Abigail Engstrand

Abigail Engstrand: MARCH ON

Opening Reception: Friday, March 1, 2024, 5-8pm

Artist Talk and Felting Demonstration: Saturday, March 2, 2024, 2pm

As an artist  I am always looking at bodies, and reading relationships. I tune in to my senses, trying to really see and understand the world around me. I anthropomorphize and empathize with life I find in nature. I love to tend a garden, and watch life’s cycles. For my fiber art, I collect hair and fur of various Earthlings.  I have saved bits of a fox fur hat, silk saris, blouses, alpaca curls, silky strands of shiny bamboo, rose blossoms, sage leaves, birchbark, old army blankets, pretty yarns, and Grandmas’ quilts and doilies to repurpose. When I needle-felt, I combine my painting skills with domestic methods and materials. Braiding, stitching, painting and felting are meditative actions. They’re the warp that runs through the weft of generations and cultures. I emotionally absorb everything I read and hear, and need to process my reactions through my art practice.

MARCH ON

Light peeks through my lashes as I wake.  I peek through the melting ice, curious... Melting ice can be a good thaw, a relaxation.

Melted ice can be the end of a party. A clear indication of doom.  A storm is coming.

Yes, another, more destructive than the last. 

My nature tells me to gather my things, arrange my beloved memories.  Nature scatters our things, Buries and reveals. Keep looking… March blows. March melts. March forward.  Keep walking.

March showers bring April flowers- May be-3 Years have passed. 

I have saved, stretched, poked,  washed, stained, brushed and drawn

I've made the old new.  The new is growing old.

Keep hugging... 

I crave action. I need peace.  I crave PEACE. I need action!

Set the stage, I am ON!

I do not know when I am done... But I am here with you now.

Opening Reception, Friday, March 1, 5:00-8:00pm

• Exhibition dates: February 29 - March 22, 2024

• Gallery hours: Thurs – Fri 2-6pm, Sat – Sun 12-4 pm

This program is partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council Agency.