Threading the Needle: Layers, at Praxis Fiber Workshop

People may not consider the possibility of their cotton shirt serving as an outlet of creative expression, but the intricacies of fiber art become very clear when viewing the works shown in Layers, currently on view at the Praxis Fiber Workshop.

Each artist in the exhibition is a member of the Art Cloth Network (ACN): a nationally recognized group led by its own artists, specializing in textile-based mediums. ACN exhibits in multiple galleries across the United States and Canada, including Cleveland by way of the assistance of Praxis. It began the same way many organized collectives do, with a desire for a like-minded group to share and foster ideas, before extending to a national scale by the end of 2009. The team reimagines their definition of the “art cloth.” Once a term for conventional modes of textile art, it has transitioned to encompass the growing draw toward conceptual styles.

An exhibition of this nature invites collaboration through this partnership, as well as in the discussion of meaning. The word ‘layers’ is used loosely but woven tightly. Artists engage in sincere conversation, playing with the theme in a manner that allows for a balance of variety and cohesion.

Fabrics and naturally-sourced hues are meticulously layered into a mass of earthy impasto in Judy Langille’s Earth Elements III. Langille takes what one may only discover by digging a pit into the soil with their bare hands and places it onto a linen canvas, encapsulating the sensation of dirt underneath worn finger nails. Blue and orange mix into muddled shades of brown, stitched dozens of times over. The rust spreads like bacteria that form living shapes and bleed across quilted sections. Look, but do not touch. There is a toxic-looking quality to its composition, like mold dominating a mildew-ridden corner. By utilizing organic elements, she forfeits control and allows dye to expand beyond its boundaries. She specializes in creating the illusion of a three-dimensional piece on flat surfaces. Squint, and you’ll capture the brief glimpse of an industrial cityscape surrounded by heavy smog.

Langille and her contemporaries revel in the exploration of texture and visual intrigue. Many pieces in Layers are non-objective and offer no more than a title to guide interpretation. At times the titles lead only to more questions. Dye behaves differently from paints: it is the wild child. Restless abstract expressionists curse beyond their graves, for they lacked the means to paint the provoking, textile scenes which fold and respond to the environment’s murmurs.

Abstraction does not equate to superficial meaninglessness. Created by Joan Diamond, Enduring lacks warmth. This is not your grandmother’s quilt. It alludes to the shadowing mounds of synthetic waste left behind by generations of convenience and amenities through blinding blue and white mixed media.

Diamond’s work calls to mind polyethylene-cushioned beds of the future, though it reflects on the past by questioning the role of physical objects as a sensory vessel for memories: “are we mindful enough of what we hold dear?” The quilt motif can symbolize a shared experience of sorting through an attic of family memorabilia that is guaranteed to decompose. Humans are innately materialistic creatures, placing value in the ephemeral. She utilizes the Korean technique of Bojagi to simulate the pathways carved by centuries of consoling routine and estranged attachments; webbed and seemingly erratic lines of silk organza and netting. Her piece is a blueprint for the brain in its irregular, complicated configuration. Imperfection is emphasized, cradled.

Viewers that venture to the show will meet face-to-face with an anomalous work that quietly sways in the center of the gallery. Merill Comeau’s Mother They Daughter juxtaposes its surroundings by manipulating an article of clothing into a role outside of its original context. The innocent baby pink dress, initially the token outfit for a young girl’s first day of school, has been scribbled on with disjointed phrases, “don’t compare,” “healthy boundaries,” “seek advice,” among others. Such statements are words shoved into the eardrums of the new mother. Comeau speaks to the challenge of raising a daughter in an oppressive society that discredits the hurdles of womanhood. A lock of her offspring’s hair has been tucked into the pocket of the dress, where a child-like design of a feminine figure embracing a baby has been embroidered onto the outside surface. Trauma tied to lineage can taint the mother-daughter relationship when the plague of Western traditionalism has not been thoroughly purged — the base of the dress is scorched as a result of the intense, often generational process of healing expressed in the piece.

With admirable technique and raw emotion, the spectrum of imaginative power is vast in this space. The clouds are the limit, and the artists use them as cotton. Collectively, the artists that make up Layers represent a stratified cooperative of individuals with a single string tied around their hearts, pulling them together in spite of physical distance. Experimentation is encouraged. Textile visual culture is maintained and modernized by the numerous members of ACN and the resources provided to creatives by Praxis. Their work breathes life into an art form that is neglected, dancing with the ghost of needle and thread. Fabric is its own revolution, for without it, we would be mortifyingly naked.

Layers, Art Cloth Network
Through March 22, 2026
Praxis Fiber Workshop
15301 Waterloo Road
Cleveland, OH, 44110
praxisfiberworkshop.org

Kylee Herrick is a student at Cleveland State University, and a fellow in Collective Arts Network’s Broadening the Conversation Program for young writers.