Edith de Chiara: Informed by Nature 

This exhibition focused on the recent work of Edith de Chiara — a series of collages, drawings, and works on canvas in which she explored the metaphor of the line. She is known for her mixed media works that probe the complexities of nature, interior states of mind, and the passage of time. Nature is used as a source of imagery, creating a calligraphic, gestural line which physically describes the external world while evoking mood and alluding to the internal emotional life. These scaled works hint at landscape, rocks, plants, microscopic organisms, and the cosmos.

De Chiara usually begins with staining Japanese paper with watercolors or brown ink. Thread is used as the primary drawing medium, in a variety of ways. From some pieces she crochets a length of thread using different tension; she then pulls each loop to form irregular circular shapes. Once the thread is partially adhered to the surface of the paper, she may cut some of the loops to open them up.

For the “Informed by Nature” Series she used satin thread pulled from ripped fabric. The quality of the thread derived from this source is unique. In contrast, to ordinary sewing thread, satin thread has linear and “fuzzy” qualities. When used in thread drawings, this quality enables her to achieve lines that vary from thick to find spider-like lines.