Felt has sadly become synonymous with kitschy, elementary-level craft projects that conjure bad memories: sticky glue, dull scissors and an explosion of fuzz that was your supposed "art piece."
However, Duke alumna Sharron Parker, Woman's College '68, takes the oldest known form of textile-making to form a vibrant and astoundingly sophisticated body of works.
Students are now able to view an assortment of Parker's pieces in Handmade Felt, an exhibit currently on display at the Louise Jones Brown Gallery, curated by Duke University Union's Visual Arts Committee. Though the art space is small, the selection within the room offers enough variety to keep viewers intrigued.
All of Parker's pieces seek to "celebrate, and not mirror" the aesthetic beauty of natural wonders, according to her biographical statement. From the color scheme to the degrees of layering, Parker carefully manipulates various elements of her work to produce an exciting visual array for onlookers.
Smaller square pieces from her "Summer Flight" series combine subdued colors with a frayed felt texture, while the larger "Crosscurrents" mirrors waves with hints of a sunset through use of broader cuts of shapely felt that are less tweaked but more layered.
A distinctive feature Parker weaves into all her pieces is stitching. One of her most impressive creations, a bright, fan-shaped tribute titled "The Birth of Light," matches a seamless blend of color with intricate stitching to add a rich flavor to the texture.
The cohesive group of work produced by Parker is breathtaking, and perhaps viewers will now think twice before dismissing the medium of felt.
Handmade Felt is at the Louise Jones Brown Gallery in the Bryan Center through Sept. 17.
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