kerr grabowski fiber artist...art to wear
workshop instructor

Biography

"Marks - textures, lines, images and symbols - My work in textiles and clothing stems from an interest in cultures where art is an integral part of daily life-where mark making is a natural activity, a part of the celebration of being."

Kerr Grabowski's history as a fiber artist has been marked by her constant experimentation with and innovative approaches to dyeing and screening processes. She developed Deconstructed Screen Printing, a printing monoprinting technique allowing for a freer, more painterly approach to screen printing.

Kerr successfully integrates her love of color, mark-making, and spontaneity with the challenge of creating whimsically elegant contemporary hand painted and screened silk fabrics and wearables.
Formerly Artist in Residence at Peters Valley Craft Center in NJ, Kerr now maintains a studio in Bay Saint Louis, Mississippi.

Recipient of a Mississippi Arts Commission Fellowship, a New Jersey Council on the Arts Fellowship Kerr is published in Ornament, Surface Design Journal, Fiber Arts Design Book Six and Silk Painting for Fashion and Fine Art and Textiles Now.

Kerr exhibits and teaches all aspects of surface design internationally and is the author of two DVDs.

Member of Surface Design Association, American Craft Council, Textile Study Group of NYC

 


photo: john anderson

"One of the challenges of creating wearable pieces is that of leaving asthetic space for the the future wearer, allowing them to bring the work to completion, to give it life.
It's a thrill to see the owners of my clothing-to know who helped complete the idea."

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2014 Wearable Narratives. Timeless Textiles Newcastle NSW, Australia
2011 Wearable Narratives Albert Duckette Gallery Mary C OKeefe Center, Ocean Springs MS
2007 KerrGrabowski:Art to Wear Hunterdon Museum of Art Clinton NJ
1999 Image as Metaphor Sussex County Community College Newton NJ

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2014
Tides and Currents. South Arkansas Art Center El Dorado AR
2013
Delta Arts Alliance Gallery Cleveland Mississippi
Art, the Visible Thread that Connects. Gail Keenan Art Center Pass Christian, Mississippi
WAFTA - Mysterium. Central Institute of Technology Northbridge WA, Australia
Paper Dolls Uncut. Albert Duckette Gallery Ocean Springs, Mississippi
2012
Within Sight of Land. South Arkansas Art Center El Dorado AR
2010
The Game:Another Take on the Exquisite Corpse. traveling, Port Coquitlam BC
Evidence. Delta State University Cleveland MS
2009
Intimate Apparel. traveling
University Art Gallery, U.Mass Dartmouth MA,
Textile Center Minneapolis MN
Surface Design Symposium Kansas City MO
2008
Seams. Noyes Museum Oceanville NJ
2007
Delaware Highlands Seven. Peters Valley Layton NJ
Small Works. QSDS Columbus OH
2004-5
Kerr Grabowski.Ana Lisa Hedstrom. Fiberarts Bowen Island BC
Beyond the Stitch. Island Heights, NJ
Fiberarts Invitational. Montgomery Center for the Arts Princeton NJ
Silk Symphony. Mendocino Art Center Mendocino CA
2000-2003
Arrowmont School of Arts and Craft Gatlinburg TN 1999,2000,2002
Gayle Willson Gallery Southampton NY 1997,1996,1994
TSGNY Phoenix Gallery New York NY
Small Works Gallery at Studio B Athens OH
1996-1998
Transcending the Surface. traveling;catalog
Philadelphia College of Textiles and Design Philadelphia PA
Ben Shahn Gallery William Patterson College.Patterson NJ
Monmonth Museum Lincroft NJ
Contemporary Gallery Marywood College. Scranton PA
Hunterdon Art Center Clinton NJ
Invention and Diversity. Trenton City Museum Trenton NJ
Threads. Crafts Alliance St. Louis MO
Faculty Show. Peters Valley Craft Center Layton NJ 1994-1999
Surface to Surface. University of Kansas Lawrence KA
Wrapped in the Medium. Craft Alliance St Louis MO
Bodyscapes. Mindscape Gallery Evanston IL
Exploration in Fiber Art. Trenton State College Trenton NJ
Black and White. The Craftsmans Gallery Scarsdale NY

SELECTED WORKSHOPS (all aspects of dyeing and surface design, drawing, design)

