Threads of Connection, Strands of the Web

An Exhibit at Radiance
9 W Grant St., Lancaster, PA
March 15 through May 30, 2010
Artist Reception on Friday, April 2, 5-8pm

Born of the deep desire to celebrate our connection with the natural world, Sylvan Thorncraft looks for the magical spark that resides in all things to inspire her fabric collage work. The spirits of the forest, the divas of the flowers, the dancing clouds slowly emerge from luminous layers of silk and gauze. A large portion of these pieces are created with cast off women's blouses, in the spirit of honoring women's intimate connection with fabric and the making of thread, cloth and clothing through time. Fabric invites us in, it touches our skin, protects us, lives with us. In many cases, Thorncraft's work is as much inspired by finding "the perfect" bit of cloth for a piece as it is by the desire to express a specific vision. Their creation is organic and fluid, arranging a layer then looking for what that layer is calling for next, working to bring the individual parts into relationship, into the community that is the finished piece.

Sylvan Thorncraft lives and works in the eastern Catskill Mountains of New York. Having been engaged with the creative process all of her life, she celebrates how sewing connects her to her female ancestors, both known and unknown. Student of nature and the ancient traditions of the people who knew her so intimately, she hopes to tap into the deep sea of our collective wisdom for the images she creates. To see more please visit her web site: www.emeraldspritestudio.com