Ruth Miller: Life-sized storytelling in stitch

Ruth Miller cares as much about the narratives of her work as she does the actual images themselves. She’s committed to telling stories about the joys and challenges of daily life, especially for those living in African-American communities.

To say her pieces are remarkable is an understatement. Not only are her works life-sized, but they’re also entirely handstitched with tapestry yarns. Her ability to blend and merge fibre is unmatched. Upon close inspection, the viewer is amazed at the intricacy of layer upon layer of colour and stitch. The fact a single piece can take at least a year to create becomes readily apparent when viewed up close.

Ruth’s unabashed sharing of her artistic journey is a must-read. You’ll learn as much about the influence of politics and race on her work as you will her stitching techniques and colour theory. We’re so grateful for her honesty and encouragement to our readers.

We also invite you to view her work and process in this short video:

Holly Wong: Installation emancipation

Holly Wong is an artist who lives and works in San Francisco, California. She creates installations, assemblages and works on paper, integrating non-traditional approaches with more traditional sewing and weaving techniques. Whilst her approach is non-conventional, it is, at the same time, deeply rooted in her history and culture, and that of the history of women.

She was educated at the San Francisco Art Institute where she graduated with a Master of Fine Arts with a concentration in New Genres. She has been awarded visual arts grants from the Integrity: Arts and Culture Association, Barbara Deming Memorial fund, the George Sugarman Foundation, the Puffin Foundation, and a Gerbode Foundation purchase award.

Holly has had over 50 group exhibitions and 10 solo exhibitions at venues such as the Berkeley Art Museum, the University of San Francisco and the Evanston Art Center in Illinois. She is a member of SFWA Gallery in San Francisco, and A.I.R. Gallery in Brooklyn, New York.

In this interview, you will learn about Holly’s development from young and uncertain artist to bold and daring professional. She describes her process of emancipation – how being true to her nature and fearlessly following her own instincts allowed her most integrous artwork to truly emerge.

Afterall Journal Reading Group: Disobedient Video

Wednesday, January 22, 2020 – 18:30 – 20:30Project IMage: 

Cathy Bernheim, Ned Burgess, Catherine Deudon, Suzanne Fenn and Annette Levy-Willard, Grève des femmes à Troyes (Womens Strike in the City of Troyes), 1971, black and white video, sound, 55min. Courtesy Centre Audiovisuel Simone de Beauvoir (archive and d