RSVP for Craftwork's workshop on Soft Speakers, on October 22, 6:30pm-9:30pm
"As a collaborative duo, our artistic practice questions one’s relationships with the technologies and textiles that surround us daily. We approach each project by wondering: How can we transform technologies typically associated with industrial efficiency into tools for creative expression and human connection? What new possibilities emerge when we make invisible systems tangible through colorful, touchable textile interfaces? How does our experience change when technology turns from hard to soft? This spirit of playful inquiry drives us to explore conductive materials, soft circuitry techniques, and electronic components from a craft perspective and as artistic mediums full of expressive potential. In creating our work, we focus on experimenting with different materials and construction techniques, celebrating each technical challenge as an opportunity for artistic expression. This cycle of questioning, experimentation, and discovery energizes our work, whether we're investigating the rich historical legacy of textile production or prototyping new forms of electronic interaction through collaborative material exploration."
Craftwork is a multidisciplinary design and art studio that engages with the nature of textiles and technology through installations, storytelling, and material-based research. Founded by Victoria Manganiello and Nicole Yi Messier, their works operate at the intersection of materiality, technology, and experience, drawing inspiration from the history and future of soft materials. With over 20 years of combined experience, Victoria and Nicole founded Craftwork in 2022. Their background encompasses art, design, engineering, research, and technology. By combining their fascination with history with future-oriented materiality and their skills in traditional textile arts with new technologies, they create large-scale, dynamic projects with a variety of partners.
We welcome Victoria and Nicole to the studio as our October WIP residents!
You can visit their studio on Sundays from 2pm to 5pm.
Textile Arts Center’s Work in Progress (TAC WIP) is a window into the studio practice of contemporary artists and designers that engages the public in a dialogue with the field of textiles.