textile | assemblage | place

Sheri Schumacher is a designer and educator whose work is at the interface of architecture, public-interest design, and craft practices. In the exhibition, Schumacher sets out to “map” the sensory experience of place by recording cultural landscapes with textiles.

Schumacher uses repurposed materials, including linens and clothing in her work, often combining them with new textiles creating an innovative and improvised use of material. She has been particularly inspired by the quilters of Gee’s Bend, who use repurposed clothing and fabric to create compositions with a bold use of color and design. She is equally inspired by the unique characteristics of different places and explores ways in which her textile work can physically map the terrain and the experience of place.

The artist is an advocate for creative economies that encourage relationships between places of making, materiality, tools, and handmade production. Inspired by regional craft heritage and hand-stitching traditions, Schumacher’s recent textile assemblages explore narratives about cultural landscapes. Discovery through the act of making and the physical engagement with materials is central to her design process.

Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website