Astoria, Thierry is graced by a view of the dynamic Columbia River estuary and the forests of Washington beyond. She calls her fascination with the scene obsession, saying “it changes constantly, constantly, constantly.” While other artists might attempt to capture glimpses of this experience through painting or photography, she expresses it with fiber.
In creating the Columbia River pieces, Thierry stands before the vista with dyes prepared and skeins of silk at the ready. She dips sections of silk into the simmering dye pot. With skill, imagination and a goodly dollop of the subconscious, she fixes what she sees into the silk. Later she takes the prepared skeins to her loom and begins weaving. There in the fabric appears an emotion-fueled riverscape!
Thierry to some degree controls the colors and shapes that emerge from her weavings, but also injects the room for accidents to happen. She sees herself “straddling the realm between order and chaos.” The resulting surprises reveal a powerful spirit.
In many pieces Thierry uses another technique called pattern weave, in conjunction with ikat. Luminous silk floats in geometric shapes, creating a subtle sculptural effect. She’ll occasional paint her warp, adding yet another dimension.
The latest Thierry pieces use silk chenille. The texture of the chenille results in weavings that take on a faux velvet appearance, while the size of the material allows a pixilated effect – at times a nod to the Impressionists that Thierry loves.
Thierry’s use of ikat with chenille is electrifying. Don’t miss the chance to witness works in this medium combined with her system of transmitting visions of the Columbia River. These along with other selected pieces are displayed at RiverSea Gallery in Astoria.
Exhibits at RiverSea Gallery
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