TAFTA Forum, Orange Australia 2010
Fibers Ballarat, Ballarat Australia 2010, 2011, 2014
Newark Museum. Newark NJ 1998-2010
Maiwa. Vancouver BC Canada
Peters Valley Craft Center. Layton NJ 1991-2011
Quilt/Surface Design Symposium. Ohio University 2000, 2007 Columbus OH 1998, 2011
Society for Contemporary Craft. Pittsburgh PA 2009, 2011
Surface Design Association Conference. Kansas City Art Institute
Arrowmont School of Arts & Crafts. Gatlinburg TN 1999, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2008, 2011
Snow Farm. Sunderland MA 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006
Pro Chemical and Dye, Somerset MA
Nancy Crow Barn, Baltimore OH
SDA-SAQA symposium, Wayne PA
Monteverde Institute,Costa Rica 2005
Penland, Penland NC spring concentration 2005
Fiberarts, Bowen Island BC
North Country Studio Conference. Bennington College, Bennington VT
Beyond the Surface 2000. Lake Tahoe, CA
Printmaking Council of NJ. Somerville, NJ 1995, 1998, 2000, 2002


INSTRUCTOR/VISITING ARTIST

Australian National University. Canberra ACT visiting artist, slide lecture 2011
Massey University. Wellington New Zealand visiting artist 2010
Delta State University. Cleveland MS visiting artist 2009
Delta State Alumnus Forum. Delta State University. Cleveland MS 2009
Montclair State University. Montclair, NJ Adjunct Instructor Surface Design 2001-2002
Moore College of Art. Philadelphia, PA visiting artist
Tyler College of Art. Philadelphia, PA visiting artist
Marywood College. Scranton, PA visiting artist
Penland School of Crafts. Penland, NC visiting Artist. Fall Concentration 2000
Scandaga Valley Arts Network. Northville, NY slide lecture-my work
Sussex County Community College. Newton, NJ Adjunct Instructor Color Theory,Printmaking 1998-99
William Paterson University. Wayne, NJ Adjunct Instructor Textile Dyeing and Design1999 1993-92
Marywood College. Scranton, PA Adjunct Instructor Fiber and Related Media , Textile Design1991, 1997
Textile Study Group. NY, NY Visiting Artist slide lecture on my work


GRANTS-RESIDENCIES-EXPLORATIONS

2011 Mississippi Arts Council Mini-grant
2009 Designed large scale graphics/ logos for a fleet of retired school buses sent to Haiti as
medical buses. www.santebus.org
2008 Working with Head Start Children, designed street banners for Sussex Boro, NJ
2002-2004 Costume designer: Tri State Actors Theater, equity theater, Sussex NJ
2001 New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Sussex County Arts and Heritage Council matching
grant for a community involved mosaic mural in Sussex NJ
1992-1998 Artist in Residence/Head of Fiber Program. Peters Valley Craft Center. Layton NJ
1997 Gujarat India to study Rabari Textiles.
1996 Heathcote School. Scarsdale NY Artist-in-Residence.
1992-1993 New Jersey State Council on the Arts Fellowship


BIBLIOGRAPHY

Interweave Press "Adventures in Surface Design" DVD 2010
Surface Design Association "2009 Conference Demonstrations" DVD 2009
Textiles Now Drusilla Cole, editor "p 103, 130, 145, 170, 178, 181" Laurence King Publishing 2008
“Deconstructed Screen Printing for Fiber and Paper” DVD 2007
Courier-News/Home News Tribune/Pulse Online: Ralph J Bellantoni “She Wears it Well” exhibition review 2007
Beck,Jeanne.”Kerr Grabowski" Surface Design Journal Spring 2006 article,photos
Boyce, Amber. “Sussex Mural Project” New Jersey Herald 14 May, 2001, photo
Fiberarts Design Book Six Nancy Orban, editor Lark Books, 1999
Fiberarts Sept/Oct 1997. Review:Transcending the Surface
Fiberarts March/April 1997. photo
Moyer, Susan Louise. Silk Painting for Fashion and Fine Art Watson-Guptill, 1995.117,118,119,121. photos technical advisor-screenprinting
Malarcher, Patricia.“Trajectory III-Kerr Grabowski:Making Marks.” Surface Design Journal Summer 1994. 22-23 article,photos
Ornament Winter 1994. photo
Freudenheim, Betty. “Fiber Artists Creations Emphasize Rich Colors.” New York Times 11 Oct. 1992. photo
Freudenheim, Betty. “Finding Surprise at Corporate Galleries.” New York Times 24 Oct. 1993.
New York Times 17 May 1992. Styles. photo
Freudenheim, Betty. “Show of Creations by Artists Who Teach.” New York Times 7June1992
Luter, Nell. “Artists Textile Experiments Become a Full Time Business” Clarion Ledger (Jackson, MS) 1985. photo
Hillyer, Carter. “Wearable Works of Art.” Mississippi Magazine Vol.4 No.3 1986. feature article, photos
Culpepper, Kay. “Women and Visions.” Meridian Star (MS)1986. review, photo