The San Luis Obispo Museum of Art transforms its Gray wing into a vibrant landscape of color and texture June 28 through October 4 with a solo exhibition by Georgia-based fiber artist Trish Andersen.
Little By Little, Andersen’s first immersive exhibition of this kind, is part of the museum’s mission to identify and present major emerging artists who are poised for major recognition in a fun and accessible way.
“This gorgeously colorful and tactile exhibit of fiber art has elements for everyone to enjoy on just a brief or more leisurely visit to the museum,” according to SLOMA Curator Emma Saperstein.
Made up of 200 circular forms—some suspended from the ceiling, other tufted forms on the ground below—the show invites viewers to consider how small parts can build something greater, and how patience, presence, and persistence can shape a joyful and unified whole.
Andersen creates site-specific installations and fiber works, and collaborates on product creation for clients such as Coca-Cola, Design Miami, Kimpton Hotels, and Google among many others. Her initial attraction to the process of tufting was a means to reconnect with and explore her roots. Years after attending the Savannah College of Art and Design and moving on to live and work in Brooklyn, New York, she began using the medium as an examination of the notion that a thing or a way of being can run in one’s blood.
Andersen now lives in Savannah, Georgia, with her husband, artist Michael Porten, their son Walter, four cats, and a few thousand balls of yarn. She says she is committed to “create what you want to see in the world.”
Saperstein will host a lively conversation with the artist at The Penny, 664 Marsh Street in San Luis Obispo, at 5 p.m. on June 25, further expanding the experience of the exhibition into the surrounding community. Admission is free but reservations are required.
A preview of the show for SLOMA members is scheduled Friday, June 27. The exhibition is presented by Megan’s Organic Market, rrm design group, Ditty TV and Shirley & Mike Ritter.