Eye to Eye
Fabric collages

October - December, 2020
Artists: Liisa Fagerlund & Sue Nylander

Each of the pieces in this exhibit began with a photograph. The design

was composed through the eye of a camera and then refracted through the eye of the artist. Sue Nylander’s pieces feature landscapes and gardens, at home and on her travels. Liisa Fagerlund’s work explores “found art” on the walls and fortifications of Fort Worden.

Artists’ Statements

Liisa Fagerlund
Sequim, Washington

Exploring the fortifications of Fort Worden led to the pieces shown in “Eye to Eye.”

Doors and hinges, bars and gates, are rusting and gaining a patina of moss, rust, weeds and decay.  The concrete walls and doors are a frequent target of graffiti and tagging, painted over using whatever color paint staff has on hand.  

The result of time and random modern additions is a veritable gallery of found art, waiting to be seen and framed through the eye of the camera into artful compositions.  My husband and I are frequent wanderers in this gallery, finding works of art around every turn and up every stairway for our cameras to record.

Fabric collages feature hand-dyed and commercial fabric; hand painted cheesecloth hand piecing and raw-edge applique; free-motion stitching and hand embroidery with cotton and silk threads, yarn, cord, dryer tangles, washers and beads.

Sue Nylander
Sequim, WA

With several degrees in the visual arts, including surface pattern design from Syracuse University, I found my niche for creative expression through the fiber arts as an undergraduate.  First as high school art teacher, then as professional fiber artist and educator, I have continued to explore, through the creation of one-of-a-kind and limited production garments and fine art pieces, many avenues in the fiber arts.

Studying the history of textiles, especially work created by women world-wide, has led to my own experiences and classes in numerous dye techniques, spinning, weaving, surface embellishment, crocheting, beading, and quilting.  Many of these processes are exemplified in the pieces in this exhibit.